Hottest pitcher in MLB? Could be Bassitt

There might not be a pitcher in baseball entering the postseason on a better roll than Chris Bassitt.

Making his final start before the Wild Card Series, which begins Tuesday, Bassitt did what he’s been doing all season: dominate. The right-hander tossed seven shutout innings before Mark Canha walked it off with a two-run homer for a 3-1 victory over the Mariners in 10 innings on Friday at the Coliseum. It was Bassitt's third scoreless outing in his past four starts.

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The win moved the A’s up to No. 2 in the American League postseason standings.

“He’s been so consistent for us you almost expect it out of him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Seven innings was plenty tonight with what’s coming up in potentially his next start. He knows where everything is going and has a good feel for his breaking ball. Really good game again, and similar to what we’ve seen all year."

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A season that began with Bassitt landing a spot in the A’s starting rotation mostly due to others' injuries ended with him ranking among the game’s elite. His 2.29 ERA over 11 starts is third lowest among American League starters. Bassitt’s terrific work in September should merit AL Player of the Month Award consideration, too. In four September starts, Bassitt went 3-0 with a 0.34 ERA, allowing just one run, with 25 strikeouts over 26 2/3 innings.

Canha joined the A’s in 2015, when Bassitt was a 26-year-old swingman still looking to find his footing in the big leagues. Canha has witnessed Bassitt's long journey up close, one that included Tommy John surgery in ‘16. To see how far Bassitt has come since then has been nothing short of inspirational, Canha said.

“He’s just lights out, since last year, it seems like,” Canha said. “He just has this confidence when he is on the mound. He believes in all his pitches and has conviction in what he’s doing. I’ve played with him for a while now, and it’s been fun watching him blossom into the competitor that he is today.”

Retiring 14 in a row at one point on Friday, Bassitt limited the Mariners to five singles and did not issue a walk over seven innings. Preserving his arm for the postseason -- he was pulled after 81 pitches -- Bassitt’s next trip to the mound could come at the Coliseum in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series on Wednesday, which would come on his regular turn in the rotation.

The Bassitt from 2015 might have been losing sleep as he pondered when his next start might come. But the '20 Bassitt has a new mentality.

“I’m not too worried about when I pitch,” Bassitt said. “I think I’ve had the year that I’ve had this year and last because I’ve not worried about stuff I can’t control. For years, that was hard for me. But this year, to the extreme, I feel like I haven’t one time worried about that. They’ll make the decision that’s best for the team, and I’ll go with that.”

Now that Bassitt will enter postseason with some extra confidence, the A’s offense will look to do the same. Entering Friday, Oakland hitters were hitting a combined .194 over their past 11 games, and the offensive woes continued for most of Friday, as they went into the 10th going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. But then came the Coliseum magic.

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Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the 10th, Ramón Laureano kept the game alive with a game-tying two run double that scored Nate Orf, who began the inning as the automatic runner at second base. Three pitches later, Canha unleashed on a 1-1 sinker left up in the zone by Joey Gerber, sending the walk-off blast an estimated 392 feet, as it sailed over the wall in right-center.

Oakland's overall numbers might not jump off the page, but these A’s have shown clutch ability. Friday marked the club’s sixth walk-off win off the season and its sixth win in extras.

“It was crunch time,” Canha said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are clutch. Ramón is one of those guys, and I consider myself one of those guys. The moment is never too big for us as a team. That felt like a lot of the wins we’ve had this year. We have that special ability to win in dramatic fashion. It’s a good thing to have.”

Friday’s game was also a perfect example of the importance of having home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series, which the A’s clinched after wrapping up their first AL West title since 2013 on Tuesday. They are 21-8 at home this season.

“It’s been good for us,” Melvin said of home-field advantage. “We feel really confident in those innings. You give us a chance late, we’ve shown we can win games like that here at home. It’s a little different on the road when you don’t have the last at-bat.”