Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s won their fourth game in a row as they defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum in a very close and competitive contest. With the win, coupled with the Houston Astros’ 5-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the A’s found themselves just one game behind the Astros in the race for the AL West division crown.

The A’s are now 72-48, and most of the pundits who predicted this team would finish last in the AL West now have an egg on their collective faces. This team is for real. They have relatively good starting pitching, one of the best bullpens in all of baseball, power up and down the lineup and sensational defense.

M’s right fielder Mitch Haniger doubled into the left-field corner to start the game. Mike Fiers retired Robinson Cano for the first out, but Haniger was able to advance to third on the play. With the infield drawn in, Fiers got Jean Segura to ground out. Jed Lowrie made sure Haniger stayed at third base. Nelson Cruz hit a blooper to right field that Stephen Piscotty could not catch. Piscotty was playing deep as Cruz loves to torment the A’s pitching. He had a long run for the ball. It looked as if he caught the ball, but he trapped it. Haniger scored on the play.

In the bottom of the first, Marcus Semien tied the game with a blast off James Paxton that landed in the seats in left field. Jed Lowrie was the next hitter. Lowrie lined a shot off Paxton’s shoulder for a base hit. Paxton’s shoulder dropped, and he was unable to continue and exited the field. Felix Hernandez was brought in to pitch for the M’s. Hernandez walked Khris Davis to put two men on with one out. A’s manager Bob Melvin had Matt Olson pinch-hit for Mark Canha. Olson hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the first inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, Jed Lowrie homered with a man aboard to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. King Felix had retired six in a row since coming in to relieve Paxton. With two out, he walked Matt Chapman. Jed Lowrie then hit his career-high 19th home run of the year and upped his RBI total to 76, which was a new career-high for him.

The M’s plated a run in the top of the fifth when lead-off hitter Cameron Maybin hit his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall. Fiers regained his composure and retired the next three hitters in order The A’s led 3-2 in the middle of the fifth inning.

Fiers retired the M’s in order in the sixth inning. Melvin then turned the game over to his bullpen. Ryan Buchter, Yusmeiro Petit, Fernando Rodney, and Blake Treinen allowed three hits and no runs. The A’s won 3-2.

Game Notes and Stats: The M’s announced the negatives on James Paxton’ left forearm. He suffered a bone contusion and is listed as day-to-day. The M’s, A’s and their respective fans wished him a speedy recovery.

The A’s Matt Chapman continued to play fantastic defense. Chapman lit up the crowd when he made a fantastic catch off Robinson Cano’s popup in foul territory. Chapman made a running catch as he head to lean over the tarp in foul territory. The crowd went crazy.  Chapman extended his career-long on-base streak to 28 games. With his double in the eighth, he has now hit in 12 straight games.

Jed Lowrie hit has 100th career home run. It was the third home run this year off Felix Hernandez.

Jonathan Lucroy threw out Dee Gordon, trying to steal second in the top of the eighth. Lucroy has nailed 20 runners, and that ties him for the Major League lead with Jorge Alfaro of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Felix Hernandez made his first appearance of his career. Hernandez took the loss and is now 8-11. Mike Fiers improved to 8-6.

The A’s are now 38-12 since June 16th. They are 50-0 when leading after the seventh inning. They are the only team in baseball that is undefeated when leading after seven.

The final game of the three-game series will be played Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Game time is at 12:35 pm. Lefty Brett Anderson (2-4, 4.53 ERA) will pitch for Oakland, and the M’s will send Mike Leake (8-7, 4.11 ERA) to try to stop the A’s

Time of game was a crisp two hours and 28 minutes and 17,419 fans saw the A’s win a thriller over the M’s.

Up Next: The A’s wrap up their series versus the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon at 12:35 pm PDT. Brett Anderson (2-4, 4.53 ERA) will pitch for the A’s, and the M’s will send Mike Leake (8-7, 4.11 ERA) to try to stop the A’s.

They are off on Thursday before starting a crucial three-game series with the Astros on Friday at 7:05 pm PDT.