A’s blank Orioles 5

Billy Burns hit a two-out single in the fifth to drive in Sogard, who scored easily when Jones’ throw from shallow center hit the back of the pitching mound and bounced in the air. The other Baltimore runs were contributed by Nolan Reimold (1-for-4), Jimmy Paredes (1-for-5), and J.J. Hardy (2-for-5) each hitting an RBI single.

What began as Groundhog Day ended up as Christmas Day as the A’s gifted Chris Bassitt with five runs and let the rookie starting pitcher do the rest in a 5-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

It was the Orioles’ first extra-inning grand slam since Matt Wieters in 2013 and only the second in baseball this year (Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds also did it in 2015).

In the fourth, Chen walked the leadoff batter, and served up doubles to two of the next three A’s.

Lucas Duda matched Uribe with three RBIs, hitting a two-run double in the third inning and adding a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Josh Reddick is hitless in nine at-bats versus Chen but has yet to play in this series due to lingering stiffness in his lower back.

It’s not out of the question that the lack of offense was a larger part of the reason that Melvin made the call to walk Parra, though he wouldn’t say it, possibly because it’d risk throwing his players under the bus.

He struggled, going 3.1 innings, giving up six runs and striking out six in an 8-7 loss to the Tigers. Then with one out, third baseman Brett Lawrie drilled a triple to the left-center field alley, driving in Butler and ending right-hander Miguel Gonzalez’s night.

“We had some situational at bats where we didn’t get it done”, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

Chris Davis hit a three-run homer in the top of the first, and Baltimore rolled from there to a 9-2 win in Oakland on Monday.

Baltimore Orioles’ Jonathan Schoop, right, is greeted by teammate…

Showalter said he didn’t decide to send Wilson down until he checked on Tillman’s left ankle to make sure the veteran hadn’t experienced a setback in his recovery. With the count 1-2 to pinch-hitter David De Jesus, Allen threw a breaking pitch between the legs of catcher Roberto Perez, enabling Featherston to score the winning run. Wednesday’s series finale could mark the Athletics debut of infielder/outfielder Danny Valencia, who was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays on Monday. Chen has allowed 10 hits in two of his last three starts while his ERA has risen from 2.78 to 3.24.

A’s starter Kendall Graveman (6-7, 3.84) took a step in the right direction by yielding an unearned run in 6 2-3 innings in Friday’s 2-1 loss to Cleveland in which he avoided defeat.

UVA alum Tyler Wilson got the win for the O’s in his first career Major League start.

Athletics: OF Coco Crisp was scratched from the lineup with a sore neck. After averaging 50 wins per season at the Coliseum the last three seasons, the A’s are 24-33 at home this year, mired in last place at 48-61.