Luzardo allowed an earned run on four hits and a walk over four innings in a Cactus League split-squad win over the Giants on Sunday. He struck out five.
Luzardo continues to press his rather unlikely candidacy for the Athletics' final rotation spot to open the season. Sunday's outing served as the latest example he may be ready for the rigors of the majors based on ability alone. Jane Lee of MLB.com reports that Luzardo impressively worked around trouble in the first after allowing the first two hitters to reach safely via a walk and a single, escaping the frame with just one earned run allowed. The southpaw then retired the next six hitters and didn't allow another run, finishing the start with 62 pitches. Luzardo has now racked up 15 strikeouts over 9.2 spring innings, and he'll remain in Arizona when the team travels to Japan later this week in order to remain on his regular throwing schedule ahead of a Bay Bridge series start in late March.