Field Level Media
Sep 2, 2018
Stephen Piscotty hit two home runs and had five RBIs as the Oakland Athletics defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-2 Sunday afternoon at Oakland Alameda Coliseum.
Right-hander Edwin Jackson pitched six strong innings as the A's earned a split of the four-game series to climb to 5 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the race for the American League's second and final wild-card berth.
Jackson (5-3) gave up just one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez (8-13) didn't give up a run through four innings before the A's tied it at 1-1 in the fifth on a solo homer by Piscotty.
Hernandez never got an out in the sixth, when he lost his control and the A's scored four times.
Chad Pinder led off with a single to center field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Matt Joyce walked and both runners advanced on another wild pitch. Marcus Semien singled to left field on a ball that went off the glove of third baseman Kyle Seager, scoring both Pinder and Joyce to give the A's a 3-1 lead.
Right-hander Nick Vincent replaced Hernandez, but couldn't stop the A's. Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie both singled, with Semien scoring on the latter. After Khris Davis struck out, the Mariners brought in left-hander Zach Duke to face Matt Olson, who walked. Right-hander Shawn Armstrong entered to face Piscotty and gave up a sacrifice fly to center to make it 5-1.
The Mariners got a run back in the eighth as Jean Segura and Robinson Cano led off with singles against right-hander Fernando Rodney. After two strikeouts, Ryon Healy lined a run-scoring single to center. A's closer Blake Treinen replaced Rodney and got Seager to fly out to end the threat.
Piscotty hit a three-run homer, his 21st, off right-hander Justin Grimm in the bottom of the eighth to cap the scoring. Treinen then worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 35th save of the season.
Hernandez gave up four runs on four hits in five-plus innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.
--Field Level Media