The Oakland Athletics were down to their last strike when Stephen Piscotty hit a tying home run off closer Brad Hand Denzel Ward Jersey , who was San Diego’s only All-Star last year.
Jed Lowie then hit a two-run shot with two outs in the 10th to lift the Athletics to a 4-2 victory Tuesday night.
Hand was trying for his 22nd save when Piscotty drove a 2-2 fastball into the second deck, his fifth.
”That’s a guy you don’t typically think you’re going to string some hits together against and you’re down to your last pitch and the next thing it’s a homer,” manager Bob Melvin said. ”That’s about as big a momentum shift as you’re going to get, when you’re a strike away from losing and all of a sudden now you potentially have got their closer out of the game and bullpen-wise maybe we’re a little better set.”
Against a pitcher like Hand, ”you’re probably only going to get one pitch to hit and you don’t want to miss it,” Piscotty said. ”He did a good job of getting ahead but in my mind I was just waiting for that one, and luckily I got it and didn’t miss it.”
Piscotty took a 1-2 slider to even the count before homering.
”I saw that one really good and felt confident. Sometimes when you have a good take like that it locks you in,” he said.
”We were one out away from winning the ballgame. I made a mistake, they came back and hit a home run and then the tenth inning didn’t go our way,” Hand said. ”It was down, it was just inner third. A little more in would have been better, but it wasn’t necessarily a terrible pitch, but he made a good swing on it.”
Said manager Andy Green: ”I’m sure if he had it back Cheap Ito Smith Jersey , he’d throw a slider instead of a fastball. I also think he wouldn’t mean to throw the fastball right where he threw it. Brad’s been good all year. I’m not the least bit worried about him. He’s resilient as anybody, and it’s one of those days, it’s a tough loss. It one of those that stings late because we did have it. One strike away, and those games sting.”
Adam Cimber (3-3) allowed Marcus Semien’s one-out single in the 10th and retired Chad Pinder on a fly to right before Lowrie connected for his 10th homer.
”I was just looking for something over the plate that I could square up and he made a mistake right down the middle,” Lowrie said.
Rookie Lou Trivino (4-1) pitched two innings for the win. Blake Treinen pitched the 10th for his 16th save.
Padres rookie left-hander hander Eric Lauer had been in line for the victory after pitching six strong innings. He settled down after allowing an unearned run in the second and held the A’s to one run and three hits while matching his strikeout high with seven. He walked two.
The Padres had given Lauer just enough support in the first two innings against Paul Blackburn. Jose Pirela brought in a run in the first on a grounder and Raffy Lopez doubled with one out in the second to bring in rookie Franmil Reyes, who was aboard on a leadoff double.
Blackburn allowed two runs and four hits in five innings, struck out four and walked two.
The A’s scored in the second with some help from replay. Khris Davis drew a leadoff walk and was originally called out on a force play on Matt Olson’s ground ball. The A’s challenged and the call was overturned, with shortstop Freddy Galvis given an error because his foot wasn’t on second base when he took the throw. Davis advanced on Mark Canha’s single and scored when Piscotty grounded into a double play.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Padres are in a stretch in which they will play just five of 28 games at home. After going 5-5 on a trip through Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta, the Padres are home for just two games before heading out for a seven-game trip to San Francisco and Texas. Then they’re home for three games against Pittsburgh before a six-game trip to Oakland and Arizona.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Have cut short OF Franchy Cordero’s rehab assignment after he felt something in his right elbow. Manager Andy Green said it’s ”highly unlikely” Cordero is back soon.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Frankie Montas (3-1, 2.67 ERA) is scheduled to start the finale of the two-game series.
Padres: Rookie LHP Joey Lucchesi (3-2, 3.23) is scheduled to return from more than a month on the DL with a strained right hip.
