Athletics beat Mariners 5-4, take series

Springs is sharp, and the bats stay hot

Looking to take the third straight series from and American League West rival, the Athletics wrapped up the series with the Seattle Mariners tonight at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. Jeffrey Springs got the nod for the A’s against Oakland native Bryan Woo for Seattle.

After getting the Mariners leadoff batter, J.P. Crawford out, Julio Rodriguez homered to deep left field. That gave the Mariners a quick 1-0 lead. But it didn’t last long because Brent Rooker homered to straight-away center field.

Shea Langeliers singled and stole second. Tyler Soderstrom doubled to left field, scoring Langeliers easily from second. At the end of one, the A’s led 2-1.

Springs did not allow a baserunner after the first and struck out six through four innings. Woo was solid also, but in the bottom of the fourth, Miguel Andujar ripped a homer into left field with an exit velo of 110.2 mph. That gave the A’s a 3-1 lead.

With one down in the bottom of the fifth, Darell Hernaiz homered to left field, extending the advantage to 4-1 for the A’s.

Justin Sterner replaced Springs in the top of the seventh. Springs final line was: six innings, two hits, one earned run with one walk and seven strikeouts. Sterner walked Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco homered to tighten the score to 4-3. Lawrence Butler didn’t want us to miss Denzel Clarke too much and pulled off a great defensive play to rob Dominic Canzone of a homer in right centerfield. That ended the top of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning Miguel Andujar homered for the second time in the game to extend the lead to 5-3. Carlos Cortez singled, Max Schuemann sacrificed him to second, Darell Hernaiz singled, moving Cortez to third with just one out. That chased Woo. But Mariners reliever Gabe Speier struck out Butler and Kurtz to end the inning.

Jack Perkins came in to pitch the top of the eighth for the A’s. He sent the M’s down 1-2-3. In the bottom of the ninth, despite it being a save situation, Mason Miller stayed in the bullpen and Perkins remained in the game. Randy Arozarena homered to make it a one-run game. But Perkins got Polanco to ground out to Kurtz at first. That earned Perkins his third save of the year, and the A’s a third straight series victory.

Tomorrow is an off day, but the A’s will be back at home against Arizona on Friday.