BOSTON -- Firing the fastest pitch of the day at 99.2 mph in his 100th and final offering Saturday, Gage Jump let out a celebratory yell as he trotted off the mound.
The Athletics lefty delivered the type of performance the team so desperately needed during baseball’s longest active losing streak – six innings, two runs, six hits, two walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts – to help halt a nine-game skid with a 7-3 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. His final pitch sailed past a flailing Connor Wong.
“Right there, it was just about emptying the tank and to execute,” Jump said. “I was fired up after that.”
Both manager Mark Kotsay and catcher Brian Serven said Jump rarely shows emotion on the mound. They loved it.
“He was just mixing everything really well today and showed that competitive nature,” Serven said. “He’s usually pretty to himself … but I think that was a big moment all-around and you could feel it. He let a little bit out and it’s good to see.”
Jump is the first A’s lefty since 1928 to strike out 11 at Fenway Park, and the first with double-digit strikeouts at the ballpark since Vida Blue on June 10, 1974.
Entering Saturday's contest, the scenario offered a recently proven winning formula. Starting pitcher, Jump. Opponent, Red Sox. The A’s last won on July 28, and that was the last game Boston had lost. Jump started that game, spinning six shutout frames against the same Red Sox in a 4-3 victory at Sutter Health Park. He danced around three hits and four walks while striking out seven. He also beat Jake Bennett in both games.
Jump watched his prior outing against the Red Sox for a refresher on the sequences that worked. That, plus an intended increase in aggressiveness, worked out.
“My plan was to just flood the zone and know where I’ll get chase,” Jump said.
Now on the opposite coast before a sold-out crowd of 36,696, Jump and the A’s fell behind in the first inning before plating runs in the fourth-seventh in a comeback victory.
It started out the wrong way for Jump, who conceded a first-pitch leadoff single to Jahmai Jones, who then stole second base. Caleb Durbin walked, and both advanced to scoring position, executing a double-steal during a Willson Contreras strikeout. Andruw Monasterio brought both home with a line-drive single.
“Once I got out of it, I was like, ‘We’ve got the rest of the game left, let’s see how many zeroes I can get out of it,’” Jump said.
The A’s scored one run in the fourth, then took the lead in the fifth on Jonah Heim’s two-out single off the Green Monster. Alika Williams had reached on a hit by pitch, and Jacob Wilson doubled, putting runners in scoring position for the A’s designated hitter. Heim’s knock registered a 105.4 mph exit velocity.
When the Red Sox lifted Bennett with one out in the sixth and Lawrence Butler on first for righty Justin Slaten, the A’s countered with back-to-back pinch hitters. Jeff McNeil walked in place of Max Muncy, both he and Butler stole and Donovan Walton plated both in place of Williams.
“That’s kind of how we’ve designed the lineup,” Kotsay said. “You try to play for a competitive advantage … and you’ve got to take advantage of it. It worked out today.”
Tyler Soderstrom added a sole home run in the seventh inning, extending his hitting streak to seven games and clobbering a round-tripper for the second straight day. He’s sporting a 1.094 OPS in August.
Jump relied on his fastball less than usual (38%), instead doubling his annual usage on his changeup with 17%, while quadrupling the share of his sinker usage (12%). Of Jump’s 100 pitches, 69 were strikes.
“I liked everything about it,” Kotsay said. “You could tell the passion, the emotion and the desire to want the ball in his hand.”
The series concludes Sunday at 1:35 p.m. with J.T. Ginn on the hill looking for a third straight quality start and the A’s looking to snap a 12-series losing streak.