Lawrence Butler Shines, Max Schuemann Debuts in A's Walk-Off Win

Jason Burke | Apr 13, 2024

Apr 12, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler (4) celebrates / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND -- On Thursday, the Oakland A's added utility-man Max Schuemann to the roster. In the bottom of the tenth inning on Friday night, he made his MLB debut as the "ghost runner."

After an intentional walk to Shea Langeliers and a Tyler Nevin strikeout, Lawrence Butler smacked a single to left, scoring the latest A's rookie.

"I don't know if you can beat that right there, scoring the winning run" Schuemann said of his debut. His run gave the A's a 2-1 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals, who had tied the game at one run in the top of the ninth on a Jesse Winker (4-for-4) home run.

The A's led for most of the contest behind a Butler solo home run that traveled a projected 445 feet and came off the bat at 113.1 miles per hour in the third inning off Jake Irvin. The right-hander is the same pitcher that gave up Butler's first hit in the big leagues last season. When asked about the wind blowing in, the A's outfielder said "113 is probably my hardest-hit ball. If that didn't get out, then I might just give [baseball] up."

Butler's homer was the A's lone hit until Seth Brown singled in the seventh. Oakland would finish with just three on the night, two from Butler, to secure their fifth win in six games. The club is now 6-8 on the season.

Mark Kotsay told reporters that there was a focus on Butler's timing at the plate on the recent road trip. "I think he's starting to sync up. His at-bats tonight were all good." The A's manager mentioned that he and Butler had a chat in his room on Saturday night about making an adjustment, and that the outfielder was in the cage early on Sunday with the hitting coaches. "You could see a difference in the timing and the ability to give himself a little more freedom."

Butler said that his manger's confidence in him has been appreciated. "It just kind of builds your confidence, knowing that you're going to be in there every day. Kind of just take each at-bat as a lesson and not feel like I might not play tomorrow."

Not to be lost in MLB debuts and Butler's offensive heroics, Paul Blackburn extended his scoreless streak to begin the season to 19.1 innings pitched, which is the longest run by a starting pitcher to begin a season in Oakland A's history. The franchise mark sits at 23 innings, set by Harry Krause in 1910. That just so happened to be the season that the A's won their first World Series in franchise history.

Blackburn worked 6.1 scoreless innings, gave up five hits, two walks, and struck out four. "We're playing really good baseball. I feel like we kind of flipped the page on our first homestand and guys have kind of settled in. I think we're a good team. I really do." The right-hander hasn't allowed an earned run dating back to March 10 when the club was in the middle stages of Spring Training.

Underrated play: In the top of the tenth inning with the inherited runner, Trey Lipscomb, at second, shortstop C.J. Abrams grounded to first baseman Tyler Nevin, who played cat and mouse with the runner as he inched towards first for the sure out. Nevin took a couple of steps towards first, at which time Lipscomb took off for third. Nevin touched first, then fired a strike to third for the 3-5 double play.

Kotsay said that the play is pure instinct postgame. Nevin went into a little more detail on what was going through his mind on the play. "Any time there's a runner on second and as a first baseman you're playing in, you've got to be aware of that. If that short hop happens, that guy is either staying put or he's screwed. In that situation when something is hit hard at you, you just have to kind of see what's going on and assess, and know that first base is right there."