Detwiler’s quick adjustments pay off with gem

OAKLAND — A’s starter Ross Detwiler knew he needed to locate his pitches lower in the strike zone, and needed to do it quickly. In a game as close as Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over the Orioles, the slightest of adjustments made a critical difference.

Baltimore roped two straight doubles to open the game, the second by J.J. Hardy appearing to drive in Adam Jones on a close play at the plate, when he narrowly beat a throw home by Max Muncy from shallow center field.

But an A’s challenge showed Jones’ front foot never touched the plate, and he was instead tagged out by A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell. Detwiler induced ensuing groundouts from Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo, ultimately left the inning unscathed, and a rousing A’s debut was underway.

“I told myself right there, “I gotta get the ball down a little bit,’ because they were hitting it pretty hard,” Detwiler said. “It’s about getting ahead and executing pitches later in the game.”

That, he most certainly did. Detwiler threw eight scoreless innings, allowing only six hits while striking out two in his Oakland debut. Baltimore didn’t advance a runner past second base after the first inning, and didn’t even manage a hit in Detwiler’s final three frames.

It was quite the …

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