The Oakland A’s happen to be the first team to beat the Seattle Mariners this season thanks to a Coco Crisp walk-off home run in the 12th inning to claim the 3-2 win in a game with two big review moments, including the homer itself.
Crisp didn’t send the ball into the stands, so the officials went to check if it went above the yellow line or not. The umpires met briefly to check out if it was indeed a home run, confirming it to be Crisp’s first of the season. The A’s are once again at .500 following two losses and one win against the Indians in their season-opening series.
The Mariners took the lead in the first inning as Robinson Cano grounded out and Abraham Almonte scored on that instance. In the fifth inning it was Almonte with the single that Logan Morrison scored off of. But the A’s got back in the same inning.
It began with a Sam Fuld triple, his only hit in the game out of five visits to the batting spot, that Nick Punto (2-of-5) scored on. In the 8th, it was Yoenis Cespedes with a triple as well (also 1-for-5) which brought Crisp home.
Fuld almost scored himself on his RBI as he tried to go for the inside-the-park home run with some excellent running, but a great throw from Robinson Cano reached Derek Norris just in time to tag Fuld. That play also went into review, but the Mariners made their defensive play just in time without blocking the plate.
It was a good pitching performance for both starters: Roenis Elias allowed two hits and just one run in the five innings he played and it was Tom Wilhelmsen that allowed the lead to escape the Mariners, while the loss went to Hector Noesi, giving up the home run to Crisp, the first player he faced in the 12th inning. Jesse Chavez did a good job in six innings, allowing five hits and two runs for the A’s, but his relievers were even better, giving up only one hit in the following six innings, including a strong two innings from Fernando Abad, striking out three batters in his time at the mound. The win went to Drew Pomeranz, setting up the ground for Crisp to hit his winning home run.
I was just going up there to swing as hard as I could. Probably nine times out of 10, I ended up with a strikeout with that approach. Tonight was that one time that it ended up working out. I’m not going to have that as my everyday approach but I’m just grateful that it worked out tonight.
Felix Hernandez is pitching for the second time this season for Seattle as the two teams for the second game of four in the series, and his pitching duel will be against Tommy Milone, playing for the first time this season. Hernandez is 1-0 this season, striking out 11 batters in his season opener against the Angels, giving up three runs in six innings.