Athletics use late rally for 3-2 victory over Mariners

SEATTLE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman lined an RBI double to score Tony Kemp in the top of the 10th inning, and the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

Oakland snapped a three-game losing streak, escaping a major jam in the bottom of the ninth inning before Grossman came through in the 10th. Hitting for Ryan Murphy, Grossman lined Dan Altavilla’s pitch into the right-center field gap to easily score Kemp.

Liam Hendriks pitched the 10th for his second save of the season in the first extra inning game for both teams.

“It’s a just adjustment and basically we’re going to adjust to all these things and it doesn’t matter what kind of rules they put out there, the guys are going to adjust and we’re gonna make the best of it,” Grossman said.

Oakland’s Joakim Soria (1-0) escaped a jam in the ninth after Seattle loaded the bases with one out. Soria struck out Jose Marmolejos and Shed Long Jr. to send the game to extra innings, leaving pinch-runner Dee Gordon stranded at third base.

“We had our chances in the ninth. I will say that’s part of what we’re going through this year, giving those guys opportunities in the ninth inning when the game is on the line and learning from it,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

Oakland trailed 2-0 until Chad Pinder’s two-out, two-run home run in the seventh inning off Seattle reliever Nick Margevicius. It was the only jolt of offense for Oakland after being shut down for six innings by Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi.

“We have not gotten big hit, and we were stagnant again up until that point and then all of a sudden we’re in a tie game,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “The difference for us today was we didn’t get a ton of hits but we got big hits...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Athletics-use-late-rally-for-3-2-victory-over-15452187.php