Joey Estes took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Zack Gelof hit a home run and the Oakland Athletics held off the visiting Seattle Mariners 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Star closer Mason Miller recorded the first five-out save of his career, his 12th overall this season, to help the A’s end a two-game losing streak. The Mariners had won four games in a row and eight of the past nine.
Making just the seventh start of his career, Estes (2-1) retired the first 18 Mariners he faced, five by strikeout.
He took a 2-0 lead into the seventh but saw his bid for a perfect game end on the first pitch he threw in that inning, as J.P. Crawford ripped a double off the base of the wall in right-center field.
Estes got Josh Rojas to fly out before he was pulled in favor of Austin Adams, who proceeded to load the bases by walking Julio Rodriguez and hitting Ty France with a pitch, sandwiching a flyout by Cal Raleigh.
T.J. McFarland replaced Adams and, on a full count, got pinch hitter Mitch Garver to ground out to shortstop.
The Mariners threatened again in the eighth against Vinny Nittoli, who was making his A’s debut. Consecutive singles by Mitch Haniger and Dominic Canzone immediately got the potential tying run on the basepaths, after which Nittoli struck out Dylan Moore.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay then chose to bring on Miller, who retired Crawford on a flyball and Rojas on a grounder to retain the 2-0 lead.
Miller served up a home run to Rodriguez, his fifth of the season, leading off the ninth, then walked Raleigh before striking out France and getting Victor Robles, in his Mariners debut, to ground into a game-ending double play.
Logan Gilbert (3-4) pitched well in defeat for the Mariners, allowing just two runs, only one of which was earned, in seven innings. He gave up five hits but no walks while striking out five.
Gelof’s homer, his fifth of the season, came with one out in the third after Gilbert had retired the first seven men he faced.
Oakland’s only other run was hand-delivered by Gilbert. The right-hander allowed a Daz Cameron single with one out in the fifth, sent him to third with an errant pickoff throw and saw him score on a passed ball.
Gelof, who also had a single, was the only player in the game with two hits.
–Field Level Media
