Field Level Media
Aug 15, 2018
Dee Gordon ended a scoreless deadlock with a two-run home run in the 12th inning Wednesday afternoon, giving the Seattle Mariners a 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics that prevented a three-game sweep in Oakland, Calif.
Seattle right-hander Mike Leake dueled Oakland lefty Brett Anderson in a 0-0 game for eight innings, and Edwin Diaz finished it with his 47th save of the season, allowing the Mariners (70-52) to pull within 2 1/2 games of the A's (72-49) in the American League wild-card race.
Mike Zunino drew a one-out walk from Oakland's Yusmeiro Petit (5-3) in the 12th before Gordon hit the next pitch for just his second home run of the season.
Gordon's only other homer had come 119 games earlier against the Cleveland Indians on April 1 in the third game of the season.
Left-hander James Pazos (3-1), who struck out Khris Davis with two on and two outs to end the 11th inning, was credited with the win.
Diaz, making his first appearance of a series in which Oakland had recorded 7-6 and 3-2 wins, recorded three consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the 12th after yielding a leadoff single to Matt Olson.
After scoring chances for both teams were few and far between while Anderson and Leake were pitching, the Mariners threatened to win it in the ninth against Fernando Rodney when Jean Segura singled with one out and Nelson Cruz was hit by a pitch.
Kyle Seager's bid for a three-run homer was caught at the fence by A's right fielder Stephen Piscotty, advancing Segura to third, before Rodney struck out pinch hitter Denard Span to retain the shutout.
The teams then combined to strand the potential winning run in scoring position three times in extra innings, twice by the A's, before Gordon's home run.
Neither starting pitcher got a decision after his season-best effort.
Anderson, who entered the game with an 8-4 record and 1.96 ERA in 17 career head-to-head matchups with the Mariners, lowered the ERA even farther with 7 2/3 innings of five-hit ball. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
The Mariners got three baserunners into scoring position against Anderson, twice with just one out. However, the veteran wiggled out of trouble both times, including getting Cruz to ground into a double play with two aboard and one out in the first inning.
Leake, meanwhile, was even better. He limited the A's to just two hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out six.
Leake, who hasn't won since June 23, survived Nick Martini's leadoff triple in the fourth inning.
After Matt Chapman walked, Leake then struck out Jed Lowrie, Davis and Olson in succession to retain the scoreless tie.
Oakland also got a runner to second in the sixth inning on a two-out double by Chapman. But again Leake retired Lowrie, this time on a ground ball, to end the threat.
Segura had a season-best-tying four hits, and Robinson Cano added a pair for the Mariners, who completed a 6-4 trip on the eve of a six-game homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros.
Martini collected three hits while Olson chipped in with a double and a single for the A's, who had won four in a row.
Oakland will host the first-place Astros in a three-game series beginning Friday night.
--Field Level Media