Chris Bassitt has shown his emotions before, but on Saturday in Seattle, he was visibly angry at himself as he walked toward the dugout after the first inning, yelling into his hat in anger.
The Athletics starter had thrown 32 pitches in a long first inning against the Seattle Mariners.
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Mitch Haniger doubled with one out, and two batters later, Ty France singled off Bassitt to give the Mariners an early 1-0 lead. Cal Raleigh followed that at-bat with a walk. That led to a mound meeting from A’s pitcher coach Scott Emerson.
In Bassitt’s defense, there could have been some questionable calls by home plate umpire Nestor Ceja. Bassitt appeared to look at the ump as he headed toward the A’s dugout.
Bassitt, a first-time All-Star this season, has become a leader on the A’s pitching staff, and while he hasn’t referred to himself as that, he has come a long way to be one of the team’s most dependable starters. It appeared to just be a situation where he was frustrated with himself.
Heading into Saturday's matchup, Bassitt was boasted a 3.31 ERA with an AL-best 10 wins with 126 strikeouts in 125 innings.
Oakland Athletics
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For now, however, the A’s offense had his back. In the top of the third inning, Oakland took the lead on RBI singles from Tony Kemp and Jed Lowrie.