'It was a great start': Spence's maturity on display in defeat

TORONTO -- Maturity in a starting pitcher manifests in the ability to control innings and limit damage, according to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay.

“A lot of young guys, when they get baserunners on base, they think they’ve got to strike somebody out to get out of an inning,” Kotsay said.

In Oakland’s 3-1 loss against the Blue Jays on Friday, starter Mitch Spence flashed that maturity. The 26-year-old pitcher, making just the 15th start of his MLB career, controlled innings, worked out of jams, and twirled his way to 5 2/3 strong frames at Rogers Centre.

“It was a great start by Mitch tonight, really,” Kostay said.

Spence’s outing could’ve spiraled quickly. On the starter’s fifth pitch of the contest, Blue Jays outfielder George Springer collided with a slider and sent the ball a Statcast-projected 421 feet over the left-field wall. The leadoff homer was immediately followed by consecutive singles.

At times this year, Spence has let the big innings unravel, Kotsay said before the contest. But not on Friday. With a little help from JJ Bleday throwing out Daulton Varsho trying for third base, Spence drew soft contact from the next two Toronto at-bats to escape the inning with just Springer’s solo shot on the board.

Spence carried things into the next inning, working out of the second frame on just 11 pitches -- he then kept it going into the sixth.

When Blue Jays baserunners got back on, Spence kept flashing that maturity and limiting the damage. With Toronto runners bouncing off first and third in the fourth inning, Spence adjusted his cap before pushing home.

“I try not to get too big and strike everybody out,” Spence said. “My biggest thing is focusing on just getting weak contact and getting ground balls. With that, the swings and misses will come.”

With a strike against Joey Loperfido, the Oakland pitcher pushed a slider into the zone, earning a grounder into the infield. First baseman Abraham Toro corralled the resulting bouncer at first base and stepped on the bag to get Spence out of the jam.

It’s that slider in combination with Spence’s cutter that’s made him so effective lately.

The pair of pitches represented 81% of Spence's deliveries on Friday and earned him seven of his 10 whiffs. The righty has leaned heavily on those pitches in recent starts to great success, notching his fourth-straight start allowing three or fewer earned runs.

Spence wasn’t the only rookie who flashed in Toronto, as Oakland infielder Darell Hernaiz snagged a memorable first. The 23-year-old turned on an inside sinker in the third frame, yanking the José Berríos fastball to deep left field. Hernaiz’s sprint out of the box quickly turned to a trot as the ball cleared the outfield wall for his first career homer.

The infielder, who became the fourth Athletics rookie to hit his first career homer this season, was greeted by a line of applause as he returned to the road dugout, slapped on the helmet by teammates while ducking through the crowd.

"It was pure joy, bliss,” Hernaiz said. “I don't know, it was awesome. It was a good feeling."

The two standout rookie performances weren’t enough to snatch an Oakland win, though. Spence’s day ended with two outs in the sixth frame, after Alejandro Kirk drove in a run on a fielder’s choice -- a run that would end up being the deciding tally.

Despite taking the loss, Spence's delivered his fourth straight start working into the sixth inning. He has pitched at least five frames in nine of his past 10 outings.

“When you got a starter going out and definitely going through five and into the sixth inning, start after start, it not only is building confidence for him as an individual, but as a team,” Kotsay said.