NEW YORK -- What could have been viewed as a spot start for J.T. Ginn on Friday night at Citi Field was revealed as more of an audition for the Athletics' starting rotation by manager Mark Kotsay.
“I think, for the present and future, Ginn is the guy that we’d love to have in that spot,” Kotsay said two hours before first pitch. “Hopefully, he takes ownership of it and doesn’t look back.”
The A’s have a vacant rotation slot after Luis Morales was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday, and while one start is not enough to automatically move Ginn into that role, he could quickly become a mainstay with more performances like this.
On a limited workload as he transitioned from the bullpen, Ginn made the most of his opportunity and set the tone for the A’s in a 4-0 victory by blanking the Mets over four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with four strikeouts.
Following Ginn, an A’s bullpen that played a key role in taking two of three from the Yankees earlier this week continued its strong run, with the foursome of Mark Leiter Jr., Jack Perkins, Scott Barlow and Elvis Alvarado slamming the door on New York by combining for five shutout innings. A's pitchers have combined for 26 consecutive scoreless innings, beginning with the second inning of Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
Playing his first game back at Citi Field since getting traded from the Mets to the A’s this past offseason, Jeff McNeil led the way offensively with a pair of hits against his former club, including an RBI single in the ninth that sparked a three-run inning.