OAKLAND - Stephen Piscotty notched his third career multi-home run game and tied his career-high with five RBI, as the A's beat up on the Mariners 8-2 Sunday afternoon, earning a series split.
Piscotty now has 21 home runs on the season, one shy of his career-high. He became the fifth A's player with 20 home runs this year, tying the franchise record. Piscotty already has a career-high 36 doubles this season.
Edwin Jackson pitched six strong innings, allowing just one run, to improve to 5-3 on the season. Blake Treinen got the final four outs for his 35th save of the year, fourth most in MLB.
The A's improved to 82-56, clinching their first winning season since 2014. They increased their lead over the Mariners to 5 1/2 games for the second AL Wild Card spot and pulled within two games of Houston for the division lead.
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Here's what else you need to know from Sunday's win...
--- The A's desperately needed a quality start, and Jackson came through. He limited the Mariners to one run in six innings, and didn't allow a hit after the first inning, lowering his ERA to 2.91. It was the A's first quality start since August 21.
--- After tying the game at 1 in the fifth inning, the A's exploded for four runs in the sixth. Marcus Semien singled home a pair to give Oakland a 3-1 lead, and Jed Lowrie added an RBI single to make it 4-1. A Piscotty sacrifice fly provided the A's fifth run. The Mariners had to use four different pitchers in the inning, allowing four runs on four hits, two walks, and two wild pitches.
--- Chad Pinder made the most of a rare start, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run. The three hits matched his season high. Pinder improved his slash line to .262/.339/.430 for the season. He has 10 home runs and 24 RBI.
--- Matt Joyce walked in his first plate appearance since July 4. He had been on the disabled list with a back injury. Joyce came around to score on Semien's two-run single, running through Matt Williams' stop sign at third base.
Matt saw the �� sign, and he....did not stop ��#RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/aAkBAiQKaw — Oakland Athletics ����⚾️ (@Athletics) September 2, 2018
