Friday’s game had an historic flair to it as A’s reliever Pat Venditte became the first “switch pitcher” since 1995 to appear in a major league game.
Otherwise, the A’s performance in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox wasn’t exactly time capsule-worthy. They committed three errors and starter Scott Kazmir couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning, as Oakland’s season-high four-game winning streak came to a halt.
Venditte, the 29-year-old ambidextrous pitcher who was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Nashville, made his major league debut in the bottom of the seventh.