Mariners 8 - 7 Athletics
Final/10
  for this game

Cruz's HR powers Mariners past A's in 10th

Apr 13, 2015 - 4:33 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Nelson Cruz's solo shot in the 10th inning lifted the Seattle Mariners to an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the rubber match of a three-game set on Sunday.

With two outs in the 10th, Cruz crushed a Tyler Clippard (0-1) fastball over the left-field wall and past a leaping Ben Zobrist for the deciding run.

Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer, Dustin Ackley and Mike Zunino each finished with two hits and two runs scored and Kyle Seager and Brad Miller both had an RBI for the Mariners, who dispatched the A's in extra innings by a 5-4 score on Saturday.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez gave up three runs on eight hits with two walks over five innings before exiting for precautionary reasons after experiencing quad tightness. Fernando Rodney (1-0) earned the win despite giving up four runs during the ninth.

Sam Fuld drove in two runs and Stephen Vogt cracked an RBI triple for Oakland, which has dropped three of its last four. Starter Jesse Hahn gave up four runs -- one earned -- on three hits and two walks over 5 2/3 frames.

"I wish we could take a lot of things back, but this team clawed and fought back," Vogt said. "If the last two days showed us anything, it's that this team won't get down."

The Mariners went ahead with four runs in the sixth inning. Ackley doubled and Zunino singled to start the frame. Ackley came on home on Miller's sacrifice fly.

Austin Jackson walked and the runners moved to second and third on Seth Smith's groundout. Zunino and Jackson scored to tie the game after Reddick bobbled Robinson Cano's liner in right, and Cano beat out the throw to home on Seager's single to center for a 4-3 Mariners lead.

In the seventh, Ackley and Zunino singled and moved up a base on a groundout before Weeks cracked a three-run, pinch-hit blast over the wall in center for a 7-3 lead.

Rodney ran into trouble during the ninth.

Josh Reddick hit a leadoff double, Marcus Semien walked and Fuld brought them around with a double to right. Mark Canha singled and Zobrist walked to load the bases with no outs.

Billy Butler grounded into a double play, but Fuld scored to make it a one-run game. Eric Sogard forced extra innings with a line-drive single to left field to score Canha and make it a 7-7 game.

After failing to score with the bases loaded in the second, the A's got on the board in the fourth. Butler doubled to right and scored on Ike Davis' grounder to center. Davis moved to second on Jackson's fielding error on the play and scored on Vogt's grounder down the right-field line.

Reddick connected on a grounder up the middle two batters later to plate Vogt for a 3-0 lead.

Game Notes

Butler is the only player in the American League to hit in each of his first seven games ... The A's went 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position, while the Mariners were 3-for-10 ... Both teams are back in action on Monday as Seattle starts a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and Oakland travels to Houston for a three-game set.






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