A's walk off in 13th for 7th straight win

OAKLAND -- It took the game going to extra innings for the A’s to come up with that elusive clutch hit.

After the A’s tallied just one hit with runners in scoring position through the first 12 innings Friday night at the Coliseum, Austin Allen had a two-out, two-strike game-tying single off Cy Sneed to set the table for Marcus Semien. The shortstop erased those earlier frustrations by walking it off with a single for a 3-2 win over the Astros in 13 innings.

The win pushed Oakland’s Major League-best winning streak to seven games and gave the A’s a 3 1/2-game lead in the American League West.

• Box score

Allen’s clutch at-bat came with some extra motivation after the Astros intentionally walked Robbie Grossman, who homered earlier in the game, to get to the catcher.

“Anytime a manager walks somebody to get to you, you get a little extra fire,” Semien said. “Sneed was getting guys to chase up. It looked like [Allen’s] swing was groomed to hit a line drive over the shift. I was hoping he would do it, and it was perfect.”

Until Allen’s single in the 13th, the A’s were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position and had left 15 runners on base. Once Allen poked his hit into left field to drive home Matt Chapman from third base, the Oakland dugout breathed a huge sigh of relief.

With a record of 10-4, the A’s matched their best record through the first 14 games of a season (1992, 2013, ’14) over the past 30 years. They reached the postseason in all three of those years.

“Our offense is struggling a bit, and for us to win these games that we’re winning is going to pay such extreme dividends in the end,” A’s starting pitcher Chris Bassitt said. “I can’t be more proud of our guys. We’re grinding every out. Winning a game like that is huge for us.”

The fourth time was a charm for the A’s. Semien’s walk-off hit came with the bases loaded, a situation they found themselves in three times prior in the game and produced nary a run. Semien was responsible for one of those moments, grounding into an inning-ending double with the bases loaded in the fifth.

“It sucks when you don’t come through in that situation,” Semien said. “It’s almost like you’d rather strike out than hit into a double play so at least you have a chance with the next guy. Kind of an ugly game on offense all the way around.”

Coming off a stellar 2019 campaign that earned him a third-place finish in AL MVP voting, Semien has struggled to find that form in the early part of ‘20. Entering Friday’s game slashing .179/.207/.232, Semien said he has noticed opposing teams have been pitching him a lot more carefully, leading to him throw off his timing while trying to force things at the plate. Logging the game-winning hit might have provided just the boost he needed to get back on track.

A 2-for-7 day with two singles may not look like much on the box score, but it was a positive sign for Semien as both hits were to the opposite field. While he’d been working on driving the ball the other way during batting practice over the past week, the feeling was a lot more satisfying to finally see game results.

“I kind of created some bad habits early on and haven’t been driving the ball well. That’s what I’m working on every day,” Semien said. “I’m trying to take the low pitches, and sometimes they call them, then suddenly you find yourself going 0-for-3 quick. I think today was a good day to build off with two line drives the other way.”

After a heavy reliance on the bullpen to win games through the first week of the season, the A’s starting rotation is starting to find its groove. Bassitt turned in seven innings of one-run ball on Friday, pushing the combined ERA by A’s starters to 2.93 in 40 innings over the last seven games.

A clear sign that a pitcher is enjoying a strong start to the season is when his ERA actually rises despite a sharp outing, which was the case with Bassitt. His ERA went from 0.93 to 1.08 despite limiting the Astros to the one run on three hits.

“Another terrific game -- seven inning against that lineup,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “This time of year, we’re only looking for him to go six. In a close game, as well, where every pitch meant something. He’s off to a great start.”

Not to be outdone by Bassitt, the A’s bullpen turned in yet another stellar effort, with the only run allowed being unearned as it came in the 13th as a result of baseball’s new extra-inning rule that begins each half-inning in extras with an automatic runner on second base.

A’s relievers tossed six innings, bringing their combined ERA to 1.62 over 61 innings this season. J.B. Wendelken did the heavy lifting Friday with three innings in extras to save an overworked staff.

“We only had Lou [Trivino] left and [Daniel] Mengden for length. It was important,” Melvin said. “He was pitching well and kept his pitch count low. To only give up one run in three innings when there’s a man on second every time, that’s some good pitching.”