All around great day for the A’s
Another A’s win, baby. The Athletics crushed their opponent for the second day in a row, putting a whopping on the rival Angels 12-1 on a great Friday afternoon at the ballpark.
The Green & Gold got out to a fast start today against their division rivals. Taking a lead in the bottom of the first inning, starting catcher Shea Langeliers gave the A’s the first lead of the day with a solo home run, his first of the spring. Though that was only his first, he’s generally looked good at the plate so far. He’s hitting .318/.375/.682, with six of his eight hits going for extra-bases. The power has always been there, but if he can take another step as a hitter we’d have an All-Star caliber player on our hands. It’s a good thing!
The A’s didn’t let up from there. The next inning saw the Athletics up lead lead to 3-0. After three straight batters got on base to open the frame, star prospect Jacob Wilson kept the line moving, getting a 1-out RBI single to double the lead. Lawrence Butler, not to be forgotten, followed that up with a sacrifice fly to bring in another run.
The Angels offense meanwhile was struggling against Athletics starter Joey Estes, who is still fighting for that fifth and final rotation job. Estes kept the Angels offense balance for the most part, not yielding any strong contact. He did give up six hits and a run during his four innings of work but that run came in on a double-play grounder. Estes didn’t do anything to hurt his chances at that final spot today.
Back to the bats, the A’s offense kept up the pressure on Los Angeles. They scored six more times in the fifth with a little help from the Angels’ defense. First Gio Urshela swatted a 2-run double, and then that was followed by a wild pitch for the third run of the inning and then a fielding error brought in the fourth. Another run came in on a Jacob Wilson sac fly that made it a five-run frame, and Lawrence Butler tripled to make it a six-spot on the scoreboard. Mercifully the inning finally ended when Brent Rooker struck out but by this point it was 9-1 and turning into a blowout, if it hadn’t already.
The A’s weren’t done there as they would go on to add on three more, all courtesy of Willie MacIver, who took over for Langeliers midway through the game. They finished with an even dozen on the day.
After Estes’ four innings were up the team turned to All-Star closer Mason Miller, who looked good during a scoreless inning of work while collecting a strikeout. He was followed by TJ McFarland and Grant Holman, who each threw a scoreless inning apiece, and Justin Sterner finished it off two clean innings. A’s victory secured.
That’s two straight blowout wins for the Athletics and they’re feeling good heading into the weekend. They’ve got a double-header on tap for tomorrow as the Rangers and Brewers await them. Luis Severino will be facing the Rangers and Mitch Spence the Brew Crew. Should be lots of fun tomorrow afternoon!