Mariners, A’s begin season-ending collection after emotional day

The Athletics have bid adieu to Oakland, but they still have some work to do.

The A’s will open a season-ending, three-game series Friday night against the host Seattle Mariners.

The opener figures to have little buzz, as the A’s (69-90) are coming off an emotional 3-2 victory Thursday against Texas in the finale at the Oakland Coliseum, their home since 1968.

The A’s, who plan to move to Las Vegas, are set to play the next three seasons in Sacramento with hopes of opening a ballpark in Sin City in 2028.

“To the staff who have dedicated their lives to the Oakland A’s, especially those who aren’t coming with us, I am forever grateful,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told the crowd after the game. “I will never forget you.”

A’s fans chanted “Sell the team!” and “Let’s go Oakland!”

“I’ve never been to a World Series before, but I feel like today is one of those days that you can kind of experience the emotion of that,” Kotsay said before the game. “The magnitude of it, driving in today and seeing the fullness of a parking lot and feeling the energy and emotion, that’s something I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.”

The Mariners (82-77), who had a 10-game lead in the American League West in mid-June, were eliminated from the wild-card chase on their off day when both the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers rallied for victories.

“It’s not how you get into the tournament, you just want to be there,” Mariners designated hitter/backup catcher Mitch Garver said after Wednesday’s 8-1 victory at Houston that kept Seattle’s hopes alive for one more day.

At least the Mariners’ offense has shown signs of life since Hall of Fame member Edgar Martinez returned as the hitting coach when Dan Wilson was named manager late last month.

The Mariners’ .275 batting average over the past 15 games leads the AL.

“I think that obviously there’s time for reflection in the offseason,” Wilson said earlier this week. “I think we’ve seen some good results from what (Martinez) has done and what he’s brought and some of the offensive things that have happened.”

Julio Rodriguez, who had been in a season-long slump, hit four homers in six games on the team’s final trip of the season, including his 20th of the season. He is hitting .336 in September after a .234 August.

“I feel I’ve worked really hard this year and I never stopped,” said Rodriguez, who is the reigning AL Player of the Week. “I went through some rough patches and I feel like some other people (would) maybe take a different route. … I just kept on working hard and I was able to come out with some pretty cool results right now.”

As for the final series, left-hander JP Sears (11-12, 4.43 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday for the A’s. The Mariners haven’t yet announced who will pitch in the series opener.

Sears is 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA in four starts this month, including a 16-3 loss to visiting Seattle on Sept. 4 when he allowed five runs over six innings. The Mariners went on to score seven runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth after Sears departed. Sears is 2-3 with a 2.62 ERA in eight career appearances against the M’s, with seven starts.

–Field Level Media