A's deal more damage to Mariners' playoff hopes with walk-off in 10th

WEST SACRAMENTO – A season that seemed like it couldn’t get any worse for the Mariners did Friday night.

A comeback that gave them the lead in the top of the 10th inning, and perhaps kept hope alive for a postseason bid, turned into a greater letdown, a 6-5 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park when Donovan Walton hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

George Kirby threw at least 100 pitches for the second outing in a row but found no joy in the accomplishment that surely saved bullpen arms -- and in fact, didn’t consider it an accomplishment at all.

“No,” he said after giving up four runs (all earned) and nine hits over six innings and 101 pitches. “Not with the line it was. I want to go as long as I can, give the bullpen a break. But I’m not happy with the two starts.”

It was that kind of night, when encouraging moments only created more heartbreak and when the chance to make a stand with the playoffs in mind instead resulted in a fourth loss in the past five meetings with the 60-88 A’s.

“Any loss at this point is deflating and they’re tough,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Especially one where the guys really came back. They really continued to fight and give us a chance to win. It’s always tough this time of the year.”

The A’s scored two runs in the first inning and two in the third to take a 4-2 lead. In the top of the sixth, though, an error by pitcher Scott Blewett trying to throw out Josh Naylor at first started the Seattle comeback. Lazaro Montes followed with a pinch-hit 430-foot home run to right field to tie it at 4-4. Montes, at 21 years and 324 days old, became the youngest Mariner to hit a pinch-hit blast since Ken Griffey Jr., on Sept. 16, 1990.

That turned into a 5-4 lead when Julio Rodríguez singled home Randy Arozarena with two outs in the 10th inning.

“You really felt like things are going to go our way,” Wilson said. “But it didn’t.”

It really, really didn’t.

Pinch-runner Michael Stefanic opened the bottom of the 10th at second base. Walton stepped to the plate with no outs, his team down a run and Eduard Bazardo on the mound. Bazardo threw a ball and then got Walton to foul off the second pitch.

The third pitch, a sweeper, was deposited beyond the right-field fence.

The 6:40 first pitch from A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs came after pregame ceremonies to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with a moment of silence, a salute to first responders, a flyover and fans joining in the outfield to hold a large American flag horizontally.

“Can’t believe it’s been 25 years, but it’s obviously a time to pause and look back and remember all the people that were affected by what happened,” Wilson said before the game. “Thoughts and prayers to all the families that were affected, grateful for the first responders and all the emergency crews that were there. For the Mariners, obviously for baseball in general, it was a different time. As we look back and think about it, nothing but gratitude for where we are now and just grateful for all the people, all the heroes, that stepped up during that time.”

He was Seattle catcher Dan Wilson, in his 10th season overall and eighth with the Mariners, when the MLB schedule was halted on Sept. 11, 2001, stranding the team in Anaheim during a series against the Angels. With all commercial flights in the country grounded, buses were chartered for the 1,200-mile drive to Seattle, though air traffic resumed with the team close to boarding. The eventual AL West champions did not play again until a Sept. 18 home game.

“I remember playing in our first game when we came back,” Wilson said. “Just the national anthem and just how powerful that moment was, to see the flags and hear the quiet in the stadium. All those things you take for granted take on huge meaning. That’s why I think it’s important to look back to it.”