OAKLAND - If the rest of this series is anything like Friday night, we're in for quite a treat. Matt Olson ripped a solo home run off Tony Sipp in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the A's rallied back to beat the Astros 4-3. The home run was Olson's 23rd of the season, and his first career walk-off homer.
The A's trailed 3-2 heading into the ninth inning, before tying the game on a wild, if not controversial, play. With one out and Ramon Laureano on first, Nick Martini ripped a double into the right field corner. The Astros executed a perfect relay to the plate, and Laureano was originally called out by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. But after video review, the call was overturned, and the game went to extra innings tied at 3.
With the win, the A's improved to 73-49, and pulled within one game of the Astros in the AL West. Oakland is now 26-10 in one-run games, the best record in MLB, and 11-5 in extra innings.
Here's what else you need to know from a wild game Friday night...
--- Matt Chapman stayed scorching hot with an RBI single in the fifth inning, extending his career-high hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the majors. Chapman also extended his career-high on-base streak to 30 games, which is the second-longest streak in MLB, behind the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter. Chapman also made two more highlight-reel plays on defense, because it was a day that ended in "Y." At this point, Chapman is all but a lock to win a Gold Glove this season.
--- Jed Lowrie also stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. After a minor slump, Lowrie has bounced back to record nine hits in his last 21 at-bats, including two home runs and four doubles. Lowrie has lifted his batting average back up to .273 for the season.
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--- Edwin Jackson was solid in five innings, but made two key mistakes on solo home runs by Alex Bregman and Martin Maldonado. Those were the only runs Jackson allowed, surrendering five hits and two walks, while striking out two. Bregman's fourth inning home run snapped Jackson's streak of 22 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Still, in his last four starts, Jackson is 3-0 with a 0.74 ERA. Overall, he is 4-2 on the season, with a 2.58 ERA.
--- Shawn Kelley, Emilio Pagan, Fernando Rodney and Blake Treinen combined for four hitless innings. As a whole, the bullpen allowed just one run on one hit in five innings. Treinen earned the win and improved to 7-2 on the season, while lowering his league-leading ERA to 0.87.
