Rosales’ single in 9th lifts A’s past Tigers
OAKLAND (AP) – Adam Rosales hit a two-run single off closer Francisco Rodriguez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Oakland Athletics to a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
Rodriguez (1-3) retired the first two batters before walking Bruce Maxwell. After Matt Joyce doubled, Rosales lined the first pitch he saw into left field. Maxwell scored easily and Joyce slid into home plate to beat the throw from Justin Upton.
Yonder Alonso homered twice, Ryon Healy also went deep and Frankie Montas (1-0) retired three batters for his first major league win for the A’s.
Oakland couldn’t get much going against Detroit starter Jordan Zimmermann until Alonso’s second home run, a two-run shot in the sixth, closed the gap to 5-4.
Three Tigers relievers combined to retire seven straight batters after Zimmermann left with one out in the sixth before Rodriguez’s two-out meltdown in the ninth. It was the first runs allowed by Detroit’s bullpen in six games.
Andrew Romine tripled in two runs, Nicholas Castellanos had two hits and two RBIs and Jose Iglesias singled twice and scored two runs for Detroit.
The A’s won despite committing two errors and getting only one hit from the top third of their batting order.
Alonso hit a solo home run in the fourth and a two-run blast in the sixth, the first multi-homer game of his career. The A’s first baseman has eight home runs this season, one more than he did in 2016.
Zimmermann allowed four runs over 5 ⁄ innings with four strikeouts and one walk.
TRAINER’S ROOM Sean Manaea threw 38 pitches in a bullpen session before the game and came out of it fine, though the team has yet to determine what the next move will be. Manaea has been on the DL since April 27 with a strained left shoulder.
UP NEXT Sonny Gray (0-1) makes his second start for Oakland since coming off the disabled list in the series finale today.