Martin County West graduate Brandon Williamson pitched in his fifth game, made his third start and recorded his first win as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Oakland Athletics 7-1 Saturday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
The left-hander is among five pitchers competing for two spots in the Reds’ rotation and the Cincinnati Enquirer called Saturday’s outing his best of the spring as he showed the consistency that the Reds have been looking for.
“I’d like to think I’ve done everything I can to have the opportunity to make the club right away, and I certainly want to,” Williamson told the Enquirer. “I’ve been putting a lot of attention in everything I can do to make the club; I just don’t know where I’m at relative to the other couple guys.”
With Cincinnati trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Williamson saw an opportunity to catch Oakland right fielder Ramón Laureano with something that Williamson hadn’t done before.
Laureano was looking for a curveball on a two-strike count, but Williamson was one step ahead of him. This time, Williamson didn’t pause at the top of his leg lift and also tried to spin the ball more coming out of his hand.
The end result was a 69 mph curveball and a flailing swing by Laureano on strike three.
Williamson retired catcher Shea Langeliers on a fly ball to center and his day was done. The Reds scored three in the top of the fifth to take the lead and give Williamson the win.
In his four innings, Williamson allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out two. He threw 53 pitches.
The walks frustrated Williamson. He just missed his target on a few fastballs and wasn’t as dynamic with his changeup, but he was proud of how those walks didn’t snowball into big innings. “I felt like I could have gone pretty deep today in the game,” he said. “I’d say that’s pretty consistent.”
For the spring, Williamson has a 1-1 record with a 6.55 earned run average. He has pitched 11 innings, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on 12 hits, walking six and striking out 11.
The Reds tweeted this video Saturday afternoon: