Jared Koenig, who didn’t sign his first MLB contract until two years ago, held the defending World Series champions scoreless into the fourth inning and took a 2-1 lead into the fifth
Jared Koenig completed his improbable journey to the major leagues on Wednesday night in Atlanta, and the 28-year-old Aptos High grad showed why he could be around for awhile.
In the end, Koenig’s line was four earned runs allowed on five hits, with three strikeouts and two walks. But after a dominating start to the season at Triple-A Las Vegas and an encouraging debut, Koenig looked like a viable option for an A’s rotation that has lost Daulton Jefferies to a season-ending injury and soon figures to lose ace Frankie Montas to a trade.
He went back to college – three more in all, including Cal State Monterey Bay – then bounced around with the San Rafael Pacifics and other independent league teams for a couple years before landing in the Australian Baseball League for what figured to be his last chance to get noticed. The A’s announced over the weekend that Koenig was being promoted for Wednesday’s start, and for the most part, he delivered.
Koenig didn’t get an out in the fateful fifth, walking Marcell Ozuna before yielding a double to Adam Duvall. Braves rookie Michael Harris II cleared the bases with a sharp grounder just inside the first base bag for a triple, putting the Braves up 3-2 and ending Koenig’s outing. Austin Riley then added a two-run homer off reliever Domingo Acevedo.