DETROIT -- Daniel Mengden delivered seven innings of scoreless ball in Oakland's 3-2 win at Comerica Park on Wednesday, stretching his current streak to 16 innings without allowing a run.
Mengden's shutdown performance comes on the heels of his first career shutout last time out in Philadelphia, also the Athletics' first this season.
"I had to pitch a little more today. Stuff wasn't as good as it was in Philly," Mengden said. "But I made some pitches and me and Bruce [Maxwell] stuck to the game plan even though I was a little ragged the first couple innings."
Mengden found himself in a little more trouble on Wednesday, surrendering seven hits, as opposed to just two in his shutout of the Phillies. Manager Bob Melvin didn't expect to throw Mengden more than 100 pitches following his long outing in Philly, but he wanted to save his bullpen as much as he could and felt confident in sending Mengden back out for the seventh.

Melvin said on Tuesday that he thought Mengden's performance against the Phillies did a lot for his confidence, especially after battling two separate injuries this season, including a fractured right foot that delayed his season debut to May 8 with Triple-A Nashville. The confidence showed Wednesday, and Melvin sees Mengden as a part of the team's future.
"He's doing great," Melvin said. "He's had some injuries and some rocky roads on the way back, but he really seems to have found himself."

Feeling no lingering effects of the injuries at this point in the season, Mengden is happy to have these last two starts under his belt moving toward next season.
"I feel like last year I threw pretty well and at the end got kind of banged up," Mengden said. "I thought I still threw pretty well, and now [in my] second year, I'm still trying to find myself a little bit more and doing everything I can to help us win."