The Oakland Athletics hosted the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night in the final game of a four-game series that began last week in Japan. The A's looked like they were in for a blowout loss, but battled back and fell just short, losing the series and the game by a final score of 8-7.
Starting pitcher Bartolo Colon allowed seven earned runs for the first time since 2007. The first run game in the top of the first inning, when the Mariners managed an RBI groundout after a leadoff Chone Figgins triple. The real damage came in the fourth inning, when the Mariners plated six runs while batting around. Seth Smith got the A's on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly and Jemile Weeks added a second Oakland run on a solo homer in the fifth.
The Mariners stretched their lead to 8-2 in the sixth inning, but the A's pushed back in the bottom of the frame with a two-run Kurt Suzuki double. Yoenis Cespedes would make things even more interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning with another monstrous three-run home run to dead center field that cut the score to 8-7. Cespedes now has three home runs in four games with the A's. For the second straight night, the home run was his only hit in the game.
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