Shea Langeliers hit his second home run of the game to start the ninth inning and his first career walkoff hit, giving the Oakland Athletics a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Langeliers hit a 3-2 sweeper from Austin Voth (2-5) and kept the ball just inside the left-field foul pole, drawing cheers from the 12,167 fans at the Coliseum on Labor Day.
“I was just hoping it was going to stay fair and kind of just walking out of the box watching it it stayed true,” Langeliers said. “In that moment I didn’t really know what to do. Just full of excitement. Running around the bases you feel like a little kid.”
Tyler Ferguson (3-2) struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to earn the win.
The A’s (60-78) matched their win total from 2022, which is 10 more than their final record of 50-112 last year.
Langeliers had previously hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning for Oakland. This game was their return home after a six-game trip where they lost three of the last four games.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay was watching third base coach Eric Martins to see if Langeliers’ game-winning hit would stay fair.
“Ultimately I was thinking through preparation for the 10th inning and looked up. I heard the sound and said, ‘Ooh, where’d it go?’ And then I said, ‘Please stay fair,’” Kotsay said.
Langeliers has hit a career-high 25 home runs this season. He has joined Terry Steinbach (1996) and Gene Tenace (1974, ‘75) as A’s catchers with at least 25 home runs in a season. Steinbach is the only one with 30, hitting 35 that year.
“For sure, it’s definitely a goal,” Langeliers said of reaching 30 homers.
In the eighth inning, Seattle’s Justin Turner and Jorge Polanco walked consecutively with one out from Michel Otañez, and Leo Rivas ran for Turner.
Rivas stole second base as Dylan Moore struck out. Third baseman Tristan Gray reached left and tagged Rivas with his glove as he slid headfirst. Rivas was initially called out by umpire Todd Tichenor, but the call was overturned after a video review.
