SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A look of puzzlement ran across D-backs outfielder Joc Pederson’s face. Never before had he seen anything quite like the pitch from Ross Stripling that caused him to swing so hopelessly for strike three twice in the same game. So, while jogging back to the home dugout at Salt River Fields in the third inning, Pederson shouted a question to his former Giants teammate.

"Hey, is that the Deathball?" Pederson asked.

"Yeah, that’s the Deathball," Stripling said, to which Pederson replied, "I get it twice?!"

All throughout spring, Stripling has been working to try to harness his new "Deathball," which he also says can be called a "Gyroball." Stripling describes the pitch as an “inefficient slider” that drops straight down. The hope is that the new offering can lead to more swing-and-miss and up his strikeout totals.

Struggling to truly gain a feel for the new pitch in previous outings, Stripling finally produced the results he was looking for in the A’s 3-3 tie against the D-backs on Monday. Making his fourth Cactus League outing, the right-hander worked five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts, all three of which featured the "Deathball" as the putaway pitch, two to Pederson and one to Jose Fernandez.

Stripling plans to use the "Deathball" mostly against right-handed hitters, so the fact that he was able to strike out a lefty in Pederson twice with it was a somewhat unexpected but encouraging development.

“It’s good to be able to get lefties with it,” Stripling said. “In my head, it’s going to be more of a weapon against righties. I’ve always been able to get lefties out better than righties. But if it can end up being a swing-and-miss pitch to lefties, too, that would be good.”

For most veteran-type pitchers, Spring Training is less about the numbers and more about building up for the regular season. Stripling, however, places importance on actual game results, which has made his less-than-stellar performance to this point a bit frustrating -- he entered Monday holding an 11.32 ERA in three outings.

Compared to Stripling’s previous outing against the Padres last week, though, when he was tagged for eight runs on 13 hits, Monday was a step in the right direction. Still, Stripling, who will begin the season in Oakland’s rotation, hopes to produce a better line in his final spring outing on either Saturday against the Angels or Monday against the Giants.

“I’m more caught up in [spring results] than most,” Stripling said. “It’s good to get your work in, but it’s telling to know where you are and what your stuff is doing. Those are still Major League hitters and I’m trying to get them out. It’s not like I’m up there with a thought process of like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to work on this slider.’ I’m trying to get them out. So, when you give up 13 hits like I did in the last outing, and another seven today, it’s still a lot of hits.”

Stripling added: “Today was a good step forward. I deployed the arsenal. I also scouted more today. I had an actual plan against some of the guys that I’ve faced before like Joc and [Eugenio] Suárez and [Christian] Walker. But I can still get better.”

Spence likely bullpen-bound
With Spring Training nearing its end, Joe Boyle has seemingly won the battle for the final spot in Oakland’s rotation, beating out contenders Mitch Spence and Kyle Muller. All three, however, still figure to make the Opening Day roster, with Spence and Muller expected to take on long-relief roles in the bullpen.

On Monday, the A’s prepared Spence for a potential bullpen role by having him pitch the final two innings of the game. He responded with two hitless innings, allowing just one walk while striking out five batters.

“He’s done a nice job,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Spence. “We wanted to bring him out of the bullpen today and get him used to what could be a role for him going forward.”

Here’s a breakdown of the three rotation candidates, who each could still make at least one more appearance before the end of camp:

RHP Joe Boyle
Spring stats: Five games (15 1/3 innings), 2.93 ERA, 15 strikeouts, 12 walks
Most recent Cactus League start: 4 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 5 K's

LHP Kyle Muller
Spring stats: Four games (11 innings), 4.91 ERA, 15 strikeouts, 4 walks
Most recent Cactus League start: 3 IP, 9 hits, 6 runs (5 ER), 1 walk, 4 K's

RHP Mitch Spence
Spring stats: Five games (15 innings), 3.60 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 5 walks
Most recent Cactus League outing: 2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K's