SEATTLE _ The A's were desperate for a deep outing from one of their starting pitchers after bullpen meltdowns the previous two nights and Sean Manaea delivered.
The left-hander has been the one shining light in the rotation that has consistently put together good start after good start. Aside from a solo home run surrendered to Taylor Motter in the fifth, Manaea was sharp again as he allowed just one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts over seven innings of work in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Mariners to avoid a sweep.
At 76 pitches through five innings, Manaea became more aggressive as he began to look for more contact to preserve his pitch count. He retired the final six batters he faced in order on just 13 pitches, punctuating his terrific outing by striking out Guillermo Heredia to end the seventh. Manaea is now 2-2 on the season with a 1.63 ERA.
The A's (6-10) got Manaea a nice two-run cushion before he even took the mound.
Facing Felix Hernandez, who has been known to torment the A's over his 14 years in the big leagues, the A's were able to jump the Mariners ace early in the first when Jed Lowrie connected on a 3-0 fastball from Hernandez for a two-run homer over the wall in right field.
Lowrie's home run was his fourth of the year and 22nd hit of the season, which leads all hitters in Major League Baseball.
The A's were fortunate to get those two runs in the first, because Hernandez seemed to lock in shortly after. The two runs were all he allowed on five hits over 6 2/3 innings as he racked up seven strikeouts without walking a batter.
Manager Bob Melvin had said there was a chance the A's could shuffle around the set up role going forward after Chris Hatcher was lit up and unable to hold the lead in Friday's loss, and that seems to already be happening.
It was Ryan Buchter who came on in the eighth looking hold the 2-1 lead, and he did his job with some help from his defense.
After recording the first out in the eighth, Buchter walked Mike Marjama, bringing the speedy Dee Gordon to the plate. Gordon tried to bunt his way on and nearly succeeded, but a fantastic play was made by Matt Chapman, who came charging down the third base line a fired a perfect throw to Matt Olson for a bang-bang play to get Gordon by only about an inch or two.
Closer Blake Treinen came on with two outs in the eighth and recorded the final four outs for his third save of the season. It was his first appearance since April 7.
