Baltimore, MD – Baltimore, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Pinch-hitter Stephen Vogt singled in the deciding run in the top of the 11th inning as the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to open a three-game series.
The A's came through with their sixth win in seven games behind Vogt's clutch hit and solo homers from Josh Donaldson and Derek Norris, as well as a Yoenis Cespedes double that tied the contest at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning.
Oakland also averted two scoring chances by the Orioles in the bottom of the 10th, including an unsuccessful attempt to steal home by Nelson Cruz.
Chris Davis and Manny Machado each had two hits and a solo home run for Baltimore, losers of two straight after a four-game win streak. J.J. Hardy finished 3-for-5 with a run scored in defeat.
"There's a lot of great things that really happened tonight. Unfortunately, they did a couple more than we did," Orioles manager Buck Showalter remarked.
Wei-Yin Chen had the Orioles in position to prevail after limiting Oakland to just a pair of runs and five hits over 6 1/3 sound innings, exiting with a 3-2 edge his bullpen couldn't hold.
Coco Crisp drew a pinch-hit walk against Darren O'Day to begin the eighth and stole second before easily scoring on Cespedes' hard double down the left- field line.
Baltimore had an opportunity to atone for the blown lead when Nick Markakis singled off Fernando Abad (1-2) to start the bottom of the 10th and was pushed to second on Machado's sacrifice.
Adam Jones shot a single through the right side after Cruz was intentionally walked, but Oakland's Brandon Moss got to the ball quickly and fired a strike to nail Markakis at the plate. Showalter challenged the ruling, which was upheld after replays showed Norris' tag was applied in time.
"People don't remember I have a good arm," said Moss. "That's really my only defensive tool."
Cruz, who moved to third on the play, then tried to catch Abad napping by sprinting home with Davis at bat, but came up short to close out the inning.
"Saw it, felt it, went for it, didn't work out," said Showalter of Cruz's decision. "We'd be talking the other way [if it did]."
The A's did capitalize on their chance in the 11th, which John Jaso began with a double against Evan Meek (0-2) and reached third with one out on Hardy's fourth error in two games. That set up Vogt's grounder between shortstop and third base that put Oakland ahead, and Sean Doolittle finished things off by striking out the side in the bottom of the frame.
Chen's night got off to a rocky beginning, as he served up gopher balls to two of the A's first five hitters. Donaldson took a high fastball the other way to put Oakland up 1-0 in the first inning, and Norris hammered a full-count pitch into the seats in left center in the second to extend the margin.
The Athletics generated little against the Baltimore lefty thereafter, with Chen setting down 10 straight batters at one point as his team slowly moved in front.
Baltimore closed the gap when consecutive singles by Hardy, Pearce and Jonathan Schoop off Tommy Milone brought home a run in the bottom of the second, then pulled even on Davis' opposite-field blast over the left-field wall in the fourth.
An inning later, Machado crushed Milone's 0-1 fastball into the Orioles' bullpen to give Baltimore a 3-2 edge.
Milone lasted six innings, permitting three runs on eight hits.
Game Notes
Abad picked up his first win since April 9, 2011 while with Houston, ending a string of 15 straight losing decisions that had been the longest active streak in the majors ... Markakis went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, while Crisp has now hit in 10 straight after doubling in the 10th inning ... The A's have now homered in a season-high 14 consecutive games ... The Orioles announced that Kevin Gausman will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to start Saturday's matchup in place of Miguel Gonzalez, placed on the 15-day DL Friday with a strained oblique.
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