OAKLAND – It will be difficult for Stephen Piscotty to top the night he had on Thursday.
The A’s outfielder started an 8-4 win over the Tigers with a scorching solo homer in the third inning that was girdled with an exit speed of 109.6 mph and traveled 404 feet to the left, per Statcast, which was his second game on row marked with a home run and qualified as the hardest hit ball of the night. A few hours later, Piscotty ran out of the Colosseum in the seventh inning to join his wife, Carrie, who gave birth to their first child, a boy.
“He left in the middle of the game,” said A’s manager, Bob Melvin. ‘They had a son. I know he’s pretty excited about that, just like us. “
The A’s put Piscotty on the paternity list ahead of Friday’s game against the Tigers. He can be on the list for up to three days, and Melvin said he expects to be on leave for the next two days.
Utility infielder Vimael Machín was called up from the A’s alternate training site in Stockton, California, to take Piscotty’s place on the 26-man roster. Machín’s versatility gives the club the potential to give a day of rest to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who started on Friday after starting all 13 games this season.
“At some point I will give [Elvis] a breather. Just don’t tell him now, ”Melvin joked. ‘It makes it easier. We really didn’t have anyone who could play that position. We will give some guys some days off now that we now have better staff for that. “
Fiers increases the number of pitch
Mike Fiers (lumbar load) could be just one start of rehab, away from participating in the A rotation. The righthanded pitcher threw 77 pitches at the A’s alternate location on Thursday-afternoon in a scrimmage game against Giants Minor Leaguers. His next and possibly final step will be to throw about 90 pitches on Tuesday during an outing at the alternate location.
“Everything has to be fine, and he has to be healthy,” said Melvin. “We’ll try to get it to 90 [April 20], and then we’ll try to do something. “
It’s unclear how the A’s would reconfigure their pitching staff to reintegrate Fiers into the mix. One possibility would be that lefthanded Cole Irvin, who started the season in the rotation in place of Fiers, would move to the bullpen in a long relief role.