On Saturday, the Oakland A’s made their fifth attempt at using a relief pitcher as an opener to start a game, with a traditional starter coming in later. Here is a full rundown on the idea, and here is a look at how the first four tries went.
This time, it didn’t go well. Liam Hendriks pitched a scoreless 1st inning as usual, but then lefty reliever Dean Kiekhefer gave up two runs in the 2nd. Chris Bassitt entered in the 3rd as the long-man and made it to the 6th before allowing Tampa Bay to score again, but in the end the A’s never held a lead and the Rays won the game.