—
鈥?With the season potentially hanging in the balance, Deion Jones leaped high in the air Jason McCourty Jersey Patriots , about as high as he could go.He reached even higher, snatching the ball away before it could reach the intended target.Holding on for dear life with both arms, the Atlanta Falcons linebacker landed flat on his back in the end zone, the ball secured tightly against his chest.No way he was letting go. Jones made a leaping interception in the end zone with 1:25 remaining and the Falcons held on for a crucial 20-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, setting up a three-way race for the NFC South title.“It was all about the ball,” Jones said. “I just opened up my eyes, and all my brothers were right there, standing over me. It was great.”Matt Ryan shook off three interceptions to guide the Falcons to Matt Bryant’s 52-yard field goal with 3:49 to go. The Saints (9-4) were in position to pull out the victory, driving to the Atlanta 11 after Drew Brees converted on fourth-and-1 with a quarterback sneak, as coach Sean Payton passed on attempting a tying field goal.On second down, Brees attempted to hit tight end Josh Hill in the back of the end zone.Jones had other ideas.“When it takes a while to land, you know you’re up there,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “He definitely went up and reached for it.”The Falcons (8-5) climbed within one game of the division-leading Saints with three weeks to go Patrick Corbin Jersey , as New Orleans squandered a chance to build a three-game lead on the defending division champs. Atlanta is back in the race and gets another crack at New Orleans when the teams meet again in the next-to-last week of the regular season at the Superdome.The Carolina Panthers (8-4) also are right in the thick of things.Ryan had three interceptions in a stretch of nine plays at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second. But he tied the game with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Sanu with 9:55 remaining , finishing 15 of 27 for 221 yards.Brees was 26 of 35 for 271 yards and two TDs. Yet he was kicking himself for trying to force one at the end.On the opening possession, New Orleans lost half of its dynamic 1-2 punch in the backfield when rookie Alvin Kamara took a shot to the helmet and staggered off with a concussion.Mark Ingram was left to carry the load as the “Boom and Zoom” duo became simply “Boom.” He was held to 49 yards on 12 carries as the Saints largely abandoned one of the league’s top rushing attacks. Michael Thomas had 10 catches for 117 yards and a TD .With Atlanta trying to drive into position for a tiebreaking field goal in the waning seconds of the opening half, Ryan threw a terrible pass that was picked off by rookie Marshon Lattimore, who was back in the lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury.Lattimore returned it 33 yards to the Atlanta 29 with 4 seconds remaining, setting up Wil Lutz to boot a 47-yard field goal as time expired. But the Falcons caught a break when the Saints failed to have seven blocked on the line of scrimmage, and the penalty resulted in a mandatory 10-second runoff that ended the half with the score tied at 10.MATTY PICKAfter getting picked off on Atlanta’s last play of the first half, Ryan went to the air again on the first play of the second half.Same result, though it wasn’t Ryan’s fault.The ball went through the arms of tight end Austin Hooper, rolled up on his back and was intercepted by Chris Banjo, setting up the 1-yard scoring pass to Thomas.On Atlanta’s next possession, Ryan guided the Falcons to the New Orleans 9. On third down, he attempted to force a pass into the end zone for Julio Jones only to be picked off again by Marcus Williams.It was the second time this season and ninth time in his career that Ryan has thrown three interceptions in a game.INJURY REPORTIt was a brutal night for the Saints http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquis-haynes-jersey , which is sure to raise more questions after the health risks of playing on Thursday nights.In addition to Kamara’s injury, New Orleans lost another offensive guard and three starters on defense.Guard Senio Kelemete, filling in for injured starter Andrus Peat (groin), left with a concussion. That forced the Saints to go with Josh LeRibeus, the backup center.On defense, the Saints lost linebacker A.J. Klein in the first half with a groin injury. Starting defensive end Trey Hendrickson left with an ankle injury and strong safety Kenny Vaccaro was sidelined with a groin injury.“A lot of different guys go down,” coach Sean Payton said. “That became challenging.”UP NEXTSaints: Host the New York Jets (5-7) on Dec. 17 in the first of two straight home games.Falcons: After a short turnaround for the Thursday night game, Atlanta has an 11-day break before returning to action with a Monday night contest at Tampa Bay (4-8) on Dec. 18..