OAKLAND -- Edwin Jackson overcame a rickety start to hush qualms about the rotation, at least for a day, and the A's woke just in time to salvage a four-game series split with the Mariners and hold ground in the postseason race Sunday afternoon.
Jackson's admirable efforts, sprawled across six innings of one-run ball, were at the forefront of an 8-2 victory at the Coliseum, which also featured a pair of homers from Stephen Piscotty that helped the A's distance themselves from their American League Wild Card competition -- on the scoreboard and in the standings.
"It was definitely a must-win game," Jackson said.
The win pushed the A's 5 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners with 24 to play; they remain two behind front-leading Houston, pending the outcome of the Astros' game against the Angels on Sunday night.
"The difference between 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 games is pretty significant, especially now that we're into September, so that was a huge game," Piscotty said. "Even though every game is important, that was a big one."
Sunday began in much the same way Saturday ended: A's manager Bob Melvin fielded a handful of questions pertaining to the club's unsuccessful pitching experiment. Saturday's loss featured an "opener," plus eight more pitchers, and afterward Melvin promised a break from the bullpenning practice, assuring Jackson would indeed start the finale.
The veteran right-hander responded with a quality start -- Oakland hasn't gotten many of them of late -- following a shaky first inning, and the offense rewarded him with a mid-game outburst against longtime nemesis Felix Hernandez, who faced the minimum through the first four innings.
Piscotty connected for his 20th homer to tie the game in the fifth, and the A's broke through in the sixth with an onslaught of singles, including a go-ahead, two-run base hit from Marcus Semien to send Hernandez out of the game with no outs. The A's kept at it against Nick Vincent with two more singles from Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie that led to another run, and Piscotty capped the busy inning with a sacrifice fly.
Jackson, who yielded three hits in the first but none thereafter, was deemed done after 77 pitches in favor of a trusty bullpen. Fernando Rodney, who began his A's tenure with 11 scoreless innings, was tagged for a run in the eighth, prompting Melvin to call on closer Blake Treinen for four outs.
The right-hander delivered for his 35th save, but not before Piscotty went deep again, smashing a three-run homer in the eighth for his third career multi-homer game and finishing with a career high-tying five RBIs.
"It's not coming as easy for us as it was, but it's not going to be easy all year long, so today was a bit of a test," Melvin said. "We had to go out there and do the best we can to win the game today and create a little bit more distance. Certain times a split feels a little bit better than others. This is one of them."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Five days prior, Jackson carried a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning in Houston, remaining in the game even when he loaded the bases with two outs as Alex Bregman stepped to the plate. Jackson was hit for a game-tying double, a sequence of events he thought back to when he was allowed to return for the sixth to face the heart of Seattle's lineup on Sunday. Jackson retired Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Denard Span on 13 pitches to cap his day.
"It's been a tough stretch for the starting staff, myself included," Jackson said. "So it was kind of imperative for me to go out and pitch deep in the game. Secondly, it was huge in preserving the faith of Melvin, having trust in me to go out and finish the inning. Last game in Houston, I wasn't able to do that. That was in the back of my mind today, to go out and finish the inning strong, have a clean inning and get the job done and preserve that faith."
Added Melvin: "I know we have 100 guys down there, but we used quite a few of them last night and we were in position to use our plus guys today. So to be able to get it to six made it a lot easier to finish the game."
SOUND SMART
The A's now have five players with at least 20 home runs, tying the franchise record. Only the Yankees have more this year, with six.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Matt Joyce, who drew a critical pinch-hit walk following Chad Pinder's leadoff single in the sixth, ignored a stop sign from third-base coach Matt Williams, just beating the throw home on Semien's go-ahead hit. Joyce, playing in his first game with the A's since July 4 following a lengthy rehab from a back injury, responded emphatically when he emerged from his slide.
"When your head's down, it's tough to see the stop sign," Melvin said, smiling. "Matt Williams is not a guy you want to tangle with when he's upset, but it's a results-based industry. If you're safe, it's OK. If you're out, it's not."
HE SAID IT
"He's just been a beast in the middle of the order. Everything he did today, they were really important at-bats. It's what we kind of envisioned when we traded for him." -- Melvin, on Piscotty
UP NEXT
The leading AL Wild Card contenders will gather at the Coliseum for a three-game series beginning Monday. A's right-hander Trevor Cahill (5-3, 3.60 ERA) will be tasked with facing the Yankees, who will counter with lefty Carsten Sabathia (7-5, 3.36 ERA) in the 1:05 p.m. PT Labor Day meeting. Cahill has an 0.85 home ERA this season.