Oakland Athletics beat Los Angeles Angels 9-8 – MLB Update
Oakland Athletics continued their second half surge as they edged the Los Angeles Angels 9-8 at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California on Wednesday, August 8 in the finale of their three match series.
With their win, the A’s also secured an emphatic series victory over their American League West Division rivals. After shutting out Oakland in series opener, the Angles had an excellent chance to wrap up a rare series win at O.co Coliseum but Bob Melvin
and company regrouped themselves to fight back in Game 2.
"It's extremely selfless, this whole team, from top to bottom," closer Ryan Cook said after securing the win over Angels.
Handling their nerves absolutely brilliantly in the finale, the Athletics outclassed their opponents in finer details of the game to grab the second place on AL West Division standings.
Having won majority of their games after the All Star Break, it seems the A’s have worked out the perfect winning formula. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their excellent stats to reach the playoffs.
"The more we go along, the more we win and the more we compete with teams that are considered the best teams, the more confidence we're going to have," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We have to try to instill more confidence in ourselves going forward that
we can play with good teams, and to this point we've done pretty well."
Right fielder Brandon Moss and designated hitter Josh Reddick provided the A’s with an excellent start. Reddick’s RBI single to centre in the second extended the lead to 4-1.
Coco Crisp doubled to deep right and Yoenis Cespedes earned an RBI single to right in the sixth to keep Los Angeles on the defensive.
First baseman Chris Carter connected for a three run home-run in the sixth to help Oakland secure a narrow win.
Starting pitcher Dan Straily was put under immense pressure by Angels’ hitting line-up as he gave up five runs and eight hits in just over four innings. Relief pitcher Ryan Cook made his 12th save of the season after successfully holding off the
Angels in the ninth.
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