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A's anxiously await review, then celebrate

Walk-off win on hold until call stands on infield hit

OAKLAND -- Their celebration on pause, the A's stood huddled in the middle of the field in the 10th inning of Wednesday night's 4-3 win over the Blue Jays, waiting to hear whether they were headed home or back to the dugout.

Josh Reddick called it "awkward." The A's outfielder had just raced home from third on Ike Davis' walk-off infield single, except a replay review was in place to determine whether Davis was safe, as originally ruled.

"That's a tough position to be in," Reddick said. "The whole time we're thinking, if they turn this over, we're going to look like a bunch of idiots out here. Once they ruled him safe, we had planned we were going to spring off with no high-fives. It felt like the longest replay we've had all year."

Video: TOR@OAK: Davis hits walk-off single, call stands

After 2 minutes, 45 seconds, the party resumed. The A's were determined victors.

"You look at it in real time, and it's close," said Oakland manager Bob Melvin, who was watching from the clubhouse with starter Sonny Gray after his fifth-inning ejection. "They stayed with what we're told they're supposed to do, is if there's no definitive overturn, you stay with it. That was nerve-wracking sitting there on the verdict, but we'll take it."

"We were having a bunch of fun out there, planning our exit," said Davis. "If not, we were going to be pretty upset.

"I wasn't sure. You never know. It's tough, and especially with that one you couldn't tell on video, at least I couldn't."

Davis' pinch-hit heroics followed two swings and misses and a pair of foul balls off Blue Jays right-hander Roberto Osuna, who brought the count to 1-2 before Davis grounded a ball toward shortstop Jose Reyes, who made a nice diving play in advance of a perfect throw to first base.

"I honestly didn't think he was going to catch it," Davis said. "As soon as I hit it, I thought that's a hit, and then he made a really good play and it was really close. Thankfully it went our way."

"Just a great job coming off the bench by him," Reddick said. "That's even tougher without an inning of defense and with a guy throwing 95-97 [mph]. It's not easy to pick up. He's got a short arm. Great at-bat."

Video: TOR@OAK: Reddick doubles to get in scoring position

Reddick's was of equal significance. He, too, began the game on the bench, entering in the top of the 10th as a defensive replacement for Jake Smolinski in right field before lining a one-out double to left field in the bottom half of the frame.

Reddick moved to third on Brett Lawrie's ensuing groundout, setting up Davis' game-winning hit.

"There were a lot of chances where I was possibly going to pinch-hit," Reddick said, "so I made sure that I stayed loose as much as I could, and in that situation, I'm just trying to get on and let somebody hit me in."

Jane Lee is a reporter for MLB.com.
Read More: Oakland Athletics, Ike Davis, Brett Lawrie, Josh Reddick