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Associated Press 9y

Vogt atones for mistakes, leads A's past Arizona 3-2

MLB, Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics

PHOENIX -- A night after his mistakes led to another Oakland loss, Stephen Vogt found redemption at the plate.

Vogt hit a splashdown homer into the Chase Field swimming pool and drove in three runs as the Athletics beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Saturday night.

He broke a 2-all tie with a bloop single to left in the eighth. The catcher had two passed balls that were big factors in Oakland's 6-4 loss in the series opener Friday night.

"Not to talk about myself too much but I obviously was not in a good place last night," he said. "I was excited to see that I was back in the lineup and ready to go tonight. I had a lot of steam to let off."

Fernando Rodriguez (4-1) pitched two innings for the victory as the A's won at Arizona for the first time since June 17, 2008.

Drew Pomeranz struck out the side in the ninth for his third save as the Diamondbacks fell to 1-5 on their homestand.

"It's just been a tough homestand all the way around," Arizona manager Chip Hale said.

Andrew Chafin (5-1) pitched one-third of an inning and took the loss.

Arizona's Ender Inciarte matched his career best by reaching base four times -- on three singles and a walk. He scored one run and drove in another.

With one out in the eighth, Oakland's Mark Canha singled off the glove of second baseman Aaron Hill. The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Danny Valencia. With two outs, Vogt followed with a soft fly ball in front of charging left fielder David Peralta to bring Canha home.

"Any time you are the guy they walk somebody in front of you, you want to come through even more so," Vogt said. "I wasn't trying to do anything more than just flip a base hit out there somewhere."

Valencia opened the Oakland second with a double off the wall in left, missing a home run by about a foot. Vogt followed with a towering shot off Jhoulys Chacin that splashed into the pool in right to make it 2-0.

The Diamondbacks tied it in the fifth. Nick Ahmed, batting ninth -- behind Chacin -- led off with a double and scored on Inciarte's third single. Inciarte advanced to third on A.J. Pollock's single and scored when Paul Goldschmidt grounded into a double play.

Both starters had solid outings.

Chacin, in his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Reno, went seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. After the game, he was optioned back to Reno but will return after one start, Hale said, because rosters expand Sept. 1.

Aaron Brooks, recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Friday night for his second stint with the A's this season, gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one.

GOLDY'S EMOTIONS

Goldschmidt, whose wife is to have the couple's first child any day, rarely shows his emotions, but he demolished his bat against the bat rack after striking out to start eighth inning.

"I chased one out of the zone and took strike three," he said. "... There's always frustrations when you don't get on base and don't do the job you're supposed to do."

"Hey, he's human," Hale said.

SPLASHDOWN

Vogt's home run was the 52nd to land directly in the Chase Field swimming pool since the ballpark opened in 1998. It was the 23rd hit by a non-Diamondback.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Diamondbacks: RHP Daniel Hudson was unavailable after cutting his right index finger in the ninth inning Friday night. ... RHP Jeremy Hellickson had a bullpen session canceled and a planned simulated game appearance next week pushed back after experiencing tightness in his hamstring. He has been on the 15-day DL since Aug. 17 with a strained left hamstring.

Athletics: Oakland has used the DL 20 times, two more than it did all last season.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (7-13, 4.00 ERA) starts in the series finale.

Diamondbacks: Alan Webster (1-1, 6.86) was called up from Triple-A Reno to get the start.

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