Overturned call at the plate costs A’s
NEW YORK (TNS) – The A’s looked like they were going to make it two in a row against the Yankees, but their inability to score late in the game with runners in scoring position eventually caught up.
After a couple of blown opportunities to take the lead late in the previous three innings, Chris Hatcher surrendered a first-pitch fastball to Neil Walker that was poked out to center field to bring home Gary Sanchez to give the Yankees a 7-6 walk-off win over the A’s in 11 innings.
The A’s appeared to take the lead in the ninth inning against Yankees flame throwing closer Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman began the inning by walking the first three batters he faced to load the bases with no outs. After Mark Canha struck out, Jonathan Lucroy, who was pinch hitting for Bruce Maxwell, hit a fly out to left that brought home Matt Olson for the go-ahead run.
The Yankees challenged
Bay Area News Group/tns The Oakland A’s Matt Olson is tagged out by New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez during the ninth inning of Saturday’s game in New York. Olson was originally called safe on the play, but it was overturned and the A’s ended up losing 7-6 in 11 innings.
the close play at the plate, and after getting a long look from the umpires, it was determined Gary Sanchez just barely was able to swipe a tag on Olson before he touched home plate. Lucroy’s sacrifice fly turned into a double play, and the game remained tied at 6-6 as the A’s failed to bring home a run after loading the bases with no outs.
“We’re on the wrong side of that every single time it seems like,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The call was out. They said they saw some sort of touch there. Not much we can do about it.”
Sensing the swipe tag attempt coming, Olson tried to arch his back in order to evade the tag. Olson said he did not feel a touch from Sanchez as he crossed the plate, but knew it was going to be a close call after watching the replay on the big screen.
“They’re professionals looking at it and I trust that I did get tagged,” Olson said. “I didn’t get to see the extra slow-mo, it was hard to tell on the replay I saw. If he got anything, it was just barely any jersey.”
In the top of the fourth, Khris Davis crushed a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left for a three-run home run, his second game in a row with a homer, to put the A’s ahead 3-2. It was Davis’ 11th home run of the season, and his eighth of the go-ahead variety, which leads the majors. His 96 home runs since the start of the 2016 season are the most in the majors over that time.
Davis’ homer was part of a five-run inning that also saw Canha bring home two runs on a single that he was thrown out on trying to stretch into a double, which ended the inning with the A’s ahead 5-2.