CINCINNATI — Seth Brown hit a pair of home runs, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-6 on Wednesday night.
The A’s hit four home runs in the game and have homered 166 times this season, seventh-most in the major leagues. Oakland has scored 50.3% of its runs on homers, the highest percentage in the majors.
The Reds had one hit and were trailing 5-0 after six, but scored six runs in the seventh to take the lead on Will Benson’s three-run home run.
But Brown’s second home run — off Emilio Pagán (3-4) — put the A’s ahead to stay 8-6 in the eighth.
“That inning there, we haven’t had an inning like that very often this season,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters. “To answer back in that fashion, it just shows the character of the group right now.
“The offense has got confidence and that is how you win baseball games, really. And it’s great to see that from this group right now.”
Oakland’s Lawrence Butler hit his second career leadoff home run. The first was on Aug. 23 against Milwaukee.
Brown hit his first homer of the game to make the score 2-0 in the fourth. Brent Rooker, who hit 30 homers last season, hit his career-best 31st in the sixth to make it 3-0.
A’s starter Osvaldo Bido, who has a 1.17 ERA over his past four starts, retired the first 13 batters he faced until Spencer Steer singled in the fifth. He allowed two earned runs on three hits in six innings.
Tyler Ferguson (2-1) pitched the eighth inning for the win.
The Reds had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth against Mason Miller, who struck out Amed Rosario and Benson for his 23rd save.
With five starters on the injured list, setup man Fernando Cruz started for the Reds and pitched a career-high three innings with six strikeouts. Pagán gave up five hits and four runs in one inning.
UP NEXT: Athletics: RHP JT Ginn (0-0, 2.45) will make his third career appearance but first start today against the Reds, who will start righty Julian Aguiar (1-0, 3.60).
ANDUJAR DONE: Outfielder Miguel Andujar will have surgery to repair a core muscle injury, forcing him to miss the rest of the season, A’s manager Mark Kotsay announced before Wednesday’s game.
Andujar began the season on the injured list following lateral meniscus surgery on his right knee. He was reinstated on May 24 and batted .285 with four home runs, 30 RBI and a .697 OPS in 75 games. Andujar had a .333 batting average with runners in scoring position and ranked third among Major League outfielders with 10 assists, despite just 72 games in the outfield.
Andujar was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to Sunday. He will remain under team control for one more season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2026.
Kotsay said Andujar, 29, had been bothered by the core muscle injury for some time and that “it just got to a point where it was uncomfortable sleeping and impacting his daily life as well. We’re going to miss him. He really was a big part of this club’s success over the last few months. Hopefully, the surgery will go well, and he’ll get back here (next season).”
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In other moves announced Wednesday, the A’s recalled infielder Nick Allen from Las Vegas and outrighted Infielder Abraham Toro back to Triple-A. Toro was designated for assignment on Tuesday and cleared waivers.
Allen, 25, is with the A’s for the second time this year. He was on the Opening Day roster and batted .171 with a home run and three RBI in 28 games before he was optioned to Las Vegas on May 3. He batted .345 with 26 doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 51 RBI, 64 runs scored and 16 stolen bases in 81 games with the Aviators.
