Jerome Williams beats A's for third time this season with third different team
Baseball history was made on Saturday afternoon in Oakland. Unfortunately for the A's, they were on the wrong side of it, and on the wrong side of the scoreboard yet again, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0. and most notably losing to starting pitcher Jerome Williams for the third time this season.
Losing three times to the same pitcher in a season is difficult, but it's far from a first. In fact, it happens commonly these days now that the scheduled is unbalanced and division foes meet up 18-19 times a season. However, on Saturday, Williams became the first pitcher in MLB history to beat an opponent three times in a season, each with a different team.
Before Saturday, Williams had already defeated the A's on April 26 in a relief outing with the Astros and again on July 25 as a starter with the Rangers. On Saturday, he started again, tossing seven scoreless innings while holding Oakland's struggling offense to just four hits en route to his historic third win.
It's a remarkable and perhaps even troubling individual achievement. Obviously, it's no pitcher's goal to pitch for three different teams in the same season. Then again, it's not easy finding work in the major leagues, so the 32-year-old right-hander has done well to make 36 appearances (10 starts).
Saturday's victory was Williams' sixth of the season against seven losses. His first two wins were actually the first two-thirds of his trifecta against Oakland. In August, he won three consecutive starts for the Phillies, including back-to-back one-run gems against Seattle and St. Louis.
What might be most amazing about Williams rare feat: He only had a two-start stint with Texas. It just so happened that a start against Oakland fell in that window. It's also rare the Phillies and A's match up during the regular season, but once Williams got to Philadelphia and learned he was starting in this series, he knew he had a chance to make history.
''I've been aware of it since I knew I was going to pitch against these guys,'' Williams said. ''That is crazy. For one, you would never think that you would face the same team. Obviously I was with the AL West so I knew I was going to face them, but coming over to the Phillies in interleague play, you didn't think you were going to face the team again. It's a good feat.''
As for the A's, if they end up missing the postseason they'll have no one to blame but themselves for falling apart down the stretch and losing so many winnable games against opponents already eliminated from postseason contention. Meanwhile, teams like the Mariners and Royals, who may end up earning wild-card spots over Oakland, might be tipping their caps to Williams for being a such a thorn in the A's side.
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is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
