Lowrie, Lucroy have 3 hits apiece in comeback

OAKLAND -- Major League hits leader Jed Lowrie slapped a two-out single to right to drive in Jonathan Lucroy with the tie-breaking run in the sixth inning to bail out reliever Yusmeiro Petit, and the Athletics held on to beat the Orioles, 6-4, on Friday night at the Coliseum.
Khris Davis and Matt Olson hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and Lucroy added two doubles and a single in his 1,000th career game to help get the A's back on track at home after dropping two of three in Seattle.
"Our at-bats seem to get better in big situations later in the game," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "Everybody contributed today and we had some big hits, not necessarily just the home runs."
Stephen Piscotty reached on an error leading off the sixth and went to third on Lucroy's first double. After Matt Joyce flied out, Piscotty tried to score on Marcus Semien's grounder, but was thrown out sliding into home plate by Baltimore second baseman Jace Peterson. Lowrie followed with his game-winning hit.
Lowrie had three hits to give him 47 for the season, tops in the Majors.

The A's led 4-1 through five innings behind a solid effort from starter Daniel Mengden, who allowed one run on three hits and struck out five. But Melvin pulled Mengden after the right-hander had thrown only 84 pitches.
Petit, making his third appearance since returning from Venezuela following the passing of his mother, got into trouble immediately. The Orioles banged out four consecutive hits, then tied it at 4 on their fifth hit of the inning, an RBI single from Danny Valencia.
"You never want to get pulled, especially when you know you have some pitches left in you," Mengden said. "Ultimately when the boss man says you're done, you're done."
After the game Melvin second-guessed himself and said he debated sending Mengden out for the sixth.
"I probably should have, but where we were, I was comfortable with Petit," Melvin said. "He hadn't pitched in a little bit. I even originally thought about using him for two."
Lou Trivino (2-0) replaced Petit and got Peterson to ground into an inning-ending double play, keeping the game tied until Lowrie's second hit of the night put the A's back on top.
Blake Treinen retired three batters for his fourth save.

Oakland left fielder Joyce made a running catch on Chris Davis' deep fly ball before crashing into the fence to end the seventh with the tying run on third.

The A's trailed 1-0 after Adam Jones' homer off Mengden in the top of the first, but quickly turned it around behind the power display from Davis and Olson.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Grinding it out: Mengden was on the verge of trouble in the second inning after giving up a leadoff double to Mark Trumbo. The Orioles slugger advanced to third on Pedro Álvarez's fly to right, but Mengden got Valencia to ground out before Peterson lined out to center to end the threat.
"Tonight I was just throwing strikes," Mengden said. "Slider and the fastball were really good today. Not very many changeups and curveballs, but that's the way it was set up tonight."

SOUND SMART
The A's win was their 1,000th over the Orioles franchise dating back to 1901. The only other franchise that the A's have defeated that many times is the Twins/Senators (1,004).
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Davis' home run was his eighth of the season and by far his longest. But it paled in comparison to his career-best clout, a 467-foot smash against the Royals in Kansas City on Sept. 12, 2016.

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Shortstop Marcus Semien made a nice play to chase down a sharp grounder and throw out Jones for the second out in the seventh. Olson was playing first and had to come off the bag to grab the throw then applied the tag. Orioles manager Buck Showalter called for replay on the bang-bang play, and after a review, the call was confirmed.
"When he made the throw I thought I was going to be able to stay on the base at first, but the ball kind of tailed to his right," Olson said. "With a guy coming around third I didn't want to try to stay on the bag and let it go by me. I was able to come off and had enough time to make the pick and then tag him."

UP NEXT
Right-hander Trevor Cahill (1-1, 3.00 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series on Saturday in his second appearance at the Coliseum since signing for a second tour with Oakland late in Spring Training. He'll face Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman at 6:05 p.m. PT. Cahill last faced the Orioles on July 1, 2010, during his first stint with the A's.