The softest hit of the night decided it
Jeff McNeil did not need to square it up. Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth, and a slow roller to shortstop was enough. He beat the throw, Donovan Walton scored from third, and the Athletics walked off the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday night in West Sacramento.
Reliever Louis Varland wore this one. Two walks in the inning before the whole thing came apart. The A’s have taken five of their last six.
Henry Bolte drove the offense: a home run, three stolen bases, three runs, three walks, plus a reach on an error. Zack Gelof chipped in two RBIs, two runs and two steals.
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Two outs from a win, then Gimenez
Toronto was two outs away when Andres Gimenez turned on a low Hogan Harris breaking ball and sent it 415 feet over the right-field wall. Tie game, 5-5, heading to the ninth. The celebration had a short shelf life.
Alejandro Kirk and Kazuma Okamoto also went deep. Okamoto hammered Jacob Lopez’s second pitch 423 feet to left in the seventh, then Gimenez doubled the other way to chase the starter. A Josh Smith sacrifice fly had already cut the deficit to one.
Dylan Cease never found a rhythm. The A’s read his slow leg kick and stole five bases in five innings against him. Five runs, four earned, four hits, two walks, six strikeouts for the Toronto starter, which at least pushed him level with his career-best 227 punchouts in a season.
One game back, three weeks left
Toronto falls to 72-73, a game behind the Cleveland Guardians at 73-72 for the third and final American League wild card. Three weeks of regular season remain to fix that.
Oakland’s season ended in spirit a long time ago at 58-87. Spoiling things at home is the job now. Lopez retired 14 straight at one stretch before giving up four runs on seven hits in just over six innings.
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