A’s get to Rodney in 10th, beat Mariners

It’s been a while – 13 years, to be exact. But Saturday night, the Mariners and their fans got to relive the excitement of playoff baseball again. You remember, that nerve-wracking, pulse-pounding, low-scoring, run-savoring, teeth-gnashing grind of a game. But nine innings of crisp baseball Saturday fell apart into a barrage of balls and walks in the 10th inning from Fernando Rodney and the Mariners were left thinking about what could have or should have been after losing 3-2 to Oakland. No, this wasn’t a real postseason game, but facing the rival Athletics with direct wild-card implications late in the season, it was the closest thing to it. And for nine innings it felt like it, pitch by pitch and inning by inning. It even featured a playoff-caliber pitching matchup with Felix Hernandez squaring off against Oakland’s Sonny Gray. With a sold-out crowd of 43,914 filling Safeco Field for the much-anticipated showdown, the game didn’t disappoint – for nine innings at least. Rodney entered the game in the top of the 10th inning with the scored tied at 2-2. Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon went by the usual managerial strategy of pitching your closer in top of the 10th and trying to win it in the bottom of the inning. But Rodney, a day after tying the franchise record for saves in a season with 45, imploded. He simply couldn’t throw a strike when he needed to. It started with the leadoff hitter, Coco Crisp. After getting up 0-2, Rodney never got strike three, walking Crisp. The A’s got Crisp to second base on a sacrifice bunt. McClendon had Rodney intentionally walk Josh Donaldson, who had homered earlier in the game, to set up the force out. But Rodney then walked Alberto Callaspo – and that wasn’t intentional – to load the bases. Rodney gave Mariners fans a glimmer of hope. He struck out Brandon Moss looking to get the second out. But the Houdini act wouldn’t continue. He walked Jed Lowrie on four consecutive pitches to allow the winning run to score. He finally got out of the inning, getting Josh Reddick to line out. Still, the damage was done. The Mariners went quietly 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th to lose. At 80-67, the Mariners fell a full game back in the race for the second wild-card spot. Robinson Cano tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh for Seattle with his 14th home run of the season – a solo shot.