A's 8, Mariners 2
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland A's right fielder Josh Reddick waited four days to get his first hit of the season.
When he finally broke through Thursday afternoon, Reddick crushed a two-run home run to deep right field in the first inning off Seattle Mariners rookie right-hander Brandon Maurer, sparking the A's to an 8-2 victory at Oakland Coliseum.
Reddick wasn't done after his first-inning blast.
In the A's three-run sixth, Reddick followed Jed Lowrie's leadoff double with an RBI double off the left-field wall and scored on Yoenis Cespedes' two-run shot to left. Reddick, who led the A's with a career-high 32 home runs last season, drove in his fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly in a two-run eighth.
A's right-hander A.J. Griffin, who went 7-1 as a rookie last season, held the Mariners to two runs on seven hits over six innings, earning the win.
Maurer went 9-2 for Double-A Jackson last season and was named the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher, but he had a rough debut in the big leagues against Reddick and the A's. Maurer gave up six runs on eight hits, including two home runs and three doubles. He hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and struck out just one.
Seattle's Michael Morse continued his torrid home run pace, hitting his major-league leading fourth of the season, leading off the sixth inning. That blast to left field off Griffin cut the A's lead to 3-2, but they rallied for three runs in the sixth. A's relievers Sean Doolittle, Jerry Blevins and Ryan Cook each pitched a scoreless inning, preventing any thoughts of a Mariners comeback.
After losing the first two games in the season-opening series to Seattle, Oakland won the final two to earn a split. And for the second straight day, Oakland, which had 195 home runs last season, relied heavily on the long ball to prevail.
Lowrie and Chris Young homered in a 6-2 A's win Wednesday. This time, it was Reddick and Cespedes homering.
Coco Crisp started the A's first-inning rally by lining a leadoff single to right off Maurer. With one out, Reddick came to plate looking for his first hit of the season after going 0-for-10 in his first three games.
Maurer quickly got ahead of Reddick in the count at 1-2. But Reddick sent his next pitch -- a 92 mph inside fastball -- high and deep into the seats in right field, giving the A's a 2-0 lead.
Maurer got off to a rough start in the second inning, hitting A's outfielder Chris Young with a pitch. But John Jaso lined out to third, and Josh Donaldson hit into an inning-ending double play. Maurer went on to retire nine straight A's in order.
NOTES: First baseman Daric Barton cleared waivers and was assigned by the A's to Triple-A Sacramento. Barton hit .206 with five RBI in 17 games in spring training. ... Right-handed pitcher Josh Stinson, who was designated for assignment by the A's on Wednesday, was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's had claimed Stinson off waivers from Milwaukee on March 29. ... Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima (strained left hamstring) and infielder Adam Rosales (strained left intercostal) will not travel with the team on its six-game road trip, which begins Friday at Houston, A's manager Bob Melvin said. Both are on injured reserve and will continue doing their rehabilitation work in Oakland. Both will likely go on rehab assignments in the minor leagues once they're healthy enough to play, Melvin said. ... After starting the first three games, Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, catcher Jesus Montero and designated hitter Kendrys Morales were all out of the lineup Thursday. "Coming out of spring training you've got to be careful with these guys," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "It's my job more than anybody to make sure you look at the big picture."
