PHILADELPHIA — Growing up near Philadelphia, Joey Wendle dreamed of coming to the plate and hitting a game-winning home run for the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
On Sunday, he beat his hometown team, hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to lift the A’s to a 6-3 win over the Phillies.
“I’ve done that plenty of times in backyards, so it was certainly really fun today,” he said.
He was one of three rookies to hit a home run for Oakland. With the A’s trailing 3-2 with two outs in the sixth, Wendle lined the first pitch he saw from reliever Edubray Ramos into the right-field seats, quieting the crowd of 28,054.