Font ResizeOAKLAND -- When Brandon Hicks entered the game as a pinch runner in the seventh inning Wednesday, it was a very familiar role for the A's utility infielder.
What Hicks did next was brand new.
He led off the bottom of the ninth with a towering home run to right-center, sending the A's to a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers before a crowd of 20,249. It marked their ninth walk-off victory this season, the most in the majors.
Hicks, who scored seven times as a pinch-runner for Atlanta before getting his first major-league hit for the Braves last season, became the fourth player in A's history to hit a walkoff shot for his first major league home run.
He joins teammates Chris Carter, Yoenis Cespedes and Derek Norris as players to hit game-ending homers before the home crowd this season.
"Everyone calls us scrappy -- I guess it's true," A's starting pitcher Travis Blackley said. "Don't sleep on us. We're going to keep coming."
The A's notched their fourth walk-off win in the past seven home games, and it earned them a split of the two-game series against the American League West leaders, which was no small thing.
The A's (47-44) won nine of 10 games before falling to Texas 6-1 on Tuesday, and getting swept was not the way they wanted to enter a four-game series with the New York Yankees beginning Thursday.
"The way we were playing, if we had lost both these games, it would have probably been a little demoralizing,"
The A's had to erase a 3-1 deficit to set up Hicks' heroics, and it was Hicks who scored the tying run in the seventh on a two-run double by Josh Reddick.
Hicks led off the ninth by driving a 1-1 pitch from Michael Kirkman (0-1) into the seats that sit above the elevated wall in right-center.
Claimed off waivers from the Braves in spring training, Hicks has been starting at shortstop against lefties since being called up from the minors June 23, but he had been 2 for 24 over his previous eight games.
"It's exciting to get that kind of hit in a big situation," said Hicks, who had just 33 big-league games on his résumé before this season.
Blackley had retreated to the A's clubhouse after leaving the game, but he knew better than to stay there. As the bottom of the ninth began, the starting pitcher headed toward the dugout just in time to witness another teammate become an unlikely hero.
Hicks avoided a whipped cream pie to the face courtesy of Reddick, who tried to get Hicks during his on-field television interview. That prompted Reddick to sneak his way through a crowd of reporters in the clubhouse and smash a pie in Hicks' face as he answered questions.
"How dare you avoid me?" Reddick yelled as he walked away.
Reddick banged the game-tying two-run double in the seventh off Texas reliever Alexi Ogando. Until then, the A's were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Blackley made his first start since July 1 because of the All-Star break and getting pushed back in the rotation, though he did make a relief appearance July 7. The left-hander went 51/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits.
Yoenis Cespedes also returned to left field after spending four games at designated hitter because of a sprained left thumb.
Cespedes has hit .357 in 14 starts at D.H. and .264 in 45 starts in the outfield. Conversely, Seth Smith is hitting .179 in 26 games at D.H. but .295 in 47 games as an outfielder.
But Melvin stressed that he still sees Cespedes as a regular outfielder.
Cespedes, who shifted from center to left field earlier this season, has struggled in judging fly balls at times. A's outfield coach Tye Waller has him watching video of himself in an effort to improve the angles he's taking.
"If he's better with his angles, he can become a better than average left fielder," Waller said.
Rickey Henderson, a minor-league instructor with the A's, is with currently with the big-league club, and Waller has asked him to work with Cespedes defensively. Henderson played center through the minors but shifted to left field when he arrived in the majors with Oakland.
"(Cespedes) has made some adjustments as a hitter and he's feeling good about that," Waller said. "I want him to feel that same comfort when he's in the outfield."
He'll throw about 45 pitches, and it stands to reason he'll need a minimum of three or four outings before joining the big club.
Brandon McCarthy threw off the mound Wednesday for the first time since being shut down with shoulder soreness.
The A's will have decisions to make about who to swap out in the rotation if and when McCarthy and Anderson make a healthy return. Melvin said there have been no discussions yet about a six-man rotation.
Six teams were awarded picks following the first round, and six more teams received picks after the second. The A's extra selection is likely to come somewhere between 70th and 75th overall.
In an added twist, teams who gained extra picks from this lottery are allowed to include the picks in trade packages.
A.L. Wild-Card race
Wins Losses Pct. GB
L.A. Angels 50 42 .543 --
Detroit 48 44 .522 --
A's 47 44 .516 ½
Baltimore 47 44 .516 ½
Cleveland 47 44 .516 ½
Note: Top two teams earn wild-card berths.
