PHOENIX — Ildemaro Vargas hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Athletics 6-5 on Tuesday night after blowing a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth.
Arizona led 4-2 heading into the ninth and closer Paul Sewald appeared poised to close it out after getting the first two outs. But then Donovan Walton tripled and Jacob Wilson tied it with a two-run homer to left field, his seventh of the season.
The A’s went up 5-4 on Jonah Heim’s sacrifice fly off Kevin Ginkel (4-3) in the 10th, but Luis Medina (2-2) walked two in the bottom half to load the bases with nobody out.
Nolan Arenado tied it with a bloop single and Vargas hit a chopper through a hole on the left side for Arizona’s seventh win in nine games.
Max Kepler hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Ketel Marte put Arizona up 4-1 with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Shea Langeliers hit a solo homer in the eighth, his 23rd of the season, to pull the Athletics to 4-2. The A’s have lost 12 of 14.
Arizona starter Kohl Drake gave up a run-scoring single to Alika Williams in the third but escaped a bases-loaded jam with a lineout and an inning-ending double play. He allowed a run on four hits in five innings with five strikeouts.
A’s starter Jack Perkins arrived in the desert with baseball’s third-highest ERA (6.87) among pitchers with at least 50 innings. He ran into trouble right away against the Diamondbacks, giving up Kepler’s three-run homer in the first.
Perkins settled in after that, permitting three runs and five hits in five innings.
Up next
Athletics LHP Gage Jump (3-5, 3.78 ERA) faces Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (7-8, 5.20) in the series finale Wednesday.
