WEST SACRAMENTO – Entering the night on a season-high losing streak coupled with the loss of a starting pitcher to injury for the second time this week, the Athletics desperately needed someone to step up and get things back on track. J.T. Ginn answered the call, allowing just one unearned run across six innings on Saturday night at Sutter Health Park. That start, along with the slugging trio of Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom and Nick Kurtz each homering to provide the majority of the offense, was enough for the A’s to snap a four-game losing skid with a 6-4 victory over the Yankees. Kurtz’s two-run blast off Ryan Weathers in the seventh proved crucial, as the A’s bullpen allowed a five-run lead to shrink to a two-run lead with five walks in the ninth before Scott Barlow retired Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a bases-loaded groundout to escape with the win. On a day that began with the A’s learning that their ace Luis Severino will be out for some time with a right shoulder strain, Ginn showed why the A’s believe in his potential as a frontline starter by limiting the Yankees to four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. The only run New York scored off him was a result of back-to-back errors by the A’s defense in the fourth. Ginn’s run of success is stretching beyond just a small sample size. Since moving from the bullpen into the rotation on April 10, the 27-year-old righty holds a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts, and the A’s are 7-3 in those games. “This kid has been throwing the baseball really well,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Tonight, he attacked. The changeup was a weapon that really allowed him to keep these guys off-balance. He kept the ball down all night, which is a strength of J.T.’s, and he really mixed a cutter in nicely.” The Yankees stacked their starting lineup with six left-handed hitters. In the past, this might have spelled doom for Ginn. But this year’s version of himself is different, as he showed by holding those six lefties to 3-for-14 with two walks.
