Khris clutch as A's sink Yanks in wild walk-off

June 16th, 2017

OAKLAND -- A back-and-forth affair at the Coliseum went in favor of the A's, who staved off the Yankees with a walk-off, two-run single from in the 10th inning to claim an 8-7 series-opening victory on Thursday night.
The rally against Yankees right-hander began with two outs, when singled and followed with a double. New York elected to intentionally walk , who stepped to the plate a double shy of hitting for the cycle, and instead faced Khris Davis, who sent a flare over second baseman for the game-winning hit.
"I thought it had a chance, but Castro was getting after it out there, so you never know," Khris Davis said. "I saw it tip off his glove and then I saw my boys running after me, so that was fun."
This, after the Yankees had erased four A's leads, with and Chris Carter each recording a pair of game-tying hits, and Castro hitting a go-ahead sacrifice fly against in the 10th.

"It was 10 innings, and it felt like 15," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "There were so many emotional swings in the game and it just kind of wears you out a little bit. That was a great baseball game for any baseball fan, either side, watching that game. Every time a team had a lead, it looked like they had the advantage, and the next team came up and scored again. Look at the line after the fifth inning, and it was an absolute back-and-forth game, so give our guys a lot of credit to hang in there."
Sanchez exits with tight groin after huge night
Oakland carried a 3-0 lead against Yankees starter after five innings, but New York proceeded to tie the game in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The trend began opposite A's starter , who allowed three runs in the sixth on back-to-back RBI hits to and Carter, prompting his exit with just one out.
notched his 17th home run in the bottom half of the frame to put the A's ahead, 4-3, but the Yankees got a game-tying double from Sanchez against in the seventh. Pinder put the A's back on top in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of an RBI base hit, before Carter was at it again, homering off of .

Alonso scored another run in the eighth for a 6-5 lead, but Sanchez bit again in the ninth with a single against A's closer that plated Castro, who reached on a one-out double.
Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for Alonso and other #ASGWorthy players
"We kept fighting back. We got behind then we tied it up, got behind, tied it up," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We did it a bunch of times. It hurts because it's a matter of a couple inches that you lose that game by and it's frustrating."
The A's left the bases loaded in the ninth against and were one out away from doing so again in the 10th, before Khris Davis delivered his third career game-ending hit.

"As soon as he hit it, I was like, be a thing, be a thing," Alonso said. "Hopefully it can get down and we can go home with a win. That's the definition of a team win right there."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Chapman debuts, walks: A's third baseman stepped to the plate with two outs in the second inning for his first big league plate appearance, drawing a five-pitch walk that set the stage for a two-run inning. Following Chapman's walk, Josh Phegley put the rookie on third base with a ground-rule double, and brought them both home with another double to extend Oakland's lead to 3-0. Chapman, promoted from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day, finished 0-for-3 with two walks. More >
"What a wild first game," Chapman said. "It was awesome being part of that."

Re-Joyce: Alonso singled off former Athletic to lead off the eighth, setting in motion another pivotal inning for the A's. struck out, but Chapman drew a walk to put runners on second and force Betances into the game. Betances walked to load the bases for Matt Joyce, who slid headfirst into first base to avoid a potential inning-ending double play and allow Alonso to score for a temporary 6-5 lead.

QUOTABLE
"It's been a tough grind here. The guys have played extremely hard. We've had some long games and some late nights and you have to fight through it." -- Girardi on Yankees' three-game losing streak, with two coming in extra innings
WHAT'S NEXT
Yankees: Right-hander (5-2, 2.75 ERA) will head to the hill Friday for the Yankees as they face the A's at 9:35 p.m. ET at the Coliseum. Severino is 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA in his last four starts, striking out 30 in 28 1/3 innings.
A's: The A's will send lefty (6-3, 3.67 ERA) to the mound for Friday's 6:35 p.m. PT matchup with the Yankees at the Coliseum. Manaea is 5-0 with a 1.97 ERA and .193 opponents average over his last five starts.
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