Oakland A’s reliever Pat Neshek returns to mound: ‘I felt like I had somebody looking down on me”

Pat Neshek pitched for the first time since the death of his newborn son, striking out one batter in two-thirds of an inning for the Oakland Athletics.

“We wanted to try to get him into a game sooner than later,” said Athletics manager Bob Melvin. “I don’t know that there’s any great time to try to potentially get him a soft landing in the playoffs.

“But (he) came and did a great job. Almost gets a double-play ball. And then next hitter gets a strikeout. So I think that’s probably – not only was it good for us, it’s really good for him to get in the game and contribute right away.”

The A’s wore a “GJN” Patch on their uniforms to honor Gehrig John Neshek, who passed away Wednesday, less than 24 hours after being born.