A's Gunnar Hoglund Dominant in MLB Debut

Hoglund pitched six innings, gave up just one run on six hits, struck out seven, and walked none. He was effective with his pitch count, throwing 81 pitches, 56 for strikes.

The rookie threw consistent strikes on the mound, finding himself ahead in counts all night. Hoglund threw his fastball the majority of the time, averaging 93.7 mph. Both his changeup and fastball finished with whiff rates of 43%, with 6-of-14 fastballs that were offered at resulting in a swing and a miss, while the change was 3-of-7.

The A's have been looking for an answer in the fifth rotation spot since the start of the season, and Hoglund looked the part in his first start. The A's offense has been red hot to start the year, and if the pitching can find more consistency, this young A's club may never look back. The A's offense has been a borderline top-5 group over the first month of the season.

Hoglund impressed everyone in his debut, and it is clear why the A's called him up. His stuff is filthy, he commands the strike zone, and is not afraid to attack hitters. Barring any changes, Hoglund is slated to pitch next Wednesday against the AL West leader, the Seattle Mariners.

As for the game itself, the A's struck for a pair in the second inning when a walk, hit-by-pitch and another walk loaded the bases with one away. No. 1 prospect Nick Kurtz singled to right to bring home a run, and then with two away, Jacob Wilson walked to bring in the second run of the inning.

After not having a walk to his name through the first few weeks of the year, Wilson now has four on the season, with two of those coming with the bases loaded.

JJ Bleday struck again in the third, hitting a solo homer against his former club to push the score to 3-0. Bleday ended up going 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run and a double, scoring three times and driving home one.

In the fifth, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom walked to begin the frame, and was pushed to second on a balk, and then to third when Brent Rooker flew out to center and he tagged up. Shea Langeliers brought him home on a sac-fly.

Bleday would double, knocking starter Valente Bellozo from the game, and Seth Brown would bring Bleday home on a single off Ronny Henriquez. Brown then stole second, and came around to score on an error from shortstop Xavier Edwards. The throw bounced ahead of first base and ended up hitting first baseman Matt Mervis in the un-fun zone.

Marlins centerfielder Dane Meyers would lead off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to make it 6-1, and that would end up being the final score in this one.

Hogan Harris came on in relief of Hoglund in the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames, walking one and striking out one. He'd give way to Rule 5 draftee Noah Murdock in the ninth, who gave up one hit, to Eric Wagaman, before striking out Mervis and Connor Norby to end the game.

With the win, Hoglund earns the first win of his career.