Wilson’s Blast Buys Extra Time but Vargas Cashes In As D-Backs edge A’s in 10 innings 6-5

Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Idemaro Vargas turns a double play while avoiding the sliding Sacramento A’s Tyler Soderstrom (21) on a ball hit by the A’s Jonah Heim in the top of the third at Chase Field in Phoenix (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

Digging out of an early hole, the A’s finally reached level ground with two outs in the ninth, and even moved ahead in the tenth. One final answer from Arizona turned the comeback into a 6-5 loss when Ildemaro Vargas singled home Gabriel Moreno for the winning run.

Jack Perkins had barely settled on the mound when Arizona built a 3-0 lead. Ketel Marte drew a leadoff walk, Moreno singled with two outs, and Max Kepler drove a three-run homer to right-center. The opening inning had already been Perkins’ biggest trouble spot as a starter, with ten of his previous 24 runs allowed occurring in the first. Perkins recovered from there,allowing no more runs over his next four innings and giving the A’s enough time to work their way back.

That work began in the third. Lawrence Butler sent a grounder through the middle and raced to third for a triple, then scored when Alika Williams singled to right. Jacob Wilson was hit by a pitch and Tyler Soderstrom drew a walk, loading the bases with nobody out. It was the first major turning point, and Arizona starter Kohl Drake escaped it. Shea Langeliers lined to shortstop, and Jonah Heim grounded into a double play that held the score at 3-1.

Drake, making his major-league debut, limited the Athletics to that single run across five innings. Tommy White produced one of the few other threats with a fourth-inning single, one game after becoming the third player in Athletics history to record four hits within his first three major-league games.

Arizona added breathing room in the seventh without a hit. Geoff Hartlieb issued consecutive walks to Vargas and Jorge Barrosa, then threw a wild pitch that moved both runners. Marte followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Vargas for a 4-1 lead.

The Athletics answered in the eighth when Langeliers drove Ryan Thompson’s pitch over the wall in left-center. It was his 23rd homer of the season, continuing another power-heavy year for the All-Star catcher. Heim and White followed with singles, putting the tying runs aboard, but Jeff McNeil grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The ninth began quietly and nearly ended the same way. Paul Sewald retired Carlos Cortes and Butler, leaving the Athletics one out from defeat. Donovan Walton then lined a triple to center, and Wilson followed with a two-run homer to left that tied the game at 4-4. Wilson entered the game riding an eight-game hitting streak and carrying the third-longest errorless streak by a shortstop in major-league history. One swing had rescued the Athletics from the edge.

Soderstrom began the tenth at second and moved to third on Langeliers’ groundout. Heim lifted a sacrifice fly to center, giving the A’s their first lead at 5-4. Late production has been a regular part of Heim’s season, with 18 of his first 30 RBIs recorded in the seventh inning or later.

The lead did not survive the bottom half. Luis Medina inherited Corbin Carroll at second, then issued walks to Moreno and Kepler. Nolan Arenado singled to center to score Carroll and tie the game, keeping the bases loaded. Medina struck out Tim Tawa, but Vargas followed with a ground-ball single to left that brought Moreno home and ended it.

The Athletics had several reasons to admire the fight, especially after falling behind by three runs before recording a hit. They also had two painful missed chances: the bases-loaded opportunity with nobody out in the third and the two-on threat in the eighth. Those moments separated a stirring comeback victory from a defeat that took ten innings to settle.

The series finale will send rookie left-hander Gage Jump (3-5, 3.78 ERA, 56 strikeouts) against veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly (7-8, 5.20 ERA, 62 strikeouts), with first pitch set for 12:40 p.m. Pacific and a rubber game waiting to be claimed.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

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