When the Oakland Athletics acquired Ike Davis for cash from the Pittsburgh Pirates in November, little did they know they found their next unheralded bullpen weapon. The first baseman pitched a perfect eighth inning on Tuesday night for the A's in Anaheim against the Angels.
Ike Davis pitches scoreless inning for Athletics
Who says a 14-1 blowout can’t be entertaining?
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately for Oakland, just about nothing else went right on Tuesday, and the A's trailed 14-1 when they turned to Davis in the bottom of the eighth to help save the rest of the bullpen. Davis got Collin Cowgill, C.J. Cron and Chris Iannetta all on ground balls in his professional pitching debut.
Davis is the son of Ron Davis, who pitched in the big leagues for 11 seasons. Son Ike also pitched for three years at Arizona State, including a 2.25 ERA as a junior in 2008, with 30 strikeouts and only four walks in 24 innings. But he was drafted as a hitter, and has made his money as a pro at first base.
But Davis was so efficient in his perfect inning on the mound, he even lobbied for a return trip.
Davis only threw nine pitches, says he's available tomorrow: "I’ll pitch anytime they want me to."
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 22, 2015 See More:
