Athletics 4, Tigers 3
Coco Crisp singled in the winning run as host Oakland rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to stave off elimination.
The Athletics trailed 3-1 entering the ninth but Josh Reddick led off with a single through the right side and Josh Donaldson sent him to third with a double off the top of the wall in left. Seth Smith followed and pulled a fastball from Jose Valverde (0-1) into the gap in right-center for a two-run double to tie it.
Valverde retired the next two A's hitters but left a split-fingered fastball a little too high to Crisp, who pulled it through the right side. Right fielder Avisail Garcia could not come up with it cleanly as Smith raced around to score the winning run.
Ryan Cook (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Oakland, which evened the series at 2-2 and forced a decisive Game 5 for Thursday night. Jarrod Parker is set to start for the A’s against Detroit ace Justin Verlander.
Prince Fielder, who was robbed of a home run by Crisp in center field on Tuesday, gained a measure of revenge in Game 4. The burly slugger sent a line drive deep into the right field seats in the fourth inning off A.J. Griffin to give Detroit a 2-0 edge.
Garcia’s pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth made it a two-run cushion.
The Athletics looked ready to start a rally in the sixth when Crisp reached on Fielder’s error and went to third on a wild pitch. Stephen Drew followed with an RBI double into the gap to plate Crisp by was thrown out by a wide margin trying to stretch it into a triple.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Valverde’s four hits allowed in the ninth matched the total allowed by the Tigers' five other pitchers in the first eight innings. … Oakland led the majors with 14 walk-off wins during the regular season. … Donaldson provided a defensive highlight in the seventh, diving into foul territory to snare a sharp grounder and throwing Jhonny Peralta out from his knees.