OAKLAND, Calif. _ Jed Lowrie called it "playoff baseball," and the Oakland A's all-star second baseman seems to have shifted into postseason gear.
"It should be fun," Lowrie said before the A's faced the Seattle Mariners on Monday night in the first of 10 meetings between the AL West contenders before season's end. "There's a lot of pressure all the way around. I'm not one to judge who's got more."
If Lowrie was feeling any heat, he channeled it in a positive fashion, driving in four runs as the A's held off the Mariners 7-6 in front of an announced crowd of just 10,400 to extend their margin over Seattle and creep closer to division-leading Houston.
Matt Chapman shared the marquee, hitting three doubles to tie a franchise record, including a two-run line drive down the left-field line that stretched Oakland's lead to 6-1 in the sixth inning. Lowrie following with a pool-cue shot past third base for his second double of the game, scoring Chapman.
With the A's leading 7-3, reliever Jeurys Familia walked the bases loaded to open the ninth before giving way to closer Blake Treinen.
Treinen allowed one run on a wild pitch, then two more on a single by Mitch Haniger that closed the margin to one run. But he struck out Cameron Maybin and Nelson Cruz to end things.
With their 10th win in the past 12 games, the A's improved to 71-48 and have a 2 {-game margin over the Mariners (69-51) for the second AL wild card spot. The idle world champion Astros (73-46), who come to town for three games beginning Friday, now lead the AL West by just two games.
"The intensity starts to build," said A's manager Bob Melvin, whose team won for the 37th time in 49 games. "For us, we had to come a long way to the position we're in right now. Based on the fact that all three of these teams are fairly close, we're looking at 40 games left in the season, it's a little bit more of a sprint right now."
August had been closer to a crawl than a sprint for Lowrie, who was hitting .179 without an extra-base hit this month before Sunday. Then he delivered a double, a home run and two RBIs in a win over the Los Angeles Angels.
"The best thing about this team is we've got guys up and down this lineup who can do damage at any point," Lowrie said. "We don't have to rely on one guy or two guys to carry us."
But the A's leaned on Lowrie at key moments in the opener of a nine-game homestead.
Lowrie singled home Chapman in the first inning, then triggered a three-run third with a two-run double to left.
Melvin said Lowrie is finally feeling better after a collision before the All-Star Game that left him with sore legs.
"It's nice that he's getting a little healthier. I think he feels better about it, too," Melvin said. "His numbers in the first half were basically MVP-like, so it's nice getting him back feeling better again."
The Mariners touched A's starter Sean Manaea (11-8) for a run in the fourth inning, but third baseman Chapman helped limit the damage with a nice diving stop to throw out Jean Segura.
Manaea wound up going 7 2/3 strong innings in his first outing since a 2 2/3-inning effort in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday. He scattered five hits, allowed two runs and retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.
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