A’s beat Mariners despite striking out 16 times

SEATTLE — Amazing what happens when a ball hits a bat.

It sure beats the alternative of swinging and missing.

For most of Wednesday evening, the A’s seemed destined to shatter their franchise record of 19 strikeouts — they K’d 16 times in seven innings — but then they started making contact off Seattle’s bullpen, and their world turned.

Jed Lowrie hit a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth, and Mark Canha’s solo homer in the ninth decided Oakland’s extraordinary 3-2 victory over the Mariners.

Evidently, the A’s chances vastly improved once Seattle lefty James Paxton exited after seven scoreless innings. He struck out 16 (14 swinging and two looking) but didn’t return for the eighth because…