Athletics take control late to defeat Reds

Jacob Wilson broke a seventh-inning tie with a double, Carlos Cortes hit his third home run in two days and the Athletics dealt the Cincinnati Reds' postseason hopes another blow with an 11-5 triumph Saturday night in West Sacramento, Calif.

Nick Kurtz chipped in with a late grand slam and Brent Rooker also homered for the A's (69-80), who got four innings of shutout ball from four relievers after starter Luis Severino left a 5-5 game after the fifth.

Will Benson and Tyler Stephenson had home runs for the Reds (74-74), who gained no ground in the National League wild-card race despite losses by the two teams immediately ahead of them -- the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. The Reds also lost the series opener to the A's on Friday night, 3-0.

After each team had a two- and a three-run uprising within the first four innings, the teams were deadlocked at 5-5 until Shea Langeliers led off the seventh with a double off Nick Martinez (10-13) and Wilson greeted Graham Ashcraft three batters later with his go-ahead double.

Kurtz's grand slam, the second of his rookie campaign, blew the game open in a five-run eighth that also included an RBI single by Lawrence Butler. Kurtz's homer was his 31st of the season.

The homers by Benson in the second, his 11th of the season, and Stephenson in the fourth, also his 11th, accounted for all the Cincinnati scoring. Benson's homer gave the Reds a 2-0 lead; Stephenson's three-run blast created the 5-5 tie.

In between, Rooker hit his 28th homer, a solo shot, and Cortes added his fourth, a two-RBI blast, in a three-run second inning that gave the A's a 3-2 lead.

Wilson's first of two doubles capped a two-run third that ended Hunter Greene's night after just 2 1/3 innings. He was charged with five runs on four hits, with four walks and three strikeouts.

Severino got through five innings, during which he also allowed five runs. He served up six hits and two walks, with two strikeouts.

Brady Basso (1-0), who threw a scoreless seventh, was credited with the win.

Cortes, Rooker, Butler and Darell Hernaiz joined Wilson with two hits each for the A's, who totaled 12 hits, half of which went for extra bases. Langeliers scored three runs, while Butler and Hernaiz scored twice apiece.

Sal Stewart collected three singles for the Reds, who got only two hits off the Oakland bullpen over the final four innings. Stephenson finished with two hits and scored twice in Cincinnati's 11th loss in its last 17 games.

--Field Level Media