Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
The A’s won their game and series at Camden Yards against the Orioles yesterday on the strength of clutch hitting late in the game and knockout relief work, the same formula that won the first game of the series on Friday. But yesterday, the save opportunity was given to Lucas Erceg even though fireballing sensation and closer apparent Mason Miller had rested on Saturday.
Erceg rose to the occasion with a brilliant 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts to earn his first career save. I imagine few protested the choice to use Lucas in that high leverage situation: as impressive as Miller has been, Erceg is rightly gaining more recognition for achieving greater mastery of his own formidable stuff.