Sean Manaea finally got some run support Wednesday night and had Elvis Andrus to thank for it.
A 13-pitch at-bat by Andrus ignited a five-run third-inning as Manaea and the Athletics beat the host Seattle Mariners 6-0 to remain a half-game in front of the Houston Astros in the American League West with a 33-25 record.
The third-inning outburst was an embarrassment of riches for Manaea, who improved to 4-2. Included in Manaea’s season going in to the game were six no decisions, four of those in which the A’s scored a single run in each.
Manaea gave up four hits, walked two and struck out eight in throwing his third career shutout. Manaea had a seven-inning shutout against Minnesota on April 20 as well as a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in 2018. He threw 111 pitches — 72 strikes — as the A’s won two of three games in the series.
Chris Flexen, the Newark Memorial High product who had breezed through the first two innings, took the loss and fell to 5-3. Seattle fell to 28-29.
Mitch Moreland had a two-run home run in the fifth inning for the Athletics, his fifth homer of the season and first in a road game.
The Athletics saw only 20 pitches from Flexen through the first two innings before scoring five times in the third on a two-run single from Mark Canha, a run-scoring single by Matt Olson and the no-doubt two-run blast to center from Moreland.
The catalyst for the A’s in the inning was Andrus, who saw 13 pitches and hit eight foul balls before hitting a double to left, which sent Matt Chapman (who had walked) to third base.
Canha’s single to center drove in two, and after Jed Lowrie grounded out for the second out, Olson singled in Canha and Moreland hit his two-run home run.
The A’s tacked on one last run in the ninth inning when Canha’s ground out brought home Tony Kemp against Robert Dugger.
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