OAKLAND – Appearing to be dealt a devastating ninth-inning blow, the A’s counter-punched with one of their own Tuesday night.
After closer Ryan Madson surrendered a lead in the top of the ninth, Khris Davis hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom half to lift the A’s to an 8-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.
Davis became the second A’s player to have a three-homer game in three days, as Danny Valencia did it Sunday at Tampa Bay.
The seventh walk-off slam in Oakland history came with two outs after the A’s were on the verge of blowing a golden opportunity. Davis hit a 2-2 pitch into the left field seats, after Billy Burns and Valencia had each failed to get the tying run home from third base.
The thrilling finish came right after Madson, who came in a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities, gave up Ian Desmond’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth to put Texas ahead 5-4.
The A’s second walk-off victory of the season was also their fourth win in five games.
Davis homered in the second, going back-to-back with Valencia, then he added his second one in the sixth to tie it 3-3.
Starting pitching report:
All of the runs off Jesse Hahn came in an eight-pitch span of the fourth inning. Nomar Mazara and Adrian Beltre homered back-to-back with Mazara hitting a 2-0 fastball and Beltre hammering an 0-2 curve into the camera well high above the wall in center field. Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland followed with singles, with Fielder moving to third when Billy Burns bobbled the ball in center. Then Fielder scored on Ryan Rua’s double-play grounder to put Texas ahead 3-2. Outside of that, it was an efficient 6 2/3 innings for Hahn, who gave up 10 hits but no more runs and left having thrown just 81 pitches. He left to a nice ovation in his first start since being recalled from the minors.
Bullpen report:
The A’s Mr. Automatic finally showed some vulnerability Tuesday, as Madson finally blew a save opportunity. Sean Doolittle impressed in 1 1/3 innings of relief ahead of him.
At the plate:
Davis and Valencia formed quite a 1-2 punch in the middle of the lineup. Valencia homered for the sixth time in his past five games. Davis now has eight homers in his past 13 games.
In the field:
Valencia made a great sliding catch on a pop up near the A’s dugout in the fifth to help Hahn escape a jam unscored upon.
Attendance:
Both games of this series so far have drawn sparse crowds, with 12,718 on hand for this one.
Up next:
Rich Hill (5-3, 2.68) is looking for his first win at the Coliseum, where he is 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA in three home starts this season. Lefty Martin Perez (1-3, 3.23) goes for the Rangers in Wednesday’s 12:35 p.m. game.
