The A’s and Angels continued their four-game series with the final of the set tonight at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. After taking two of the first three games, the A’s sent Luis Severino to the mound to face off against LA’s ace, José Soriano.
The Angels didn’t hesitate to jump out early, as Mike Trout, the Halo’s second batter of the game, singled and Nolan Schanuel homered to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. Much like Reid Detmers on Tuesday, Soriano started the game by striking out five of the first six
A’s batters he faced. Unlike Detmers, Soriano continued to cruise through the bottom of the A’s lineup in the third. Severino struck out the side in the third, bringing his early tally up to seven K’s through three.
Carlos Cortes led off the fourth with a base hit to center, but Jose Siri threw behind Cortes, who took a big turn, to first baseman Nolan Schanuel who dropped the tag on Cortes for the out. Kurtz walked, extending his streak to forty-three consecutive games reaching base. Rooker singled, bringing up Tyler Soderstrom who grounded out to the second baseman to end the threat.
The Langeliers-Kurtz 1-2 punch worked effectively in the top of the sixth. Langeliers doubled and Kurtz shot a base hit up the middle to score Langeliers.
Rooker popped out to end the inning, but not before the A’s closed the gap to 2-1. After another solid inning for Severino, the A’s tied the score in the top of the seventh when Darell Hernaiz singled to drive in Zack Gelof. That knocked Soriano out of the game.
Severino breezed through the seventh, bringing his strikeout tally to ten. The A’s loaded the bases against José Fermin in the top of the eighth. But Zack Gelof struck out to end the threat. Justin Sterner replaced Severino in the bottom of the eighth. Seve’s final line was:
- Seven innings, two earned runs, three hits, no walks and ten strikeouts.
Sterner set the Angels down 1-2-3 in the eighth. Kirby Yates entered the game to pitch the ninth. McNeil led off the inning getting on base by a Vaughn Grissom throwing error. Henry Bolte ran for McNeil. He stole second with one out. That brought Lawrence Butler up to the plate. He struck out swinging. Carlos Cortes walked, bringing Shea Langeliers to the plate. He grounded out 6-3 to end the inning. Adam Frazier led off the inning against Joel Kuhnel with a base hit. Neto drove Henry Bolte to the warning track for a long first out. Mike Trout walked, moving the potential game winning run into scoring position. Nolan Schanuel drove Bolte back to the track again for the second out, but Frazier moved up to third. Grissom grounded out to send the game to extra innings.
Shea Langeliers was the placed runner in the tenth. Kurtz was intentionally walked, bringing up Brent Rooker, who was plunked to load the bases for Tyler Soderstrom. He bounced into a force out at home. Zack Gelof bounced into a fielder’s choice, out at second, scoring Kurtz. Bolte walked to load the bases again, this time for Hernaiz. He grounded out. The A’s took the lead, 3-2 headed to the bottom of the tenth.
Mark Leiter Jr. came in to pitch the final frame. Vaughn Grissom was the placed runner at second. Jo Adell dropped a bloop single into centerfield. Grissom was forced to stop at third. Leiter struck out Josh Lowe and then forced pinch hitter Jorge Soler to ground into a game-ending double play. The A’s took the game and three of the four games against the division rival Angels.
