The Athletics needed extra innings to finish the job, but Donovan Walton made sure they left with the last word.
Walton’s two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th lifted the A’s to a 6-5 win over the Mariners in the opener of the series. Seattle got to the 10th with a chance to steal it back, but the A’s answered in dramatic fashion and handed the Mariners another painful blow to their fading playoff hopes.
Jeffrey Springs gave the A’s exactly the kind of start they needed. The veteran left-hander was tagged early, with Seattle using small ball to scratch out a run in the first and then another in the second on a groundout. After that, Springs settled in and kept the Mariners off the board the rest of the way.
Jeffrey Springs: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 94 pitches
For a pitcher in the final month of his time in Green & Gold, it was a solid outing. Springs gave Oakland a chance to win, even if the bullpen later complicated things again. He’s set to face the Rays next time out.
The A’s offense answered quickly against Mariners right-hander George Kirby. Rookie Henry Bolte opened the first with a single, then stole second for his 20th stolen base of the year. Jeff McNeil followed with an RBI double, and Max Muncy added an RBI single to get the A’s moving fast.
Seattle briefly tied things up, but Lawrence Butler swung the momentum back Oakland’s way in a hurry. With a runner aboard, Butler launched a two-run homer, his 14th of the season, to put the A’s ahead 4-2.
That lead didn’t last. Scott Blewett took over after Springs and gave it right back in the sixth, surrendering a two-run homer that pulled Seattle even at 4-4. From there, both teams went quiet until the extra frames.
In the 10th, Seattle pushed across the go-ahead run on a two-out hit after the A’s nearly escaped without damage. Oakland entered the bottom half down a run and with three outs left to save the game.
That was all Walton needed. Leading off the inning with the automatic runner on second, he crushed a walk-off two-run homer and sent the A’s home with the 6-5 victory.
Two straight wins now for Oakland, which sits 3 1/2 games over the Angels in the AL West. The series continues tomorrow night, with left-hander Gage Jump starting for the A’s and Bay Area native Bryan Woo going for Seattle.
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A's Prospect Pipeline Just Took A Brutal Hit With Leo De Vries
The Athletics rebuild already has enough moving parts, and now another major one has gone quiet. Leo De Vries, the former top Padres prospect who came to Oakland last year in the deal involving Mason Miller and JP Sears, is facing a long stretch away from the field after a shoulder issue surfaced.
De Vries is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery on Sept. 13, a procedure that will push his recovery deep into next season. For a club trying to stockpile young talent and find some stability in its pipeline, losing a player with his pedigree for roughly eight months is a painful interruption, even before the broader impact on the roster comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]