MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

The Athletics sandwiched a pair of walk-off wins complete with dramatic home runs around another excessive blowout, a 19-1 loss on Saturday.

The heart of the Athletics, Shea Langeliers, returned from the injured list and immediately made a superstar impact.

Winning five games against Seattle in the last two weeks has all but doomed their playoff chances as the Athletics continue to spoil post-season aspirations.

(Athletics: 6-5 F/10)
Watching baseball on 9-11 is as American a response to terrorism as it gets. Lawrence Butler hit a triple shy of the cycle, and Donovan Walton unloaded a two-run bomb in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the A’s a rare series opening win.

After small-ball had the game tied at 2-2 early, Butler launched an absolute missile, 109 mph off-the-bat, onto the right field berm for a 4-2 lead.

Lazaro Montes came off the bench in the sixth inning for Seattle and tied the game with a towering shot that went 430 feet and if Montes can cut down on inside fastball wiffs, he is a possible 50-homer guy.

In the 10th, a Julio Rodriguez RBI single gave the Mariners the 5-4 lead, setting up the dramatic Walton home run. So excited for the dramatic ending, Walton tripped and fell rounding first base, forcing an athletic somersault to continue his funny home run trot.

(Seattle: 19-1)
No, that isn’t a “typo”, and with the 19-1 blowout the Athletics reminded the fans of who they have been all season. Eight Mariners had multi-hit games, five had three-hit games, and Weston Wilson went 5-for-6 FROM THE 9-HOLE!

Nine extra-base hits for Seattle included five different Mariners hitting home runs, while the Athletics managed a meager five singles spread over five different innings.

Athletics starter Gage Jump continued his drop “back to the pack” by losing his third straight start (10 1/3 innings) and has allowed 14 earned runs in those games.

Jump (L 6-11, 5.47) lasted just two innings, the bullpen allowed 18 hits, 14 unanswered runs, and Seattle put up crooked numbers in 7 of 9 innings on Saturday.

The blowout loss continues a season-long mismanagement of a pitching staff that has forced everyday player, outfielder Carlos Cortes, to pitch in an unheard of NINE relief appearances.

(Athletics 8-7)
In another dramatic win, Lawrence Butler hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the ninth, adding a bit of payback, and the A’s put a wrench into the Mariners playoff hopes.

The A’s got it started with back-to-back home runs by Zack Gelof and Butler in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.

Randy Arozarena continued to abuse Athletics pitching when he hit the first of his two homers, tying the game. His RBI single was part of the Mariners three-run fourth inning that gave Seattle a 6-2 lead, but the lead wouldn’t hold up.

The A’s had a four-run seventh inning that began with Alika Williams hitting the first pitch of the inning for a ground-rule double.

After Seattle hit Henry Bolte, Jeff McNeil outran an infield hit for a single, and a “winning ABS-Challenge” loaded the bases with no-outs. Zack Gelof won another ABS-Challenge and drew an RBI-walk, and Butler began his payback with another RBI-groundout that moved runners into scoring position to close the score to a 6-4 deficit.

Butler was getting payback because in his next at-bat after the first inning bomb, Seattle starter Bryce Miller threw right at Butler and hit him in the shoulder. All season opponents have been retaliating against the Athletics and Kotsay has chosen to ignore the trend.

Then Langeliers pinch hit for the A’s and tied it up at 6-6 with a clutch two-run single just out of the reach of second baseman Michael Arroyo. Arozarena was having none of that and homered in the next inning for a 7-6 lead that held up until the ninth.

After a Gelof single, Butler hit his second home run of the game and the A’s took the game and the series.

Next: @ Tampa Bay Rays 9/15 330pm PST Tropicana Field, St Petersburg Fl