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On Friday night, switch-pitcher Pat Venditte made his much-anticipated debut for the Oakland Athletics, coming into the game in the seventh inning to face some right- and left-handed Boston Red Sox batters. His first left-handed pitch? A strike. His first right-handed pitch? A strike!
Venditte is the first switch-pitcher to appear in the majors since Greg A. Harris last pitched in 1995. He's only the second such pitcher to play in MLB's modern era.
Venditte pitched two full innings on Friday, allowing zero runs and one hit with one strikeout. He gave up a single to Hanley Ramirez in the seventh, but then induced a double play grounder. And yes, he made warm-up pitches with both arms:
Now righty pic.twitter.com/lr42AGGYf8
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) June 6, 2015
Now lefty pic.twitter.com/hC3udaviOy
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) June 6, 2015
Even the Fenway Park organist thought this was an awesome moment:
7th inning: Major League debut of switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. I played Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."
— Josh Kantor (@jtkantor) June 6, 2015
Let's hope Venditte pitches in every game ever, forever.