Seattle stuns A's on Herrmann, Seager heroics

SEATTLE -- Down to their last out on Tuesday night, the Mariners got a gift from Matt Chapman.
Chapman -- heralded as one of the game's most brilliant third basemen -- committed a two-out error on a potentially game-ending Ryon Healy grounder to extend the bottom of the ninth inning, setting up a matchup between Kyle Seager and Athletics' closer Blake Treinen.

"He's been unbelievable; his stuff is as good as it gets," Seager said of Treinen. "Definitely a tough guy and certainly not a guy you want to be behind late in a game and have to score runs."
But Seager came through with a game-tying RBI single in the ninth, extending the game and allowing Chris Herrmann to put the ribbon on this one with a walk-off, two-run homer to right field to give the Mariners a 10-8 victory in 11 innings at Safeco Field.

"Tonight and I was just telling myself, 'Just try to make contact right here,'" Herrmann said. "That was my goal, just kind of got it up in the air for a home run."
The shortest start of Mike Leake's career sent the Mariners into comeback mode right from the outset. Leake was tagged with six earned runs on eight hits through 1 1/3 innings, twice allowing a flurry of Oakland base hits as the Athletics put up a pair of three-run innings to start the game.
The Mariners never led in the game's first nine innings, but they continued to chip away to keep pace with Oakland's eight-run, 16-hit attack.
"The fans that were here got their money's worth," manager Scott Servais said. "It was a heck of a comeback by our guys. Certainly we were behind the eight-ball early and kept grinding away, chipping away and got some big hits late in the ballgame to tie it up."

Seattle used the long ball to battle back early in the game as Nelson Cruz ripped a game-tying, three-run homer in the first inning. Jean Segura added a leadoff homer in the third on a towering blast to left field that landed in the upper deck.
The Mariners also put up a pair of runs in the eighth inning when Denard Span roped a one-out double after Fernando Rodney started the frame with two straight walks -- putting Seattle down by just one run heading into the ninth.
"That was a lot of fun; that was a cool night," Seager said. "We showed some fight. It was cool we kept putting runs up, kept grinding and fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win. And Hermy obviously with the big hit. It was a really cool night."

SOUND SMART
Entering the game, the Athletics were undefeated when leading after seven innings. With the late loss, the A's dropped to 68-1 when taking a lead into the eighth inning and 77-1 when taking a lead into the ninth.
"I heard that we broke some crazy streak the A's had as a pitching staff," Herrmann said. "It feels pretty good to be a part of that and break that up and just get the win tonight. That was pretty awesome."

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Despite his ninth-inning miscue, Chapman showed why he's one of baseball's best infielders in the 10th.
Chapman charged in and layed out to snag a Dee Gordon bunt on the fly following Span's leadoff double. Had Chapman let the ball fall, Span would have been on third with just one out.
"That guy has been incredible," Seager said of Chapman. "A lot of fun for me personally to watch. He's one of these young guys coming up that seem to do everything the right way. He's been a lot of fun to watch both offensively and defensively, when we're not playing them."

HE SAID IT
"I hate extra-inning games." -- Herrmann
UP NEXT
The Mariners and A's will finish up their season series Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. PT at Safeco Field. Félix Hernández (8-13, 5.46 ERA) will make his 28th and final start of the year for Seattle up against Oakland's Edwin Jackson (6-3, 3.18 ERA).