By RON BERGMAN
Dennis Eckersley’s 17th and final pitch rolled harmlessly to first, where Mark McGwire gloved it and stepped on the bag.
A routine out? Hardly. After waiting 13 days for just a chance at it, Eckersley joined the pantheon of relievers with 300 saves Wednesday night, an effort that preserved the A’s 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
“That was like the final out of the World Series,” an exhausted, but happy, Eckersley said.