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Mariners' strong pitching effort falters in 9th, Oakland A's walk-off 4-3 in Scott Kazmir spring debut

Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

In the bottom of the ninth inning and the pageantry of Will Ferrell's appearance in today's game fading from memory, the A's appeared destined to be on the losing end of a dominating Seattle pitching performance. After all, up to this point in the game Seattle had only given up one run, coming on a first inning triple from blazing speedster Billy Burns. Burns was driven home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Sam Fuld. Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth. With the Cubs having made news yesterday with back-to-back-to-back homers, the A's had a back-to-back-to-back feat of their own in the form of 3 1-out doubles from Luke Carlin,Alden Carrithers, and Bryan Anderson. With runners at the corners and two outs, Kent Matthes drove in the winning runs. Walk off, game over.

A's left-hander Scott Kazmir, made his spring debut, giving up two runs (one earned) over 2 2/3 innings. Kazmir found trouble in the third inning as Austin Jackson led off with a triple. Jackson later scored on a Justin Ruggiano base hit. Nelson Cruz added a sacrifice fly. Mariner first baseman Jesus Montero added an rbi single in the sixth inning.

Seattle right-hander Jordan Pries fared much better in his second spring outing. Pries only allowed the Burns triple and Fuld's sacrifice fly against him in 3 innings of work.

Despite the high rate of turnover of the roster, the Oakland A's continue to show incredible resiliency. It is a built in mechanism of the Oakland mentality. Though the names we're different today, there is no doubt this is an Athletics team. Today's dramatic comeback victory is a perfect microcosm of Oakland's DNA. Lost in today's victory was the A's bullpen. In 6 1/3 innings, they gave up one earned run on 4 hits. Dan Otero was sharp giving up one hit and striking out two in one inning.

Joey Wendle continues to show promise. With his hit today, Wendle is hitting .462 this spring with 3 triples and a double. The A's take the field tomorrow at 5:05 pm PT in a split squad game against the Chicago Cubs at Cashman Field. Drew Pomeranz will take the mound for the A's. In Arizona A's righty Chris Bassitt will go against the Royals in Surprise for a 1:05 pm PT start to complete the split.

(Editor's Note: This is one of our Spring Training Auditions, with community members trying their hands at recapping games. Feel free to post any polite, constructive feedback/criticism in the comments section, and if you really really like the recap then find the green button at the bottom that says "Rec" to show it some extra love. Click here to revisit today's Game Thread preview.)