OAKLAND, Calif. — Coco Crisp admits that when he goes to the plate intent upon swinging as hard as he can, he strikes out nine times out of 10.
The Oakland A’s center fielder nevertheless decided to try it while leading off the 12th inning Thursday night. Turns out that 10th time was the charm.
After a big swing and a miss at reliever Hector Noesi’s first pitch, Crisp belted the right-hander’s next delivery for a home run to right field, allowing the A’s to hand the Seattle Mariners their first loss of the season, 3-2.
Crisp, a switch hitter batting left-handed, sent the A’s (2-2) to a win in the opener of a four-game series.
Crisp’s sixth career game-winning RBI also prevented the Mariners from recording their second-ever 4-0 start, while at the same time taking some of the sting out of two potentially demoralizing losses Oakland suffered against the Cleveland Indians earlier in the week.
“Put it behind us. That’s been our mentality ever since I’ve been here,” Crisp said of the Athletics’ forward-looking approach. “After today, this is going to be in the past, just like those two losses.”
Crisp, who scored the tying run four innings earlier after leading off with a walk, admitted he had some second-thoughts about the approach to his last at-bat after swinging and missing at Noesi’s first pitch.
“I was going up there swinging as hard as I could. Just let it fly,” he said. “After the first pitch, I was thinking, ‘Go back to my normal approach.’ Then I thought, ‘No. Let it fly again.’”
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz (1-0), the fourth Oakland pitcher, got the win after retiring the Mariners in order in the top of the 12th.
Noesi (0-1) took the loss.
“We didn’t execute, and we gave up too many walks,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. “We’ve just got to put it behind us and come out again (Friday).”
In a pitchers’ duel between No. 4 starters who entered the game with just two major league starts between them, neither Seattle left-hander Roenis Elias nor Oakland right-hander Jesse Chavez got a decision despite a strong effort.
Elias, a 25-year-old who pitched at Double-A last season, kept the A’s hitless for 4 2/3 innings. He lost his no-hit bid on a single by A’s second baseman Nick Punto with two outs in the fifth, then lost the shutout on a run-scoring triple by Oakland’s next batter, left fielder Sam Fuld.
Fuld was thrown out at the plate trying for an inside-the-park home run, ending the inning, but not before a bit of controversy also ended Elias’ night.
After Fuld was erased at the plate on a relay from right fielder Logan Morrison to second baseman Robinson Cano to catcher Mike Zunino, A’s manager Bob Melvin approached home plate umpire Sean Barber regarding where Zunino positioned himself to make the tag.
The umpires got together and decided to review the play, eventually concluding that Barber’s call was correct.
Even though the call went in his favor, McClendon complained to the umpires between innings, insisting the delay was not necessary.
“Very unfortunate incident that I felt was not supposed to happen,” he insisted. “My pitcher is sitting there for five minutes. That shouldn’t happen.”
McClendon said the delay led to his decision to pull Elias after five innings even though the rookie allowed only one run on two hits. Elias walked three and struck out three.
Elias left with a 2-1 lead, but he was denied a first major league win when the A’s rallied in the bottom of the eighth against the Seattle bullpen.
Crisp, who led off the inning with a walk against lefty Charlie Furbush, scored on a two-out triple to right-center by designated hitter Yoenis Cespedes off right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen.
In just his third major league start, Chavez gave up two runs (one earned) and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Cano and center fielder Abraham Almonte drove in Seattle’s runs against Chavez.
NOTES: The A’s had eight walk-off hits in 2013. … When LHP James Paxson and LHP Roenis Elias made starts for Seattle on Wednesday and Thursday, they became the first pair of rookies to open a season in the Mariners’ rotation since Enrique Romo and Gary Wheelock in 1977. … Seattle’s four starting pitchers have a 1.80 ERA with 29 strikeouts. … Mariners RHP Chris Young, who sat out last season while recovering from surgery on his right shoulder, is scheduled to make his first regular-season start since Sept. 29, 2012, in Game 2 of the series Friday. … Before the game, the A’s announced OF Michael Taylor and 2B Hiro Nakajima were outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento. Taylor was designated for assignment Monday, but he cleared waivers and remained with the A’s. … The A’s optioned INF Jake Elmore to Sacramento last week, but they voided that move Thursday in order to place him on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left quad.