The Oakland Athletics were held to just three hits by starter Erasmo Ramirez after taking an early lead against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, but were able to get a pair of dramatic late home runs in a 5-2 win. The A's retain their hold on the second Wild Card spot and completed a three-game sweep of the Mariners at the O.co Coliseum.
Yoenis Cespedes hit an RBI triple in the top of the first inning and came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Brandon Moss as the A's took a 2-0 lead. Ramirez held the Oakland batters down after that, as Kyle Seager and Justin Smoak each hit RBI singles in the third inning to tie the game up.
Oakland finally got to the Mariners bullpen and took the lead in the bottom of the eighth, when Cespedes hit a home run to put Oakland on top 3-2 and Josh Reddick blasted his 32nd home run of the year; a two-run shot that just hooked around the right field foul pole.
Oakland will retain a minimum two-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels for the second Wild Card position heading into the last series of the regular season. The A's magic number is now at 2.