Toronto Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt reflects on his performance against the hometown Oakland Athletics.
Bassitt reflected on the win (7-1) and his performance (eight innings, seven hits, seven strikeouts, one run) after his start against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA on June 6.
“I came in with a good game plan and did a lot of work behind the scenes,” he said, adding that his preparation paid off.
Bassett worked out of jams in the first and second innings and cruised after allowing a leadoff double in the fourth. He allowed his only run in the seventh.
Head coach John Schneider said, “He was his usual self. He pitched efficiently. He’s been changing up his pitches a little bit lately and it’s paying off. He’s been making clutch pitches for us,” Schneider said.
In the top of the seventh inning, he stayed in the game even though his team’s offense was stretched thin. “If he had a higher pitch count, I would have pulled him, but he had the right pitch count,” Schneider said, explaining why he kept him in.
“In Toronto, I would have been able to warm up behind the plate, but there’s no place for that here,” Bassett said. But I know this place well and I’ve had similar experiences in the past, so I kept moving,” Bassett said.
He played in Oakland from 2015 to 2021. Last season with the New York Mets, he pitched eight innings of two-run ball against the A’s, and he was good again this time around.
When asked if he felt more adrenaline against his hometown team, he said, “It was just the same as usual.”
There was a reason he felt normal. “There are a lot of people on the staff that I’ve played with before, but there are a lot of faces on the team that I don’t recognize anymore. Seth Brown, Tony Kemp, and Zach Neal, who had two hits against me today. So it’s not like I’m any more excited or anything,” he said.
The Athletics are moving to Las Vegas despite the backlash from Oakland fans. Only 4,751 fans were in attendance at the stadium that night as fans turned away in protest.
When asked if he was worried about the number of days he would be here, Bassett cut to the chase: “I’m worried about my team winning, I’m not worried about the Athletics or what Oakland is doing.”
The win moved Toronto back into the third American League wild-card spot, but there’s still a long way to go.안전놀이터
“A lot of people are panicking and there’s been a lot of negative press, but I think our players have shown maturity. It didn’t matter how many games we were out of a postseason spot, we focused on ourselves. If we win all the remaining series, we will be world champions. We care about focusing one game at a time to win every series. We don’t care what other teams are doing, we just have to focus on our game,” he said, emphasizing his attitude toward the end-of-season standings battle.