The Athletics hoped to put the finishing touches on a sweep this afternoon at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Luis Severino took the mound today for the A’s facing off against 24-year-old lefty Mitch Farris for the Halos.
The Angels got on the board first when Jo Adell homered to center field driving in Yoán Moncada. But it didn’t take long for the A’s to cut into the lead when in the top of the third Willie MacIver homered to centerfield.
There was some real excitement
in the A’s broadcast booth when color commentator Dallas Braden finally caught a foul ball in the booth off the bat of Angels superstar Mike Trout. Trout doubled, but Severino slammed the door and kept them off the board. At the end of three innings, the Angels led 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bryce Teodosio knocked a ground-rule double down the right-field line. Chris Taylor, who led off the inning being hit by a Severino sinker, scored from second.
Tyler Ferguson replaced Luis Severino in the bottom of the sixth. Severino’s final line was five innings, three earned runs on four hits and one walk. He struck out seven.
Tyler Soderstrom greeted Farris in the top of the seventh with his twenty-fourth homer of the season. That trimmed the lead to 3-2 in favor of the Angels.
Gelof drew a 3-2 walk and Lawrence Butler blooped a single into left. Carlos Cortes pinch hit for Brett Harris. But he grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Sean Newcomb replaced Ferguson in the bottom of the seventh. He walked Trout on four pitches. Yoán Moncada singled moving Trout to third with two outs. But Tyler Soderstrom made a nice running catch in left on a Taylor Ward liner to end the inning.
With one out in the top of the eighth, Nick Kurtz singled to center. Rooker singled, moving Kurtz to third. Colby Thomas sent Teodosio to the wall for a sacrifice fly. That drove Kurtz home and tied the score. Rooker was able to advance to second with two outs. Soderstrom lined out to Jo Adell to end the inning, but not before the A’s tied the score 3-3.
Osvaldo Bido replaced Newcomb in the bottom of the eighth. Chris Taylor walked with one out. Oswald Peraza was hit by a Bido pitch, moving Chris Taylor to second. That was the fifth Angels hit batter in the game. Bido’s wildness came back to haunt the A’s as Travis d’Arnaud hit an automatic double scoring Taylor and moving Peraza to third. Bido intentionally walked Zack Neto to load the bases and was replaced by Michael Kelly. He got Mike Trout to fly out to shallow center to end the inning. At the end of eight, the Angles led 4-3.
Kenley Jansen entered the game in the ninth to attempt to slam the door on the A’s. He quickly got the sent the A’s down in order. The Angels avoided the sweep by taking the final game of the series 4-3. The A’s return home tomorrow to face the Boston Red Sox.
