Crisp Homers, A's Overcome Hernandez's Gem To Sweep Mariners
SEATTLE (AP) - Coco Crisp's neck injury last season forced him to change his batting stance - the A's outfielder couldn't turn his head far enough to keep his old one.
This year, his neck is back to normal, and so is his stance.
Crisp hit a two-out homer in the 10th inning to help Oakland overcome a dominant outing from Seattle ace Felix Hernandez and beat the Mariners 2-1 Sunday to sweep the three-game series.
"You try to switch things up, especially later in your career I guess, when you're so accustomed to hitting a certain way, it makes it tough," Crisp said. "Obviously you've found success with the way you're hitting, that's why you've been here for a while. When you have to switch it up, you don't really know how to hit that way. You're trying to figure it out, trying to learn, but for me it just wasn't working."
Crisp's no-doubter to right field came on an elevated 3-1 pitch from Nick Vincent (1-1).
Hernandez struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks. He has allowed one run or fewer 90 times since 2009, the most in baseball. He has 26 no decisions in those games, and the Mariners have lost 19 of them.
With Hernandez gone, Marcus Semien homered off Joel Peralta to lead off the eighth and tie it 1-1.
"Felix comes out of the game and you almost feel like there's momentum that's in your dugout just by the fact that he's out of the game," A's manager Bob Melvin said.
John Axford (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and Sean Doolittle struck out two in the 10th to earn his first save.
Chris Bassitt allowed one unearned run in seven innings for Oakland. The right-hander allowed three hits, struck out four and walked five.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the sixth. Nelson Cruz doubled with one out and moved to third on a groundball. Jed Lowrie misplayed a grounder by Ketel Marte and Cruz scored.
"We've got to do more offensively," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "Our pitching has done a very nice job, I'm happy where we're at bullpen-wise. We're just not getting it done with the bats right now."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Oakland: RHP Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) did not make his rehab appearance Sunday as scheduled for Class A Stockton due to inclement weather and will pitch Monday instead. ... INF Eric Sogard (neck) will begin his rehab assignment with Stockton on Monday and work out with Oakland on Tuesday before joining Triple-A Nashville.
Seattle: Servais said relief pitcher Mike Montgomery wasn't ready to pitch multiple days in a row. Montgomery has transitioned from the starting rotation to the bullpen.
HONORING HUSKIES
The University of Washington women's basketball team was honored and given a standing ovation during the game for its run to the Final Four - the first in program history.
HERNANDEZ AGAINST A'S
The Mariners ace is 22-8 with a 2.58 ERA in 41 career starts against the A's.
MADSON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
A's reliever Ryan Madson has not allowed a run for 16 consecutive games, a streak that spans 15 innings and started last season.
UP NEXT
Oakland: The A's return home to face the Angels, and ace RHP Sonny Gray gets his second start of the season.
Seattle: The Mariners homestand continues with a three-game series against the Rangers. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma is in search of his first win of the season.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
