OAKLAND, Calif. _ Stephen Piscotty hit the Oakland A's second walk-off grand slam of the season, giving the A's a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers Tuesday.
Jesus Luzardo made his Major League debut amid the hostility of a jam-packed Minute Maid Park in Houston last September; a patch of green, his family and friends, made themselves heard as Luzardo danced through baseball's best lineup. He was unfazed, despite giving up a home run in the second at bat, displaying maturity scouts had praised.
A sea of cardboard and a middling Texas Rangers lineup greeted Luzardo for his first big league start nearly a year after his debut, though a peanut gallery of players clapped his first out of Elvis Andrus.
He dealt five shutout innings, striking out five. His fastball got up to 98 mph, his sinker to 99 mph with a changeup that got up to 95, according to Statcast.
He had trouble throwing his slider for strikes, but seemed to find it more toward the end of his outing when he caught Scott Heineman looking at a slider on the paint.
