*Photo from the Eagle Herald*
Looking for a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, the Oakland Athletics got one of their best guys back. Ramon Laureano came off the 10 Day IL and was in the starting lineup, looking to make an immediate impact. Laureano homered and robbed a homer, The A's scored 6 runs in the 6th inning, and Oakland defeated the Angels 8-4 on Wednesday.
Laureano said about coming back that "I just wanted to play. At the end of the day, with the adrenaline the fans bring, I don’t really think about the injury when I’m out there. Just kind of compete, get a good at-bat, good, quality pitch and just go after it. It was a good game overall."
Laureano got the scoring started for the A's with a solo homer in the 4th inning, which made the score 4-1 Angels at the time. In the 5th, Tony Kemp scored on a fielders choice to cut the deficit to 4-2. In the 6th, Matt Chapman, Chad Pinder, and Kemp each hit RBI singles, Pinder scored on a wild pitch, Elvis Andrus scored on a fielders choice, and Matt Olson hit another RBI single, making it 8-4 Oakland after 6 innings, which held up.
A's manager Bob Melvin said of Laureano returning that "You come back after you’re off for a while and you have a little uncertainty because you haven’t had too many at-bats. I think he feels pretty comfortable. We get spoiled with his play because we see it all the time, but it’s really good."
Burch Smith got the win for Oakland, throwing 1 1/3 shutout innings, allowing no baserunners and recording two strikeouts. Cole Irvin threw 5 2/3 innings in his start, getting the no decision while allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and two walks, while striking out two hitters. Sergio Romo and Lou Trivino then threw shutout innings to seal the win.
For the Angels, Tony Watson got the loss in a nightmare appearance. Watson faced 6 batters and didn't record a single out, allowing 6 runs on 5 hits. Watson helped waste a good start from Griffin Canning, who allowed two runs on 3 hits and two walks while recording two strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. Steve Cishek threw 2/3 innings, and Jose Suarez threw the final 2 1/3 innings, with neither allowing a run.
Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Watson's meltdown that His changeup was cutting. It was not doing it’s normal thing. I didn’t know that immediately, but I was told that afterward. So that pitch that he normally relies on wasn’t reacting like it normally does. I think that was a big part of it."
The Angels started scoring in the first inning, when Max Stassi, Taylor Ward, and Phil Gosselin each hit RBI singles, staking the Angels to a 3-0 lead before Canning even took the mound. In the second, Shohei Ohtani continued his strong season with a solo homer to right field, making it a 4-0 lead, before Oakland came back.
The A's start a weekend series with the Yankees on Friday, with James Kaprielian starting for Oakland. The Angels face the Detroit Tigers tonight, with Ohtani getting the start.
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