Nick Kurtz singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, Justin Sterner threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning for his first career save and the Athletics overcame the Chicago Cubs for a 5-4 road victory Wednesday night.
After scoring twice in the eighth to draw even, the A’s got automatic baserunner Alika Williams to third base in the 10th on a Jonah Heim infield out before Kurtz went the opposite way against Cubs reliever Ethan Roberts (0-1) to deliver his run-producing hit to left field.
Sterner inherited the Cubs’ automatic baserunner, Kevin Alcantara, at second, but induced a flyball to center field from Nico Hoerner, struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and got Alex Bregman to line out to right field, securing the A’s second straight win in the three-game interleague series.
Hogan Harris (3-0), who pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, was credited with the win.
After seeing a 2-0 lead turn into a 4-2 deficit, the A’s set up the overtime finish by scoring twice in the eighth on a pinch-hit home run by Colby Thomas, his second of the season, and an RBI single by Tyler Soderstrom.
Cubs starter Colin Rea left with a 4-2 lead in the sixth, having allowed single runs in each of the first two innings. He limited the A’s to four hits in his 5 1/3 innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.
The A’s did their early scoring on an RBI infield out by Soderstrom in the first and a run-scoring single by Williams in the second.
The Cubs scored the game’s next four runs, knocking out A’s starter Jeffrey Springs along the way.
A solo homer by Seiya Suzuki in the second, his eighth, and two-run shot by Crow-Armstrong in the third, also his eighth, gave Chicago a 3-2 lead. A double by Ian Happ and triple by Michael Busch in the fourth made it 4-2.
Springs was pulled after 3 2/3 innings, having allowed four runs and seven hits. He walked one and struck out three.
Soderstrom collected two hits and two RBIs for the A’s, who improved to 5-2 in extra innings.
Happ had two hits for the Cubs, who dropped their third in a row.
