If you were looking for something big to shake the Oakland A’s out of their recent slump, maybe this was it.
The A’s locked horns with the Boston Red Sox for nearly four-and-a-half hours and emerged with a thrilling 7-6 walk-off victory in 12 innings at the Coliseum. It felt at once like Oakland should have won this game several times over, and also that they stole it at the last minute, but either way it was the emotional catharsis that the team and fans alike needed after two weeks of exasperating losses.
For most of the day it was shaping up as another contest full of costly errors and frustrating near-misses.