What an ending! Down to their final few outs the Athletics managed to rally in the top of the ninth to retake the lead, and ultimately take the win/series against the Baltimore Orioles to wrap up the road trip on a winning note. Time to head home, gentlemen.

We had a big moment this morning as the Athletics sent one of their top young arms to the mound for his first career starting assignment. Right-hander Luis Morales took to the bump for the Green & Gold for the first of many times. The promising righty definitely displayed plenty of the stuff that’s catapulted him up the minor league ladder in just a few years. There was also a bit of wildness from the 22-year-old but he didn’t mind showing off his punch out potential in a massive spot:

That was a huge moment in his very first inning of work and for those of us watching, an exciting moment and glimpse into the future. The sky is the limit for Morales, who looks likely to occupy a spot in the starting rotation the rest of the way even with an innings limit.

Luis Morales: 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 57 pitches

What a line. No hits allowed, which is encouraging. Less encouraging is the five walks, a common sign of a young pitcher. Bent but didn’t break though! Morales, the team’s #3 rated prospect, had an interesting day on the mound but with the state of the team there’s plenty of room for him to take up a spot in the starting rotation and get some major league experience under his belt. Should he remain in the rotation he’d line up to take on the Los Angeles Angels next weekend. This writer expects to see him take the mound against our AL West rival next time out.

While Morales was on the mound the Athletics’ offense was struggling to get much going against second-year starter Cade Povich. The lefty starter was giving fits for the bats this morning as he held the squad down for the first four frames, allowing just a pair of hits and a pair of singles and not letting the A’s get a rally going.

Baltimore scored first this morning. After Morales and Tyler Ferguson pitched scoreless appearances, young infielder Jordan Westburg swatted a solo homer against rookie reliever Ben Bowden, giving the O’s the first lead of the game. Just a solo blast though. The A’s can recover from a solo homer.

The bats did manage to break through and prevent a shutdown inning for Povic. All-Star Brent Rooker led off the top of the sixth with his 28th double and then came around to score a couple batters later on an RBI single from rookie outfielder Colby Thomas:

That tied the game up at 1-1 all. It hasn’t been the quickest start to a career for Thomas but a homer a couple days ago plus an RBI hit today is a good sign of things to come. Hopefully.

It was tied for all of an inning and a half. Next out of the A’s bullpen following Bowden was Justin Sterner. One of the top relief options through the first couple months of the year for Mark Kotsay, Sterner had a perfect sixth inning with a pair of strikeouts but got touched up for a run in his second inning of work. Kotsay left him in for longer than he probably needed to be in there for this afternoon and the A’s paid for it. Now we needed a comeback.

Down to their final three outs, the bats got to work. Shortstop Darell Hernaiz worked a leadoff walk to kickstart the ninth and was followed by a strikeout and then a single from third baseman Gio Urshela that put the tying run in scoring position. Up next? Backup catcher Willie MacIver. And what did he do?, Oh, just hit the go-ahead two-run double, no big deal:

Doesn’t get more clutch than that! Suddenly going from a defeat to a victory situation, Kotsay stuck with rookie right-hander Elvis Alvarado to close it out for the A’s and he did just that, causing a bit of heartache with a walk in the ninth but ultimately finishing off the Orioles with a strikeout of Westburg, securing the club’s 53rd win of the season.

We love a late rally! The fight in this club is something to commend as they just don’t give up. It’d be easy to look at the standings every morning and wonder what’s the motivation, but the players seem to have plenty of gas left in the tank and ready to finish this tough year on a high note. Morales looked… interesting to say the least. And the bats did enough to get the win. No need to delve much deeper. A win is a win.

The club now gets to take the trip home with a winning road trip under their belts. Going 4-2 against a couple of fellow last-place teams is a good sign, right? Well things are about to get a bit tougher for the crew. Next up comes a three-game series against the contending Tampa Bay Rays, who are desperate for every single win right now. Who’s ready to play spoiler? The A’s will march out lefty veteran Jeffrey Springs, who will be going up against his former organization for the second time this year. His first time out was solid as he held down Tampa to just two runs while pitching into the sixth inning. Overall on the year Springs has a 3.89 ERA through 24 assignments, an impressive number considering the horrid start he had to the season.

Tampa will counter Springs with their prized right-hander Ryan Pepiot, one of the club’s latest discovered gems. The former Dodgers farmhand has been one of the Rays’ better starters this year but has hit a bit of a rough patch in recent outings. Good timing for the A’s. Let’s take advantage of the struggles the righty is working through.