RECAP: Angels 6 Athletics 5

By Bobby DeMuro
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Updated: April 30, 2015

Garrett Richards threw six-plus innings and allowed just one run on four hits, and the Los Angeles Angels got a boost from their struggling offense while holding on for dear life in a wild ninth inning, winning 6-5 Thursday over the Oakland Athletics.

The Angels jumped ahead early when Johnny Giavotella singled home Drew Butera in the third inning off Athletics’ starter Jesse Chavez.

In the fifth, the Angels pushed three more runs across off Chavez, first when Kole Calhoun singled to right field with the bases loaded. That would score Taylor Featherston and Erick Aybar, as Mike Trout moved to third.

The next hitter, David Freese, brought Trout home on a fielder’s choice groundout to A’s shortstop Marcus Semien, and made the score 4-0 Halos after five full innings.

Chavez was done after five frames for the A’s, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks, with Eric O’Flaherty relieving him for Oakland. On the other hand, Angels starter Garrett Richards showed no sign of slowing down, allowing just two hits and two walks across his first five scoreless frames.

In the top of the sixth, Aybar was at it again, doubling home Featherston off O’Flaherty and extending the Angels’ lead to five runs.

The Angels pushed across another run in the seventh when – stop me if you’ve heard this before – Calhoun once again drove in Trout with a single off A’s reliever Ryan Cook. Trout had reached with a leadoff double, continuing his own hot streak in Oakland.

Richards was removed in favor of Mike Morin after allowing a single to lead off the seventh inning, giving up just four hits and three walks – with five strikeouts – across six-plus innings of work. He threw 103 pitches, 63 of which went for strikes.

Unfortunately, Richards was charged with one earned run after Morin allowed a two-run homer to Mark Canha that scored Josh Reddick (Richards’ runner before being removed), and made the game 6-2 in favor of the Angels.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth when Vinnie Pestano came on for the Angels. After C.J. Cron dropped a pop-up in foul territory, Billy Butler walked for the A’s, and Reddick followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out.

Huston Street came on to face the A’s at that point, and promptly allowed Butler to score on a Brett Lawrie single, making it a 6-3 game, still with no outs in the ninth.

Street allowed Pestano’s other run when Reddick scored on a single by Canha, and after a wild pitch and a walk, the A’s loaded the bases – still with nobody out – now down just 6-4 against the Angels closer.

Street then induced a pop-out by Max Muncy for the first out of the inning. The next batter up, Sam Fuld, singled to score Lawrie, and the bases remained loaded with the A’s now down just 6-5, and the winning run on second base with only one out in the inning.

Semien then popped out for the second out of the inning, and then Ike Davis flew out to end the game, as well as the furious ninth inning rally for the A’s, thanks to a brilliant catch in deep center field by Trout.

Trout doubled, walked twice, and scored two runs, and Calhoun drove in three runs with a pair of hits. Aybar got a pair of hits at the top of the lineup, and Freese got three hits, himself, as the Angels broke out of a team-wide slump to record double-digit hits to go along with four walks.

The Angels will next face the San Francisco Giants this weekend in a three-game series at AT&T Park, staying in the Bay Area with an easy road trip after the set in Oakland.

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