Yankees 7, A's 6 (10). New York's Ray Fontenot, who made 62 career starts and ended up with a below-average ERA, would not have been the more impressive hurler in too many of his pitching matchups. But he was in this one, thanks to Oakland's Mike Warren, owner of 27 career starts and an ERA of 5.06.
Fontenot worked around a walk in the first; Warren did not, as Don Mattingly homered after Willie Randolph drew a base on balls. Oakland made up some of that ground in the top of the second when Dave Kingman tripled (yes, really) and scored on a groundout. Butch Wynegar led off the bottom of the second with a double, but didn't make it past third.
The A's took the lead in the top of the third. Mike Davis walked to start the inning and Tony Phillips and Joe Morgan singled him around with the tying run. Mike Heath hit into a double play, but Davey Lopes walked and Kingman doubled Phillips home for a 3-2 edge. Carney Lansford was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Bruce Bochte struck out to end the inning.
Warren managed a scoreless third, and Oakland extended its lead when Phillips doubled, Morgan walked, and Heath singled in the fourth; the RBI hit came against Curt Brown, who relieved Fontenot. Warren then turned around and allowed a single to Roy Smalley and a game-tying homer to Wynegar in the bottom of the fourth. Brown circumnavigated a Lansford double in the fifth, and Warren was yanked after Randolph led off the home half of the inning with a single. A pair of productive outs moved Randolph to third, allowing him to score the go-ahead run on Dave Winfield's single against Keith Atherton.
Jay Howell and Atherton both had mild difficulty in the sixth (a Philips walk and steal in the top of the inning, an Andre Robertson single in the bottom), and were both perfect in the seventh. Howell issued a pair of walks in the eighth (to Jeff Burroughs and Phillips), and was pulled for Dave Righetti with one out; Righetti ended the inning without further incident, and Atherton was perfect again in the bottom half.
Lopes led off the ninth with a single. Kingman and Lansford both struck out, with Lopes stealing second on the second strike 3; Bochte then singled to bring Lopes around with the tying run. Atherton allowed a Robertson single (again) in the bottom of the ninth, and was pulled for Bill Caudill, who set down the next two Yankees to send the game to extras.
Morgan drew a two-out walk from Clay Christiansen in the top of the tenth. Heath then grounded to short, where Robertson apparently misplayed the ball in uniquely disastrous fashion, as Morgan scored all the way from first and Heath made it to third. Christiansen coaxed a groundout from Lopes to end the inning, but the A's were still in front, 6-5.
That remained the case for a very short time. Mattingly led off the bottom of the tenth with a single, and Winfield followed with a walkoff two-run homer.
There were two rare features in this game. Winfield's come-from-behind walkoff was supplemented by his prior go-ahead RBI, combining to produce a WPA of +.732, which was the second-highest single-game mark in his lengthy Hall of Fame career. It was obviously the major story of the game, providing the always-appreciated extra-inning comeback.
And yet, it may not be quite as noteworthy as an event from the bat of the Dave on the other team. The lumbering Dave Kingman's second-inning triple was the only one he would hit in 1984; in fact, it was the only one he would hit in about the last third of his career (641 games, to be precise). And it came in a game that also gave the fans an extra-inning comeback! When it rains crazy baseball, it pours crazy baseball.
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