Oakland Athletics’ batting clobbers Los Angeles Angels 9-1 to grab series 3-1 – MLB Update
The Oakland Athletics blistered eight runs in the first inning to crush the Los Angeles Angels’ 9-1 in the rubber outing of the four-game series at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland on Sunday, July 17 to take the series 3-1.
Hideki Matsui drove in a grounder to shallow-right off the Angels’ starter Joel Pineiro to kick off the eight run first inning. David DeJesus followed with an RBI single and Conor Jackson launched a dazzling 407-feet long grand slam to elevate the lead to
7-0. Jemile Weeks touched to centre-field to score eighth run of the inning.
"Since I've been here that's the best at-bats, consistent at-bats throughout the inning (we've had)," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "We took our walks and made them work. Conor's home run was kind of the cherry on top."
After this run, the Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia changed him with relief pitcher Trevor Bell, who managed to stop the A’s crushing hitting. He also held the A’s bat in the second inning but allowed an RBI single to Matsui in the third, which ended his spell
on just over two innings.
The A’s starter, Gio Gonzalez, on the other hand, kept the Angels’ bat under his fast swinging balls and completed his seven innings without allowing any run. He struck-out eight batters to grab his ninth win of the season. This win improved his record to
9-6 with 2.33 ERA after 19 starts.
The A’s were moving towards their shutout win, but closer Jerry Blevins allowed a run in the ninth inning. It also restricted the Blevins from his first save despite making 24 strikes of 32 pitches.
Despite a humiliating loss, Scioscia was optimistic about the up-coming game against the Texas Rangers.
"We'll just turn the page on this one," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "We don't need to spend much time dissecting this one. We need to get the pitching which will give us a chance to win, which we have been getting."
Reliever Bobby Cassevah tossed three scoreless innings, Michael Kohn threw a no-hitter and Rich Thompson went for a perfect ninth inning to justify Scioscia’s confidence.
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