Jemile Weeks shines as Oakland Athletics defeat Los Angeles Angels 3-1 – MLB Update
Jemile Weeks hit a brilliant home-run as the Oakland Athletics beat Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Friday, September 23 at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.
Needing two clean sweep series to move to the playoffs, this year, the Angels squandered their opportunity as Jemile Weeks powered the Athletics to victory.
The Angels expected their pitcher Jered Weaver to deliver the winning performance but their fate was sealed as soon as Weeks forced an error from Maicer Izturis and allowed Kurt Suzuki to run home with a 2-1 tie-breaker.
Weaver pitched 8.1 innings and drew three runs from six hits. Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia was desperately looking for a win but his ball thrower was not in the position to pick up the victory. Weaver ended the night with eight strike-outs and an earned
run average of 2.41.
On the other hand, Gio Gonzalez proved to be a champion hurler for the A’s. He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing just one run from three hits. He conceded two walks and struck-out five hitters before he was replaced with Grant Balfour. The A’s were on a good
drive, leading up to the encounter and much of their boost in play came from their previous day win over the Texas Rangers.
Jemile Weeks had smashed Colby Lewis out of the park for his first home-run of the season. He moved to his second home-run when he smashed Weaver towards the right in the first inning. The Angels were put on the back-foot from the very start. They had the
hard task of avoiding a loss as the Rangers were waiting on the Angels to lose, as they would qualify simultaneously.
The Angels were unable to maintain their composure throughout the bout. Right-fielder Torii Hunter was the only man to draw one back for the Angels as he equalised for the club in the seventh with a home-run to right-centre.
The A’s were however looking for more runs and they found one in the very next inning as Weeks ran to first base, forcing Izturis to commit an error on third base and allow Suzuki to run home for the tie-breaker. The Angels were on the back-foot and they
tried their best to contain the A’s.
Their ambition however hit a dead end in the ninth as Oakland finished the game with a powerful home-run to the right from David DeJesus. The Athletics’ right-fielder did the work required to beat the Angels and send the Texans to their second consecutive
play-off appearance.
Angels now have two more games against the A’s before they meet the Rangers in Anaheim. The race to the post-season is now over for the team. Scioscia will be looking to field younger players, in the remaining games.
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