Well that was terribly anti-climatic.
In a season that has been part "Bad Inning Is Gonna Get You" and part "Mariners Revenge: The Sequel", both themes were prevalent on this last Thursday of the Athletics' season.
For the second time in three years, Seattle has taken 14 out of 19 games from the A's, this on the heels of that magical 2006 campaign when Oakland rode a 17-2 advantage over the M's all the way to the American League West title.
And that one naughty inning chose the fifth to emerge, erasing what was once a 1-1 affair. The Mariners scored first on the strength of a solo homerun by Adrián Béltre in the second, but the A's squared it with a run of their own in the fourth, courtesy of an RBI-double by Mr. September, Daric Barton.
Then came the fifth. And not the liquor store kind. Starter Brett Anderson, who had escaped danger in the first and the third frames, was not so fortunate in this odd inning. With a man on and two outs, Anderson walked Franklin Gutiérrez. An error by Adam Kennedy at third loaded the bases, and Mike Sweeney stuck it to his former team with a single that scored two runs. Béltre added a base hit to shallow left to drive in the third (unearned) run of the inning.
Anderson's rookie season concludes with 11 wins and 11 losses to his name. Meanwhile, Seattle starter Doug Fister was solid through seven, allowing the A's only that lone run on five hits and a walk, while striking out four.
The game remained at 4-1 until the ninth when Jack Cust greeted closer David Aardsma with a home run, his 25th on the year. Aardsma retired the next three batters with nary a scare to pick up his 37th save.
All that remains is a weekend series with the Angels. Emperor nobody takes over tomorrow night.
