Pitcher records win without officially facing a batter

Athletics reliever Sean Newcomb didn’t face a single batter in Friday night’s 6-5 victory over the Twins at Oakland Coliseum, but that didn’t stop him from earning his first win of the season.

Newcomb came on in relief of Lucas Erceg with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Oakland trailing, 5-4. After throwing two pitches to Willi Castro, Newcomb promptly picked off Austin Martin to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, A’s catcher Shea Langeliers slugged a go-ahead two-run homer, which held up when closer Mason Miller slammed the door in the top of the ninth.

Because Newcomb was the pitcher of record when the A’s took the lead, he was credited with the win despite not officially facing a batter, becoming the 27th pitcher (and the first in A’s history) to do so since 1901 and the first since Tony Watson did it for the Giants on Aug. 30, 2020.