OAKLAND — Ross Detwiler turned in the game of his career Wednesday night.
Of course, he was simply continuing a trend for the A’s.
The veteran left-hander blanked the Orioles over a career-high eight innings as the A’s won their third in a row over Baltimore, 1-0, at the Coliseum. In his A’s debut, Detwiler rang up his first major league victory as a starter since May 10, 2013, when he was a Washington National.
His outing continued the theme for Oakland so far in this four-game series: Get great starting pitching, mix in just a tad of offense and make it stand. The A’s have scored a grand total of six runs in this series but have parlayed that into three victories. In the process, they’ve knocked the Orioles out of first place in the American League East. Toronto’s victory Wednesday gave them sole possession of the top spot.
Detwiler, acquired for cash from Cleveland on July 17, was added to the roster Wednesday after winning four starts in a row for Triple-A Nashville. The A’s are his third organization since being released by the Rangers in July of last season. He made seven relief appearances for the Indians this season but was starting at Triple-A Columbus when the A’s got him.
The A’s are down to two healthy starters right now in their rotation. But just as it seemed their starting staff was being held together by a thread, they’ve grouped together three stellar efforts.
Kendall Graveman allowed just a single run in seven innings Monday. Then Zach Neal, subbing in from the bullpen, threw 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball Tuesday for the best outing of his career. The 30-year-old Detwiler (1-0) stepped up big Wednesday, holding a powerful Orioles lineup to just six hits. He struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.
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The A’s got the only run they needed in the third on Yonder Alonso’s run-scoring double off Yovani Gallardo (4-4), taking care of business in a tidy 2 hours, 24 minutes.
