Irvin's fastball leads to 'successful' start in win

Coors Field doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being kind to pitchers. Balls travel farther. Quality starts are rare. Breaking stuff isn’t effective. But on Saturday night, the hitter-friendly confines served as the backdrop to Cole Irvin's solid outing, one in which he played to his strengths.

Irvin rebounded from a rough month of May in the A’s 6-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field, allowing one run across six innings with five strikeouts in what was his best outing in recent weeks.

“The first inning was a little spotty, but after that, really good,” said manager Bob Melvin. “The last four innings, [minus] the first inning of this game and then through the sixth, that’s what we’ve seen most of this year.”

Irvin expressed regret following his last start against the Angels that he didn’t emphasize his fastball sooner. He amended that shortcoming against Colorado, going to the four-seamer early and often. The result? The best success he’s ever had with the pitch.

The left-hander’s 50 fastballs accounted for 59 percent of all the pitches he threw, the highest pitch percentage he’s had with his heater this season. That emphasis on the fastball bore fruit; Irvin generated 19 called strikes and whiffs with his fastball, the most he’s had in a single game in his career.

Coors Field certainly played a role in Irvin’s use of the fastball -- secondary pitches often don’t have as much movement in the high altitude. But while Irvin’s breaking pitches may be less effective at altitude, his reliance on the pitch was a function of him playing to his strengths.

“If you look at my previous starts and my successful starts, it’s been a lot of good fastballs, fastball command, whether or not I’m sinking it or put it inside on guys," Irvin said. "Just mixing the fastball and pitching off of that is where I’ve had success.”

Irvin’s latest outing was an encouraging one given that he'd allowed 13 runs across 15 2/3 innings in his final three starts of May, the most runs he’s allowed in any three-game stretch of his young career.

Despite that recent skid, Irvin has begun to correct the course. Dating back to his previous start against the Angels, Irvin has only allowed one run and one walk in his last 10 innings pitched. Irvin even got in on the offense as well by flipping a single into left field, the second hit of his career and the first hit by an Oakland pitcher this season.

“I love hitting to a point where I want to flip the lineup over and I want to be on base, or at least to see a few pitches,” Irvin said. “I definitely didn’t when the reliever came in -- that was just ugly all the way around -- but I’m serious when I’m hitting. I want to move guys over, I want to be part of the lineup just as much as the hitters do.”

On the subject of hitting, Oakland’s lineup provided Irvin with more than enough run support to go out and attack.

Matt Olson hit a two-run homer in the first inning, but was one-upped when Chad Pinder hit an absolute moonshot onto the Coors Field concourse. At an estimated 462 feet with an exit velocity of 112.2 mph, it was a no-doubter in every sense of the word, one that generated gasps throughout the stadium.

Not to be lost in the home run frenzy was another all-around fantastic game for Mark Canha, who filled up the box score and highlight reel once more. Canha recorded three hits, including a double, a run scored, an RBI, an outfield assist and made a diving catch in center field.

“Here, it’s not easy,” Pinder said. “That is a massive outfield. The wind was whipping tonight. That play in that last inning, that could’ve been a huge momentum swing for them and he plugged it up. That was an outstanding play to be able to get that guy on the assist; that’s a heads-up play.”

Just as it’s not easy to navigate Coors Field’s massive outfield, it’s not easy to minimize an offense on the mound. But on Saturday evening, Irvin did just that.