Luzardo's ‘look good, feel good' mentality key in A's win

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Jesús Luzardo was back to his old ways, glasses and all, in the Athletics’ 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

In 5 1/3 innings, he struck out six and walked only one.

“One walk, I’ll take it,” Luzardo said after the game.

He also simplified his approach in other similar ways. Luzardo sported a gold undershirt and gold cleats. He also brought back his walkout song from 2020 and relied on an old routine.

“Yeah I guess, ‘Look good, feel good,’ I think that’s a thing for all of us,” Luzardo said. “Rocking those new cleats, they’re awesome I like them. I felt good out there, so yeah. I don’t know if the outfit had anything to do with it, maybe the glasses did though.” 

A 25-minute lighting delay, when the Coliseum's lights went out behind left field, was just about the only thing that slowed down Luzardo. It wasn't as long as the over 90-minute delay on May 7, 2019, when Mike Fiers threw his second career no-hitter in a win over the Cincinnati Reds, but Luzardo was nearly as dominant.

Luzardo kept warm by quickly putting on his jacket and throw a few balls in the A’s bullpen. He didn’t skip a beat once the game resumed.

“Kind of just dominating the strike zone, just getting ahead, that was a real big focus of mine,” Luzardo said. “Getting ahead with good pitches, aggressive pitches -- not just get me over fastball or off-speed. So being able to be aggressive in the zone really helped me out.”

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Luzardo was coming off of some really rough outings heading into Tuesday’s matchup, but A’s manager Bob Melvin always knew Luzardo would bounce back.

“Well, you know what, he’s really good,” Melvin said. “He’s really talented and he has a lot of confidence. He’s had to go through some tough stretches, but it seems, like you said, when he has a tough game, he comes back and responds. Had a really good fastball today. Only one walk. I think recently our starters have really commanded their fastball well.”

Luzardo tried to experiment without his glasses prior to Tuesday’s win. He didn’t like the foggy frames, nor having to think twice about them, but that has changed.

The glasses aren't going anywhere.

"I'm back to my old ways," he said. 

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