Why Waldichuk's outing vs. Braves reminds Kotsay of Robbie Ray

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Another day, another solid outing from an Athletics starter. This time, it was rookie Ken Waldichuk's turn.

Following his encouraging start against the Washington Nationals on Sept. 1, Waldichuk was given the unenviable task of facing the reigning champion Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. 

For the most part, Waldichuk performed well, generally keeping Atlanta's hitters off balance.

"Just getting ahead was the biggest thing for me," Waldichuk said of his outing. "Getting ahead and executing offspeed.

"I think I was able to get ahead, not really execute with two strikes that's why I only made it five innings."

In his 5 1/3 innings of work, the lefty gave up three hits, three earned runs, and stuck out two in the A's 7-3 loss. A's manager Mark Kotsay thought Waldichuk had another strong start, despite the Braves tagging him for three runs. 

"I think that Ken did a great job, outside of the two home runs, he really pitched well today," Kotsay said. "He got us into the sixth inning ... overall, I think Ken did a great job."

Offensively, Seth Brown, Stephen Vogt, and Ramon Laureano drove in Oakland's three runs. Of note, Brown's solo home run in the eighth inning -- his 21st of the year (a career-high) -- was his fourth in the last games and his 11th since the All-Star Break, which is among the AL's most.

"Just trying to be a little bit, have a little bit less effort with everything I have at the plate," he said of his approach of late. "From the load to the swing itself, just tone the effort down and have a more consistent bat path through the zone."

For the Braves, Spencer Strider continued his dominant rookie campaign. After struggling to find the zone and giving up two runs in the first, Strider was able to compose himself and went six innings, gave up three walks, two hits, and struck out nine.

With a one-run lead heading into the seventh, the Braves exploded for four runs off of A's relievers Tyler Cyr and Kirby Snead.

Despite the outcome, Kotsay was optimistic about Waldichuk's progression as a starter, specifically his pitch usage, and compared him to a recent AL Cy Young winner.

"Robbie Ray comes to mind a little bit," Kotsay said. "That's a lofty name to throw out there but I think there's some similarities there."

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The A's will start a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox at home on Thursday at 6:40 p.m. PT. JP Sears will take the mound for the A's, opposite of AL Cy Young hopeful Dylan Cease.

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