A’s can’t hold back Mariners’ late-game assault in 9-8 loss

OAKLAND - Oh-so-close Oakland, again.

On a day the Athletics grabbed a big lead and got to nemesis Felix Hernandez, they still couldn’t pull out a victory.

On a day Sean Manaea hung tough with the Mariners ace for an afternoon, they couldn’t get the rookie his first big league win.

Even with a rebuilt bullpen that has been so reliable.

Dae-Ho Lee hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh after an earlier solo shot for his first career multi-homer game, and Seattle rallied for a back-and-forth 9-8 win Wednesday and its first 2016 series sweep.

Mike Montgomery (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Nelson Cruz clobbered a rare shot into the second deck of seats in dead-center.

Cruz connected for a two-run drive to highlight Seattle’s four-run fifth against the rookie left-hander, making his second big league start.

“We were trying to beat him inside all day with the fastball. That pitch I just left out over the plate,” Manaea said. “He had seen the fastball the previous six or seven pitches so he’s probably got the timing down. I should have mixed it up a little bit there.”

Lee hit his third and fourth homers, connecting in the seventh against John Axford (2-1) as the Mariners had a season-high 16 hits and improved to an AL-best 11-4 on the road. The A’s lost their fourth straight.

Coach Edgar Martinez offered a little of his hitting expertise to Lee complete with Axford’s tendencies.

Oakland capitalized on two fifth-inning miscues.

One error came when Hernandez fumbled Josh Reddick’s dribbler with a chance to throw out the tying run at home.

Khris Davis’ grounder got past third baseman Kyle Seager moments later as the A’s scored two more for a 6-4 lead, and Hernandez’s day was done.

“You get into a four-run lead like that and we have our best guys available for the game, I feel like we’re going to win that every time,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.

“Would have been a nice game to put away.”

It matched his shortest outing against Oakland of four innings on May 16, 2006. The bullpen delivered.

“I should have made that play, that groundball. That was a weird inning,” Hernandez said.