Golly 3: Davis' 3rd homer is walk-off slam

May 18th, 2016

OAKLAND -- Moments after hitting the first grand slam of his career to cap a three-homer night, A's slugger Khris Davis stopped a few feet shy of home plate, grabbed his batting helmet and pulled up for a little jump shot.
"I've had that in the back of my head since last year, and I finally got the chance to do it," Davis said following Oakland's wild 8-5 win over the Rangers on Tuesday. "I wasn't going to miss it. It was a swish, by the way."
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On a night when the two teams combined for seven home runs, Davis' walk-off blast in the ninth off Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson was obviously the biggest.
It came on a 2-2 fastball two batters after Texas manager Jeff Banister opted to intentionally walk Josh Reddick to load the bases.

Danny Valencia, who earlier in the evening homered for the sixth time in five games, flied out to short right before Davis' game-winning blast sent the crowd at the Coliseum into a frenzy.
Davis became only the second Major Leaguer to hit three homers in a game with the third one being a walk-off grand slam. The first was the Reds' Joey Votto, who did it against the Nationals in May 2012.
"If you're a baseball fan, I don't know that you get a better game to watch," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We know [Davis has] got power. Now you have a night where the ball is carrying probably as well as it has all year, because it was warm on both sides. You put a good swing, you get it in the air, there's a good chance it's going out."

Davis did not homer in his first 13 games of the season, but he has been on an impressive tear over the past two weeks. Since May 1, he's hit eight home runs with 19 RBIs and scored 10 runs.
That's not surprising. Since Aug. 6, Davis has hit more home runs (31) than anyone else in the Majors.

"I'm just working on my timing day by day," Davis said. "If I'm ready to hit, I think I can hit anybody as long as I'm ready to hit. But if I get in there and I'm not on time, then I struggle."
Davis had no such issue against Texas. He followed Valencia's leadoff home run in the second with his first home run of the game to snap an 0-for-14 funk. Davis' second off Rangers starter Cole Hamels was another solo shot with one out in the sixth.

Both of those came on offspeed pitches. Davis hit the game-winner on a fastball he suspected was coming.
"I went deep on offspeed all night, so I didn't think they'd flip something over," Davis said. "I thought they were going to make me beat them with a fastball that at-bat.
"It was an amazing feeling. I knew in the back of my head I was going to get the job done going up to the plate. I surprised myself."
It was the first three-homer game of Davis' career, while the six RBIs matched his personal best.

The game-ending grand slam was the first by the A's since Brandon Inge had one against Toronto on May 8, 2012.
"We would have liked to end it a little bit earlier, but the way dramatics go and the way it was going, it seemed like something dramatic was going to happen," Melvin said.