OAKLAND, Calif. _ Stephen Piscotty hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 13th inning Wednesday night to give the Oakland Athletics a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds before what was left of a crowd of 9,096.
It was a battle of bullpen attrition for much of the night, with Liam Hendricks eventually getting the win with a scoreless top of the 13th. Piscotty's home run, a line drive over the left field fence, came against Robert Stephenson, who was facing his first hitter.
Hendricks followed, in order, Lou Trivino, Joakim Soria, Blake Treinen, Ryan Buchter and Yusmeiro Petit with seven scoreless innings. Brett Anderson pitched the first six innings for the A's, giving up all four Reds runs in the second inning.
The Athletics chased starter Sonny Gray in the fifth inning and tied the score 4-4 with the help of a Reds error.
Marcus Semien led off with a walk against Gray but was forced at second by Jurickson Profar. Matt Chapman followed with a single to right and Kendrys Morales, pinch-hitting for an apparently still sore Khris Davis, singled solidly to right to load the bases.
That prompted Gray's removal in favor of the left-handed Amir Garrett to face Matt Olson. After Olson narrowly missed a grand slam, with the ball curving foul, Garrett struck him out on a would-be ball four.
Piscotty was next, and his weak roller to a partly vacated right side was fielded by second baseman Kyle Farmer. Farmer threw wildly, and two runs scored to tie the game. Piscotty was credited with a single and an RBI, with Farmer's error accounting for the second run.
Gray's first game as an opposing pitcher in Oakland finished with 4 1/3 innings, six hits, four runs, three earned runs, five walks, three strikeouts and a wild pitch.
Anderson's second inning was the stuff nightmares are made of, and started with walks to both Yasiel Puig and Jose Iglesias. Farmer doubled to bring home a run, Curt Casali brought home another on a fielder's choice, and Jose Peraza and Nick Senzel each had RBI singles as the Reds took a 4-2 lead.
The Athletics quickly jumped on Gray, who opened by throwing four straight balls to Semien and then served up a line shot home run to deep right by Profar, his second in two days.
The Athletics announced Davis, who was injured while colliding with a wall making a catch in left field in Pittsburgh Sunday, was removed because of "lingering affects from a left hip contusion."
