Four no more: Irvin drops ERA to 3.98 with 6 scoreless frames

OAKLAND -- After a pair of rough outings pushed his ERA above 4.00 for the first time since the start of the season, Cole Irvin entered his final start of 2022 on Tuesday knowing precisely what was required to get it back under.

Facing a potent Angels offense that was at full strength with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon all in the lineup, Irvin needed six shutout innings to finish a season with a sub-4.00 ERA for the first time in his Major League career, and that’s exactly what he delivered.

In Oakland’s 2-1 walk-off victory over the Angels that ended with a bases-loaded walk by Shea Langeliers in the 10th inning, Irvin fired six scoreless frames, holding the Halos to just four hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

“For Cole, we gave him a goal to shoot for tonight,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “From pitch one, you could tell the mindset was going to be, ‘I’m going to get where I need to be.’ His goal was to get the ERA down, to give us a chance to win and pitch six innings. Really just finish off on a good note. I would say he accomplished all of that tonight.”

Cruising towards his milestone for most of the night, Irvin found himself in serious jeopardy of losing grasp of that target in the sixth, when Mike Trout led off with a double and moved to third on a flyout one batter later. With runners at the corners and two outs, Irvin secured his goal with a flyout of Matt Duffy to end the threat.

Walking off the Coliseum mound after watching Conner Capel haul in the final out in right field, Irvin fist-pumped and let out a roar before returning to hugs all around from his teammates and coaches inside the A’s dugout.

“It was very satisfying,” Irvin said. “I had pitched with a 3.00 ERA all season and this month was really an uphill battle for me. To put up six zeros against a pretty good lineup, I can be happy about it to end the year.”

Kotsay added: “That was a really cool moment. He’s grinded all year. That ERA over the last few starts had gotten inflated. … Giving him that opportunity and allowing him to go through it was an easy decision. Cole’s our guy this year that’s pitched into the sixth, seventh, eighth innings and shown that he can go out and finish a game. He showed it again tonight. It’s just a really good feeling to have Cole walk off that mound and accomplish what he did.”

Shining in his season finale, Irvin ended up with his finest season yet as a big leaguer. The 28-year-old made 30 starts for Oakland, going 9-13 while posting a 3.98 ERA with 128 strikeouts and 36 walks over 181 innings. The strikeouts and innings pitched are both career highs for Irvin.

“Overall, the year has been an incredible second season in the green and gold,” Irvin said. “I learned a lot from teammates such as [Stephen Vogt]. There’s so much to say about what he’s brought to my game and my preparation. To finish on a high note and give him a big hug at the end was really good. It’s a good year.

“Making 30-plus starts in back-to-back years, it’s consistent. I’m going to try to do that every year. There’s more goals. You never stop trying to achieve goals.”

Among the goals Irvin has set for next year: Reaching 200 innings and finally notching his first complete game, something he came close to on a few occasions this season.

For as important as Irvin was on the field for the A’s this year, he provided an equal value in the clubhouse. Following the trade of Frankie Montas to the Yankees in August, Irvin was suddenly thrust into a leadership role as Oakland’s most experienced starter in a rotation that only got younger over the final two months of the regular season.

“I couldn’t be happier with Cole, both his year on the field and his maturity in terms of grabbing hold of a leadership role on the staff,” Kotsay said. “He’s accepting it and handling it very well and having an impact on these younger guys. Especially guys like JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, two left-handed starters that are young. Cole’s sharing his experiences of the difficulties and the growing process. For Cole to finish the year the way he did, I’m looking forward to seeing him again next year.”