Former Braves prospect walks it off for A's

Drew Lugbauer and Hoy Park go deep in A's 9-8 win

The Oakland A's scored nine runs in their first win of the spring, beating the NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks 9-8 in walk-off fashion. It was former Atlanta Braves prospect Drew Lugbauer that collected the big hit, a solo homer, in the bottom of the ninth after the D-Backs had tied up the game at eight in the top half. 

Drew called game❗️ pic.twitter.com/EQX5aewWe2

— Oakland A's (@Athletics) February 26, 2024

That follow through looks a lot like former A's first baseman Matt Olson. Like Oly, Lugbauer has some pop in his bat, putting up 24, 28, and 25 home runs the past three seasons in the minors. In his first taste of Triple-A last year as a 26-year-old, he struck out 44.9% of the time in 25 games. He won't be in the mix for the roster in Oakland until those strikeouts come down a good bit. 

Outfielder Hoy Park, who spent last season in the Braves system, also jumped aboard the home run train on Monday, swatting a three-run dinger in the bottom of the sixth. So far he is 3-for-5 in camp with a double and a home run, two runs scored, and four rbi. He was brought in this offseason as a depth piece, but he may be able to jump up the depth chart a bit if he keeps hitting. In addition to roaming the outfield, he has been used all over the infield, primarily at second base. 

The story of the day was the debut of Mitch Spence, the Rule 5 pick that was making his first appearance in the green and gold. Due to his Rule 5 status, he will either be with the A's all season long, or sent back to the New York Yankees. 

On Monday, Spence went two frames, gave up three hits, one run, struck out three, and didn't allow any walks. After working around a two-out single in the first, Spence gave up a single to Emmanuel Rivera which was followed by a double from Andres Chaparro, scoring a run. Two of the three strikeouts were swinging. 

In three games, the four A's hurlers to pitch early on, who all happen to be vying for a spot on the roster, have combined to allow just two runs over eight innings and have walked a total of one batter. Free passes were a huge issue for A's pitchers in the early going last season, so this start has to have manager Mark Kotsay feeling a little better in the early going. 

New addition to the bullpen Trevor Gott allowed two hits, including a solo homer to Jordan Lawlar in his inning of work. He gave up one run, walked one, and struck out one. 

Lucas Erceg, who's in the mix for the closer role, walked one, but due to errors by Abraham Toro and Aledmys Díaz, he gave up an unearned run in his first action. 

Adrían Martínez, 27, has one option remaining, which makes this season a big one for him. His first outing of camp was a bit rough, as the righty allowed four runs on three hits and a walk in his inning of work. The outing began with a single by Chaparro, then a walk Ivan Melendez, followed by a home run by Kristian Robinson. Brett Johnson made it back-to-back blasts.

To his credit, Martínez rebounded nicely, retiring the next three in order on a pop up and a pair of ground outs to second. 

We talked about Daz Cameron following Sunday's game when he singled off of Dodgers' closer Evan Phillips, and on Monday he came into the game late and collected another single off D-Backs 20-year-old righty Yu-Min Lin, who is ranked by Baseball Prospectus as MLB's No. 74 prospect. Cameron also drew a walk against Cristian Mena, 21, who was recently acquired from the White Sox in the Dominic Fletcher trade. 

Cameron, like Park, is not on the A's 40-man roster, which means that they would have to impress enough to get someone else taken off to clear a spot for them. It's early on in spring training, but there are some interesting performances to continue to keep an eye on. 

New addition Abraham Toro got the start at second base and went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. He also committed two errors on the same play in the top of the fifth to put Corbin Carroll aboard, then advance him to second base. 

Meanwhile, Miguel Andújar played in left, went 1-for-3 with a single, and notched an outfield assist on the Chaparro double that scored a run in the second. He chopped Chaparro down at third as he tried to stretch his two-bagger into three. 

JP Sears is expected to get the nod on Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians, the A's Opening Day opponent, in Goodyear.