Photo credit: mlb.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The way the A’s won the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday night was made of the stuff that kids dream about doing when they become big league players.

The Padres led 2-1 and had their closer, Brad Hand, pitching in the ninth. Hand retired the first two hitters. All Hand had to do was retire Stephen Piscotty to end the game. Piscotty had two strikes on him. One more strike and the game was over. But that did not happen as Piscotty blasted a pitch into the second deck in left field to tie the game.

A’s reliever Lou Trivino retired the Padres in order, and the game went into extra innings. Jed Lowrie slammed a two-run blast to put the A’s ahead 4-2 in the 10th, and Blake Treinen earned his 16th save of the season to give the A’s the 4-2 win.

Paul Blackburn made his third start of the year. Blackburn recovered from a poor outing against the Houston Astros last week as he went five innings and allowed just four hits and two runs. Padres’ lefty Eric Lauer was just a smidge better as his line was six innings of work and he allowed three hits and one run.

The Padres took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, Cory Spangenberg walked. Eric Hosmer singled sending Spangenberg to third. Jose Pirela hit into a fielder’s choice and Spangenberg scored on the play.

The A’s tied the game in the second. Khris Davis led off with a walk. Davis was safe at second on an error by Padres’ shortstop Freddy Galvis. Matt Olson was safe at first on the play. Mark Canha singled to load the bases. Piscotty hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Davis scored the A’s first run. The Padres regained the lead in their half on the second. Franmill Reyes, who is 6-foot-5 and weighs 275 pounds, doubled to left. Padres’ catcher Franny Lopez lined a double done the right field line to drive in Reyes with the Padres’ second run of the game.

The A’s used four relievers to keep the Padres scoreless. Emilio Pagan, Santiago Casilla, and Lou Trivino did the job. Blake Treinen pitched the 10th and earned the save. The Padres’ Jose Castillo, Craig Stammen, and Kirby Yates also kept the A’s off the board until the ninth inning. Padres’manager Andy Green brought in lefty Brad Hand to pitch the ninth. Hand, who leads the National League with 21 saves, almost did the job. With two strikes on Piscotty, Hand tried to get a fastball by him. Piscotty did not miss, and the ball left the park in a hurry.

The Padres brought in righty Adam Cimber to pitch. Cimber uses a submarine-style delivery to confuse the hitters. He reminds people of Brad Ziegler, who used to pitch for the A’s. He did not fool Marcus Semien who lined a single to center. With two out in the inning, Marcus stole second and went to third when the throw from Lopez went into centerfield. Cimber now had to face Lowrie. Lowrie had not homered since May 11th when the A’s were in New York. Lowrie hit his 10th of the season over the fence in right field. Blake Treinen retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the 10th. He gave up a single, but then struck out Eric Hosmer to end the game.

The A’s are now 37-36 for the year, and San Diego falls to 34-41.

Up Next: The A’s will meet the Padres again on Wednesday afternoon at 12:40 pm PDT at Petco Park.