OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s gave the final home crowd at the Coliseum a walk-off to remember. Mark Canha’s drive to center-left field with the bases loaded, one out in the bottom of the ninth sent the A’s to a 4-3 win and sweep of the Houston Astros at home Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 12,228.
Sean Murphy led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single off Ryan Stanek, then Vimael Machin’s sacrifice bunt wound up a bunt single with a mad, unsuccessful scramble for the ball by the Astros. A passed ball advanced both runners into scoring position with no outs. Starling Marte’s fly ball didn’t go deep enough for Murphy to score, and Matt Olson was intentionally walked to load the bases.
With Lou Trivino back in the ninth inning, the Astros had the go-ahead run in Jose Siri at first base with two outs. Alex Bregman popped a single into shallow right field, where right fielder Seth Brown rifled the ball to Kemp, who saw Siri inexplicably trying to score. Kemp threw home to catcher Sean Murphy, who tagged Siri out to preserve the tie. A replay review confirmed the call.
Yes, the A’s couldn’t even reach 20,000 for the final home game of the year against their division rivals now running away with the American League West division crown.
Paul Blackburn, though, was nearly perfect in his start despite not generating many swings and misses. A prolific Astros offense has been quiet against some strong pitching performances this series. Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea and the bullpen held them to five hits collectively through the first two A’s wins. Paul Blackburn kept up the trend, holding the Astros scoreless through 4 2/3 innings. He was a strike shy of five hitless before Jason Castro bounced a sharp ground ball off Matt Olson’s glove, ruled a hit. Two more hits and the Astros had their first run, tying the game 1-1.
Deolis Guerra replaced Blackburn in the sixth and was greeted by Alex Bregman’s solo blast to deep left field, giving the Astros a 2-1 lead. Yuli Gurriel’s RBI double extended that lead 3-1.
The A’s showed fight, though. Tony Kemp drove in Seth Brown, who doubled, for the A’s first run in the second inning. Responsible for got his third to start the seventh inning. After Yan Gomes was hit by a pitch, Vimael Machin advanced both runners into scoring position. Starling Marte scored Kemp with a ground out, then Mark Canha tied the game back up with an infield hit that bounced off third baseman Bregman’s glove.
