Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha, right, is embraced after hitting a walk off home run off Seattle Mariners’ Shae Simmons in the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND– Wednesday’s game was the final home game for the A’s this season. The A’s, winners of fourteen of the last nineteen games played, did not want to be swept at home by the Mariners. Both teams played hard, and neither team wanted to lose. The A’s took an early lead, lost it, regained it, lost it again but was able to prevail when Mark Canha homered in the bottom of the ninth to give the A’s a well -deserved 6-5 victory.

Kendall Graveman started for Oakland and left after six innings in position to pick up a win. That didn’t happen as the M’s tied the game in the eighth. The Mariners’ starter Erasmo Ramirez went five innings and allowed five runs and eight hits. Two of the runs were unearned. Liam Hendriks and Blake Treinen pitched well, but Chris Hatcher was not able to keep Seattle off the board. The game summary follows below.

The A’s put one on the board in the bottom of the first. A’s right fielder Matt Joyce lofted a high fly to left that Mariners’ third baseman Kyle Seager lost ion the sun. Left Fielder Ben Gamel made a valiant attempt to catch the ball, but it eluded his grasp and dropped safely for a double. Joyce went to third on a single by Jed Lowrie and scored when Khris Davis hit a sacrifice fly to center field. A’s ahead 1-0 after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the third inning. Franklin Barreto, starting at second base on Wednesday, led off the frame with a double to center field. Jacob Hannemann, playing center field for Seattle, bobbled the ball and Barreto motored to third on the miscue. Marcus Semien drove in Barreto with the A’s second run when he hit a sacrifice fly.

The M’s put two on the board in the fourth. With one out, Robinson Cano singled to get things started. Big Nelson Cruz, who loves to torment the A’s, crushed Graveman’s pitch and sent it on a line into the seats in left field near the Barbeque Terrace to knot the score. The tie didn’t last long as the A’s scored three runs in their half of the fourth. Two of the runs were unearned, but they still count. Ryon Healy started the rally with a double. He went to third when Erasmo Ramirez dropped the throw as he was covering first for an error. With Healy on third and Chapman on first, Bruce Maxwell singled to center to drive in Healy and Chapman went to third on the throw home. Mark Canha hit a sac fly to drive in Chapman. Matt Joyce hit his third double of the game to drive in Maxwell with the fifth run of the contest. The A’s lead 5-2 after four complete.

The Mariners, however, refuse to go away. The M’s made it a 5-3 game on the strength of three singles. With one out, M’s catcher Mark Marjama singled to start the rally. It was Marjama’s first big league hit, and the ball was sent back to the M’s dugout. Hannemann hit a force play for the first out. Ben Gamel and Mitch Haniger followed with singles to get the third run home for Seattle.

Liam Hendriks set the M’s down in order in the seventh, but Bob Melvin brought in his eighth-inning setup man, Chris Hatcher, to pitch. Hatcher gave up a single to Mitch Haniger and then the M’s All-Star second baseman, Robinson, Cano, homered to tie the game. It was Cano’s twenty-third of the year. Hatcher retired the next three hitters.

Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless ninth, and that set up the scene for a fantastic finish for the A’s. Bruce Maxwell started the ninth by striking out. The next hitter, Mark Canha, hit his fifth homer of the year to win it in a walk-off for Oakland.  There was no doubt about it when the ball left Canha’s bat. The crowd knew it as did Canha and he was pummeled by his teammates when he crossed the plate. Needless to say, Canha took a pie to the face and got the Gatorade bath, and he absolutely loved it.The A’s win 6-5 and snap the eight-game losing streak to the Mariners.

Game Notes- Kendall Graveman did not get a decision, but he pitched a “quality start.” Graveman went six innings and allowed 7 hits and three runs. Chris Hatcher gave up a two-run dinger to Robinson Cano in the eighth that tied the game. Canha’s blast off M’s reliever Shae Simmons in the bottom of the ninth sent the A’s fans home happy as there will be no more baseball in Oakland until next year.