WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Henry Bolte spent Labor Day night on base, on the bases, and in the middle of every Athletics rally that mattered.
The rookie leadoff man homered, walked three times, stole three bases, and scored three runs as Oakland built a four-run lead, watched Toronto claw back, then won 6-5 when Jeff McNeil beat out a ninth-inning infield single.
The Associated Press credited Bolte with the leadoff spark and McNeil with the walk-off; ESPN's box matches Bolte's 1-for-2 line with three runs, one RBI, three walks, and no strikeouts, and baserunning details list three stolen bases.
Building 5-1
Zack Gelof's ground-rule double scored Bolte in the first, and Gelof came around on a throwing error by Toronto third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. Gelof later drove in Bolte again with a fielder's choice in the third, and Carlos Cortes singled home Gelof for a 4-1 lead. Bolte then led off the fifth by driving his ninth homer to right off Dylan Cease, making it 5-1.
ESPN's batting details credit Gelof with two RBI and a double - not a home run - and Cortes with two hits and an RBI. Cease lasted five innings with four hits, five runs (four earned), two walks, and six strikeouts.
Alejandro Kirk had answered with a solo homer in the second; Okamoto and Andrés Giménez went deep later as Toronto's bullpen kept the Athletics off the board long enough for a comeback.
Jacob Lopez lasted six innings for Oakland and allowed four runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout. Luis Medina bridged 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Harris inherited the ninth. Toronto's defense committed three errors, two by Okamoto, which helped the early Athletics margin stick until the late power surge.
Ninth-inning exchange
Giménez doubled home a run in a three-run seventh and tied it with a solo shot off Hogan Harris (4-2) in the ninth, the AP reported. Okamoto's seventh-inning drive was his 29th of the year. Max Muncy opened the bottom of the ninth with an infield single.
