The Oakland Athletics kicked off a big three-game interleague series at O.co Coliseum on Tuesday night. They hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener and allowed a fantastic performance from starter Brandon McCarthy to take the first game by a final score of 3-0.
The A's took great advantage of an abundance of free passes in the game, as they recorded just five hits, but walked 10 times.
All three of the Oakland runs came in the bottom of the first inning, as Seth Smith hit a two-run single that got past center fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. and ended up with Smith standing at third. Smith came in to score on a Jonny Gomes single.
That would be all the runs the Oakland pitching staff would need. McCarthy was fantastic over seven innings of work, allowing the Dodgers just two hits and one walk, while striking out five. Grant Balfour and Ryan Cook held the Dodgers hitless the rest of the way.
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