PHILADELPHIA _ Joey Wendle spent his entire baseball career in Chester (Pa.) County before leaving home in 2012 after being drafted. He starred at Avon Grove High and led West Chester University to a national title. Wendle's baseball journey _ first with the Indians and now with the A's _ took him to North Carolina, Nashville, and Akron.
On Sunday, he was home. And Wendle made sure his return was special as he blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to lift the A's to a 6-3 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Wendle ripped a first-pitch slider from Edubray Ramos, almost bending down on one knee as he golfed it to right field.
Wendle's blast spoiled a decent start from Phillies' Henderson Alvarez, who was issued the loss as Ramos allowed two of his inherited runners to score on the homer. Sunday was Alvarez's first major-league start since May 2015 after he was sidelined by a pair of shoulder surgeries and started the season in independent ball.
Alvarez allowed four runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked two. The A's seemed to figure him out in the fourth when Chad Pinder and Matt Olson hit back-to-back homers. Olson homered in each game of the weekend series.
Maikel Franco drove in two runs with a pair of RBI singles. He went 3 for 4 and has five multi-hit games since being held out of the lineup for three games earlier this month. J.P. Crawford walked twice and has six walks in his last six games as he begins to show the plate discipline that helped him control at-bats in the minor leagues.
