OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — J.P. Crawford homered in the ninth inning and Jarred Kelenic hit a pair of RBI singles to support Luis Castillo's eighth consecutive winning decision, leading the Seattle Mariners over the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Tuesday night.
Castillo (14-7) has won three straight starts and is 8-0 over his last 12 since a July 14 loss to Detroit. He needs one win to match his season high, set with Cincinnati in 2019.
Seattle (83-68) remained tied with Texas for the last AL wild card berth and closed within a half-game of AL West-leading Houston (84-68).
The A's (46-105) lost their sixth straight and fell 59 games below .500 for the first time since the Philadelphia A's were 47-106 on Oct. 2, 1920.
Oakland manager Mark Kotsay was ejected in the fifth by first base umpire Jansen Visconti for arguing a check swing. Then later that inning Julio Rodriguez's single was overturned upon review after the A's challenged. Rodriguez then singled in the ninth for his first hit at the Coliseum this season in 16 at-bats.
The game was played under smoky skies from wildfires in Northern California and Oregon.
Crawford and Teoscar Hernandez each added RBI doubles for Seattle, which jumped on A's starter Paul Blackburn (4-6) early. He is 5-12 over 27 career games versus AL West teams.
The A's, who avoided being shut out for the 16th time after a 5-0 defeat Monday, are 1-11 against Seattle this season with one game remaining.
STEAL AWAY
A day after Esteury Ruiz stole two more bases to give him 61 on the year, the Oakland outfielder was caught stealing following a third-inning single — just his 11th time being caught all season.
Ruiz needs six more to break Kenny Lofton’s AL rookie record of 66 set in 1992.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: C Cal Raleigh returned to the lineup following his first day off since July 26 in Monday's series-opening shutout. He added an RBI single in the seventh and also scored a run on a wild pitch by Easton Lucas.
Athletics: OF JJ Bleday, sidelined since Aug. 14 with a sprained left knee, ran the bases with sliding incorporated and hit early batting practice off the machine. He is scheduled to repeat that baseball activity Thursday then begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday playing seven innings of defense before serving as designated hitter Saturday. He could rejoin the A's for their series in Minnesota beginning Tuesday.
UP NEXT
RHP George Kirby (10-10, 3.57 ERA) pitches Wednesday afternoon's series finale for Seattle having gone 2-0 for his career vs. Oakland over five previous starts, while the A's send RHP Joey Estes to the mound for his major league debut. He will be the 61st pitcher in Oakland history to start in his debut and fifth this season.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
