SAN FRANCISCO _ Oakland A's rookie Daniel Gossett was 'frustrated and embarrassed' after his last start that saw him get knocked around for a career-high nine hits and vowed to learn from it. He bounced back in a big way.
The A's have always been high on Gossett, and with good reason. The 2014 second-round pick dominated his way from Single-A to Triple-A last season and continued that trend this season until he pitched his way to a big-league call up in June. Gossett seemed to hit a wall once he got to Oakland. He had displayed flashes of brilliance through nine starts but allowed at least one home run in seven of those and saw his ERA soar to a whopping 5.74. He finally put it all together in start No. 10.
Gossett shut down the Giants offense, allowing just three hits and a run with five strikeouts over seven innings in Wednesday's 6-1 win over San Francisco. It was by far the best outing of Gossett's career.
The A's offense took advantage of Matt Moore's inability to find the strike zone in the second inning. They drew two walks and scored twice, once on a double off the center field wall by Matt Chapman and again on a double-play ball by Ryan Lavarnway.
Ryon Healy's power returned in the third. The first baseman crushed a two-run bomb into the left field bleachers to give the A's a 4-0 cushion. Healy had been swinging the bat well over the past week, but it was his 20th home run of the season and his first since June 28.
Manager Bob Melvin was excited to have Chad Pinder back from the disabled list for his versatility and the rookie showed why in the fifth inning. With San Francisco having already scored a run and threatening for more with a runner on second, Pinder showed off his range by chasing down a fly ball from Miguel Gomez that appeared as if it would fall for an RBI double off the crack of the bat.
It was only Pinder's second start of his career in left, but with defense like that and strong offensive contributions like his 2 for 3 night that featured an RBI, Melvin will have no issues finding a spot for Pinder in the lineup moving forward.
The A's added two more runs in the seventh on a double to center by Jed Lowrie and Pinders' RBI single.
