Shea Langeliers homered twice, including a towering solo drive that cleared the Wrigley Field bleachers in left, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Langeliers’ third multihomer game of the season and No. 5 for his career upped his season total to 28, extending his career best.
Lawrence Butler also went deep for Oakland, which stopped a three-game losing streak. The skid included back-to-back losses to the MLB-worst White Sox.
Ian Happ hit two solo homers for the Cubs (77-74), who fell six games behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild card with 11 games left.
Happ's 25th homer, a one-out drive to left on a 103.2 mph fastball from All-Star closer Mason Miller, got Chicago within one in the ninth. But Miller retired Dansby Swanson on a grounder to first before striking out Seiya Suzuki for his 26th save.
Nico Hoerner hit three singles for Chicago, and Michael Busch drove in a run. Jordan Wicks (2-4) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings.
Oakland rookie Mitch Spence (8-9) pitched five effective innings for his first win since July 27. He permitted two runs and seven hits.
With Brent Rooker aboard after a one-out single in the first, Langeliers drove a 1-0 fastball deep to left-center. Butler gave Oakland a 3-0 lead when he hit his 22nd homer into the basket in the third.
The Cubs responded with two runs in the bottom half on Happ's drive to right and Busch’s bloop RBI single.
Langeliers’ second homer of the night sailed 418 feet, reaching Waveland Avenue in the fifth.
Oakland LHP Brady Basso (1-0, 1.23 ERA) faces Steele (5-5, 3.09 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. Basso earned his first major league win against the White Sox on Friday.
