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SAN FRANCISCO — The Oakland A’s extra inning, 8-7 win over the San Francisco Giants went from dull blowout to historic comeback with just a few clutch swings and a innocuous-turned-disastrous defensive blunder.
Let’s start with the history. Stephen Piscotty blasted Trevor Gott’s hanging curveball into left field for a game-tying grand slam in the ninth inning. Piscotty’s second grand slam of the season made it 7-7 with the A’s down to their final two outs and him the first Athletic and 14th player in MLB history with two ninth inning grand slams in the same season.
“It’s pretty cool,” Piscotty said. “It’s a weird game. Crazy game. You find yourself in those situations sometimes.”
The second bit of history: The A’s closed a five-run deficit in the ninth inning for the first time since July 15, 1952. That game 68 years ago ended when Philadelphia A’s shortstop Eddie Joost hit a walk-off grand slam off legendary St. Louis Browns pitcher Satchel Paige.
“I mean, we’re saving those (moments) for every 67 years,” manager Bob Melvin said.
To understand the second bit of history, understand first the “situation” Piscotty was in.
The A’s entered the top of the ninth down 7-2. The Giants took that lead after decoding rookie starter Jesús Luzardo. Not even sniffing at any of his out-of-the-zone offerings, they feasted on his fastball mistakes over the plate.
“I mean, they had my number on all my pitches,” Luzardo said. “Anything I threw over the plate they were hitting. I was missing my location, they were just hunting heaters.”
The Giants teed off early, and hit Luzardo hard. The Giants have one of the worst exit velocity averages, but made plenty of hard contact off the typically elusive lefty. Hunter Pence’s three-run home run came off the bat at 106 mph. Evan Longoria’s home run came off the bat at 101 mph. Luzardo departed his start with just 3 1/3 innings, six earned runs, three strikeouts.
“It was the best I felt all year,” Luzardo said. “Clearly, the results weren’t what I wanted. But, these things happen.”
Giants starter Johnny Cueto was riding a different kind of wave. He kept the A’s bats off-kilter and listless. He shimmied, shook, allowing just one hit through his first six innings.
Mark Canha’s single, Robbie Grossman’s triple and Khris Davis’ RBI groundout in the seventh blemished his start with two runs that, at the time, seemed just a salve to curb the sting of a Giants’ runaway win.
Then, in the ninth, Matt Olson hit his seventh home run — and, yes, all six hits Olson has collected over the last nine games have been home runs. That at least meant A’s wouldn’t waste the power potential hanging in the rare 80-degree San Francisco night air. The A’s also were 13-2 in games in which they hit a home run.
Then the Giants’ shoddy defense chimed in when Grossman’s potential inning-ending double-play ball turned into a one-out scoring opportunity. San Francisco first baseman Wilmer Flores just forgot to plant his foot on first base, instead twirling and hurling the ball to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who also failed to keep his foot on second base when Canha slid in safe.
Gott hit Davis with a pitch, and suddenly Piscotty stepped into the box representing the game-tying run. The A’s are familiar with late comebacks to a point where four-run deficits aren’t so daunting.
“I think we all looked up and were like, we’re only down four here with a couple to go,” Piscotty said. “Crazier things have happened.”
Piscotty’s swing turned the crazy into reality.
Canha’s sac fly in the 10th inning that scored ghost runner Matt Chapman from third base and Liam Hendriks’ three-strikeout, 13-pitch save sealed it.
“It’s just grinding and just never saying die,” Melvin said. “We’ve seen so many times, us come back and win. We have all the walk-offs at home, but to do it on the road when it didn’t feel too good going into that inning and they had their closer in the game with a five-run lead. He’s got good stuff. It’s just mental fortitude and continuing to grind on the at-bats and hope something goes right.”
