By: Eric He
Rich Hill was solid in his return to the mound for the A’s on Saturday night, but his efforts were for naught as the A’s were beaten 4-2 in 10 innings by the Pirates at the Coliseum.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the top of the 10th, with the game-winning hit courtesy of David Freese, who singled to left to score Erik Kratz and give the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Gregory Polanco added an insurance run with an RBI single of his own.
Hill pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out six. John Axford, Ryan Dull and Ryan Madson each pitched a scoreless inning in relief, but Daniel Coulombe took the loss after struggling in the 10th frame.
The A’s struck first with two runs in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Jed Lowrie and an RBI hit by Josh Reddick. But the Pirates responded immediately in the next half inning. With two outs, Starling Marte singled in their first run, and Josh Harrison doubled in the tying run.
The game would remain tied until the extra-inning heroics by the Pirates.
The A’s fall to 35-46 and have lost three in a row, including the first two games of this series. They will try to salvage a game tomorrow afternoon at the Coliseum.
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