Photo provided by Mr. Charles R. Goff III

Former T-Bones closer Justin James made an appearance down I-70 at Kauffman Stadium last night, throwing a scoreless eighth inning for the Oakland Athletics in an 11-3 Royals victory.

James began the season with the T-Bones, collecting six saves while posting a 1.69 ERA in 11 appearances before having his contract purchased by Oakland on June 18, 2010. He was sent to Double-A Midland before quickly earning a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento in late-July. After going 2-1 with five saves and a 1.83 ERA over 39 and one-thirds innings between the two levels, James earned a promotion to the major leagues on September 1.

James made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, September 2. He surrendered one run on three hits, all singles, in an inning of work. The right-hander struck out the first batter he faced as a major leaguer, Robinson Cano, and later struck out future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter to end the inning.

In his appearance versus the Royals last night, James threw a scoreless eighth inning for Oakland, walking one while striking one. After walking Billy Butler to start the inning, James induced a double-play groundout from Wilson Betemit. He then struck out Kila Ka’aihue to end the frame.

James has appeared in three games since his call-up, surrendering one run on four hits while striking out three and walking two in three innings of work.