OAKLAND, Calif. _ The Oakland A's weren't expecting Mike Fiers to be perfect, though he flirted with it for several innings. They just wanted him to be reliable, and that's what he was in his debut.
Making his first start since he was acquired in a trade from the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week, Fiers pitched nearly identical to the reports on the type of pitcher the A's were getting as he departed with the lead in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of 32,062 fans at the Coliseum.
Fiers was in line to get the victory, but a rare run allowed by Lou Trivino on a two-out single by Chris Taylor in the seventh allowed the Dodgers (63-52) to tie it up. The run snapped a streak of 9 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.
Jed Lowrie picked the perfect time to break out of an 0 for 14 slump when he singled to right in the eighth inning off JT Chargois to give the A's (68-47) runners on first and third with one out, setting up a chopper to third by Khris Davis that allowed Marcus Semien to score and break the 2-2 tie after Yasmani Grandal was unable to handle a throw to the plate from Justin Turner.
Fiers was perfect through four innings, allowing just one run on four hits and no walks with a season-high eight strikeouts. With this dominant bullpen, which entered the night with the fourth-lowest ERA (3.29) in the majors, the A's will take that every time out from their newest starter.
The A's were aggressive early against Clayton Kershaw and built his pitch count up. They were rewarded for it in the fourth with a pair of two-out RBI singles by Stephen Piscotty and Ramon Laureano to put them ahead by two.
Though they did not light up Kershaw by any means, his one strikeout over six innings was just the third time in his career he's struck out one batter or fewer in a start and the first time since July 15, 2010.
Blake Treinen turned in a scoreless ninth inning for his 29th save of the year.
