Milwaukee Athletics

FRANKLIN, Wis. – Charlie Marion hit a game-tying three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth, and Dylan O'Connell connected on the game-winning single in the 11th as Milwaukee opened a three-game series against Oakland with a 12-11 victory.
 
Marion finished the game with four hits, including three for extra bases, and drove in a team-high four RBIs. Joey Spence went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Dominic Kibler also drove in three runs.
 
Tate Schmidt had two hits and walked twice while scoring three runs, and Grant Ross collected a pair of singles and scored twice. The Panthers drew 10 walks and collected a season-high 18 hits as a team.
 
"We had a lot of opportunities late in the game," said head coach Shaun Wegner. "We just had to find a way, and ultimately we did. It's not the prettiest swing O'Connell ever had in his career, but he's not going to be upset about it. We'll take the victory."
 
Oakland collected 12 hits, led by Lucas Day, who was 4-for-6, while Ben Clark had three hits. The Golden Grizzlies also drew 15 walks against Milwaukee pitching, including 11 walks to the final four batters in the Oakland lineup.
 
"This was an overall poor pitching performance for our team," said Wegner. "You can't give away free bases like that, but thankfully our offense kept fighting to keep us in that game. We have to be better on the mound and bring some energy tomorrow."
 
After taking a 2-0 first-inning lead on a base hit by Kibler, the Grizzlies scored five unanswered and took a three-run lead after three innings. Four of the five Oakland runs came against Panther starter Gavin Theis.
 
The Panthers got a run back in the fourth off the bat of Joey Spence, before the Golden Grizzlies regained their three-run cushion with a run against Aiden Fishnick in the top of the sixth.
 
Down once again, Milwaukee got a leadoff triple by John Hadley VI, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Christian Holmes. Spence started a two-out rally, and after a single by Ross, Marion doubled to pull the Panthers back within one. O'Connell walked to load the bases before Kibler drew a bases-loaded walk to force home the tying run to make is 6-6.
 
As quickly as the Panthers tied the score, Oakland answered right back with a home run and later a two-run single to open another three-run advantage.
 
Hadley VI and Schmidt reached on consecutive walks in the seventh, and the duo scored on a double into the gap by Spence to pull Milwaukee back within one. Oakland scored two in the eight, taking an 11-8 lead into ninth.
 
Cullen Riel got Milwaukee through the top of the eighth and recorded the first two outs in the ninth before Tyler Andrews got the lone batter he faced via strikeout to bring the Panthers back to the plate.
 
Schmidt reached on an infield single, and after the next two batters were retired, Ross singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Marion worked to count in his favor at 2-0 before depositing a ball onto the left field berm to draw even at 11-11.
 
Camden Kuhnke retired Oakland in the top of the 10th and faced the minimum in the 11th.
 
Spence walked to lead off the inning and was pinch run for by Cade Palkowski, who promptly stole second. Ross flew out to move Palkowski to third with the game-winning run. Marion was intentionally walked and stole second ahead of O'Connell, who punched a ball into center for the game-winner.
 
Kuhnke earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the season as he did not allow a hit over the final two innings. Sotaro Ishida threw 3 1/3 innings and struck out three, while Riel did not allow a run over his 1 2/3 innings.
 
Ben Green got the stat for Oakland and allowed the first two Milwaukee runs. Jordan Dahlof allowed the home run to Marion over three innings of work, while Camden Cooper took the loss after recording just one out in the 11th inning.
 
Milwaukee and Oakland will have a quick turnaround for game two, with first pitch set for 11:00 a.m. at Franklin Field.