*Photo from Athletics Nation*
The Oakland Athletics got walked off by the Seattle Mariners and lost 4-3. But there's a silver lining in there. When the Cleveland Indians lost to the Washington Nationals 8-2 Friday night, it guaranteed the A's a playoff spot, so despite the loss, they partied it up in the locker room. They clinched their second straight postseason spot. Mark Canha said that ''It feels amazing. It feels like this is becoming a habit. It's a good thing."
Oakland got on the board in the first inning, when Marcus Semien hit a solo homer to left field. The Mariners tied it when JP Crawford scored on a Kyle Seager groundout. In the 3rd, Seattle took the lead on Austin Nola's RBI single to center field. In the 7th, Oakland took the lead on Matt Olson's two run homer to left field. In the 9th, Shed Long tied the game on an RBI single, and Crawford doubled in Long to win the game.
Oakland starter Mike Fiers pitched 5 innings, giving up two runs on 4 hits and two walks. He struck out 4 and got the no decision. Liam Hendriks got the loss for Oakland, giving up the final two runs and the walkoff double. He fell to 4-4. Despite the loss, the party raged. Fiers said that ''That's pretty much why we play the game is to get an opportunity to play in the postseason, obviously we set our goals to win the division, that didn't happen, but as long as we're in we have an opportunity to make some noise. We can't ask for anything more than that.'' Oakland sits tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the first wild card spot, and they also hold tiebreaker over the Rays for homefield in the wild card game.
Oakland will hope not to use the tiebreaker to host the wild card game, as they go for a win on Saturday when Brett Anderson will take the mound for his record 31st start of the season. Marco Gonzales will draw the start for Seattle, trying to spoil Oakland's party again.
Comments
Post a Comment