September is for spoiling and the A’s definitely got the memo.

On Friday night, Donovan Walton sent the fans in West Sacramento home happy with a 10th-inning walk-off home run – his first career walk-off hit.

The A’s, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday, defeated the Mariners 6-5; it’s their fourth win in five games against Seattle since the calendar flipped to September.

“I think just the chemistry with the guys,” Walton told Chris Townsend and Steve Sax on NBC Sports California’s “A’s Cast” when asked what’s led to the team’s successful current stretch. “The communication … We know any guy that steps up on the mound will get the job done for us and we’ve just been able to back each other up so it’s been fun.”

The Green and Gold have won seven of their last nine games and Friday’s victory was a total team effort.

In the top of the 10th, Denzel Clarke, a late-game substitution, made a huge play for the A’s as he made a diving catch to limit the Mariners to just one run.

“We talk a lot about Denzel’s value and, again, it comes to fruition tonight putting him out in center field in a tie game late,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters following the win. “There aren’t too many center fielders that make that play. For Denzel, it’s as big as Donnie’s homer really. You’re trying to keep that game at one run to give yourself a chance to tie or win it in the 10th. Obviously, if that ball drops in, we’re down three runs, it’s a different ballgame.”

Another player who played a key part in the victory was Lawrence Butler.

The right fielder cranked his 14th home run of the season in the third inning and also threw Cole Young out at home in the fourth inning after a Weston Wilson flyout.

Over his past 30 games, Butler has hit seven home runs while slashing .304/.378/.527, but he says the team’s recent turnaround isn’t because of one player.

“We’re one – we’re together,” Butler told Townsend and Sax. “It’s a lot of different pieces that came from different teams. Different situations going on but we all just kind of agreed that, ‘We’re here. This is what we’ve got and let’s go out and play our hardest and let’s do it together.’”

At 60-88, the A’s season has been lost for months, but the team has still risen to Kotsay’s challenge of playing spoiler to teams fighting for playoff spots.