A's notes: Oakland uses record nine pitchers vs. Mariners

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OAKLAND -- It wasn’t pretty. The Oakland A’s took a step backwards in their quest for the playoffs Saturday night at the Oakland Coliseum. With the Houston Astros already winners, the Athletics fell 2 1/2 games behind in the race for the West title with their 8-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners. 

-- Liam Hendriks became the 14th A's pitcher to start a game this season. He fared poorly in his 1 2/3 innings of action, giving up a pair of runs in the loss. Oakland is now tied with the Blue Jays for the third-most starters used in baseball this season, trailing only the Angels (15) and Rays (16).

-- With Hendriks unable to make it out of the second, Bob Melvin turned to a bevy of pitchers. Danny Coulombe, Emilio Pagan, Daniel Mengden, Cory Gearrin, Chris Hatcher, Ryan Buchter, J.B. Wendelken and Jeurys Familia all took the mound as the A’s used an Oakland-era record nine hurlers in a nine-inning game. 

-- In the bottom of the fifth inning, Mark Canha launched his 15th home run of the season, driving in Ramon Laureano to cut the Mariners lead to 8-3. It was the first home run for Canha since July 30, a span of 19 games. 

-- Ramon Laureano committed the first error of his career on a bobble in the 3rd inning. Jed Lowrie compounded Laureano’s mistake later in the same inning when he missed a pop fly in short right field. Lowrie’s mistake was just his third this season and his first since July 8, a span of 44 games. 

-- A struggling Khris Davis woke up from his slumber. After going homerless for eight straight games, the A’s masher crushed a bomb to right field in the eighth inning. It was Davis’ 40th home run of the season, giving him three straight seasons with 40 or more long balls since coming over from the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2016 season. 

-- In a wild night of firsts, Beau Taylor made his major league debut in the ninth inning. The 28-year-old catcher has 638 minor league games under his belt after being draft by Oakland in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB Draft. 

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