J.P. Crawford hits pair of key singles, Mariners beat A's

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics would like to be swinging better in late September with the playoffs fast approaching.

J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning after his tying single in the sixth, and the Seattle Mariners beat the A's 5-1 in extra innings Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Kyle Seager added a two-run homer in the eighth for the Mariners, who bounced back from a tough loss a night earlier.

Tommy La Stella tripled to begin the sixth, but the A's couldn't capitalize against former Oakland right-hander Kendall Graveman (1-3).

“That was great to be able to go out in a high-leverage situation, especially this whole month, and to be able to do that with some added Adrenalin,” Graveman said.

Khris Davis hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, but that was it for the A's, whose hitting is hardly where they would hope.

“It was the situational at-bats that cost us today. That’s really what did it,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “I thought early on there was a lot of energy, good at-bats.”

The typically slugging AL West champion A's (35-23), who will host a best-of-three wild-card series starting Tuesday at the Coliseum, are still struggling as an offense but doing just enough. They won 3-1 in 10 innings Friday night on Mark Canha's two-run homer.

Liam Hendriks (3-1) pitched a perfect seventh before finding trouble in the eighth, when Ty France also singled home an insurance run for Seattle.

“Heck of a comeback,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I can’t say enough about the effort and the grind. We have some grit."

Seattle was the home team for Game 2, a makeup from a Sept. 3 postponement following a positive coronavirus test result by A’s right-hander Daniel Mengden on Aug. 29 in...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/J-P-Crawford-hits-pair-of-key-singles-Mariners-15600005.php