OAKLAND, Calif. _ Khris Davis tossed his helmet into the pile of Oakland A's awaiting him at the plate as if he was Stephen Curry shooting a jump shot. He was drenched with Gatorade and sunflower seeds as he arrived to home plate, but the next celebration might be champagne and beer in just a couple of days.
Davis walked off against the Minnesota Twins in the 10th inning of Friday's 7-6 victory, shrinking the A's magic number to clinch a playoff berth to three games.
It was Davis' second homer of the night, also providing the A's an early lead by blasting a two-run homer off Jose Berrios in the first, as he joined impressive company by surpassing Jose Canseco with his 45th home run of the season, both a career-high and the third-most home runs over a season in Oakland history.
Mark Canha pounded his chest three times with his right hand and pointed toward the A's bullpen as he rounded second base during his game-tying home run. When Canha arrived back to the dugout, Lou Trivino and Shawn Kelley were among to first two players to greet him with a hero's welcome, knowing he had just picked them up in a huge way.
Canha's two-run shot in the sixth erased the bad vibes felt throughout the Coliseum that were created from a rare bullpen meltdown in the top half of the inning when Trivino and Kelley squandered a four-run lead by combining to give up six runs to put the Twins ahead by two.
Canha's home run off Twins left-handed reliever Gabriel Moya was his 17th of the year, a career-high, and came as he entered the game to pinch hit for Jonathan Lucroy.
The A's bullpen doesn't blow leads to often, entering the Friday night with a 3.33 ERA, good for second-best in the majors. That's why it was so surprising when Trivino failed to retire any of the four batters he faced, surrendering a two-run homer to Robbie Grossman and departing with runners on first and second with no outs.
Kelley came on in relief of Trivino and gave up three more runs before getting out of the sixth, but four runs were ultimately charged to Trivino, tying the rookie's career-high for earned runs allowed in a single outing.
The A's utilized the "opener" strategy for the seventh time this season, with Liam Hendriks and Chris Bassitt combining to shutting out the Twins offense on just two hits through the first five innings of the game.
_Yusmeiro Petit knows a little something about trying to clinch. The A's entered the night with a magic number of five, which seems like a virtual lock at this point they'll get in as a wild-card. But Petit, a two-time world series champion, understands how hard it can be to win those final important games of the season.
"The difficult part is nobody can take a break," Petit said. "You have to keep battling with that same intensity that got us to this point. We're in a different place that nobody thought we would be in, but we're there and have to keep our foot on the pedal and not believe our own hype too much, just keep doing the things that got us here. I think the key is keeping that same rhythm."
While it can be easy to find yourself scoreboard-watching to see what the New York Yankees or Tampa Bay Rays are doing in their games, Petit said the team does a good job of focusing on themselves only. Not worrying about other teams has gotten the A's this far, and Petit said there is no reason for that to change now.
"We try to focus on our own game and not look at the scores," Petit said. "If the other scores go in our favor, we're happy about that. But it's something we can't allow to take away from our preparation, physically or mentally, for our game. We can't wait around on other teams, we have to all do our job and win the game on that day."
Although the A's have a chance to clinch a playoff berth this weekend in front of their home fans, thinking about that moment before it actually happens is the last thing A's manager Bob Melvin wants his players to do.
"You just stay in the moment. It's basically what we've done all year, just worry about today's game," Melvin said. "If you're thinking about today or tomorrow, it's a distraction you don't need. I think we'll continue to go about our business the way we have."
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