Bassitt fought nerves during A's win in historic Fenway

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Chris Bassitt’s outing in the Athletics’ 3-2 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night was one of the best performances of the season, according to manager Bob Melvin.

But Bassitt admitted he had plenty of nerves during the first inning. That was because he was living out a dream of his: Pitching at historic Fenway Park.

“You talk about ballparks, environments, atmospheres that you’ve always wanted to pitch in -- like, I grew up an Indians fan, so I always wanted to pitch in Cleveland and then growing up I always wanted to pitch here,” Bassitt said. 

In the first inning, Alex Verdugo hit a line-drive single to right field and moved up twice on two wild pitches by Bassitt.

“Every game with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, and all those guys -- that’s what I grew up watching, those Yankee-Boston games so my nerves were way more than normal in the first inning,” Bassitt said.

Bassitt managed to clean things up quickly. 

“After that, I just started pitching again and it was kind of normal, but I would say the first inning, Fenway got the best of me,” Bassitt added.

“In my opinion, this is number one on the list of like, ‘You’ve got to pitch at Fenway.’ The environment, everything about it, sold-out fans.” 

Overall, in seven innings, Bassitt struck out 10 while giving up three hits and two earned runs. 

Bassitt had been to Fenway multiple times, but this was his first time pitching there.

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He got the win, and a memorable experience to top it off. Even with a fraction of the fans at the park, he felt the energy. 

"I can't even fathom this place in a playoff environment,” Bassitt said.

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