Laureano’s catch keys win
means that Laureano probably will sit out the threegame series against the Giants in China Basin this weekend and a game or two at Arizona next week. Laureano wasn’t overly concerned about his appearance in Wednesday’s lineup going right down to the wire, saying, “I didn’t think about it too much. I was ready to play since I woke up. I’m always ready.”
The offense came almost entirely from the A’s beloved longball: Matt Olson clocked a monster solo homer in the first, his sixth of the season; Robbie Grossman hit a tworun shot the following inning; and Stephen Piscotty hit one well back into the seats in left in the fourth. All three blasts came off Angels starter Griffin Canning. Piscotty’s shot put the A’s ahead to stay.
Olson’s 454foot drive went down a tunnel in right. “Matt
Olson — one swing gave us energy today,” Melvin said.
“Olson don’t get many cheap home runs,” Bassitt said. “When he gets them, he gets them. It’s definitely fun to see, especially in the first inning.”
The A’s added a run on a twoout double by Matt Chapman in the fifth that sent in Marcus Semien, who’d opened the inning with a double of his own. Semien added an RBI in the eighth with a basesloaded walk.
As usual, Mike Trout was responsible for much of the Angels’ damage. You might think it would make sense to pitch around Trout, the way the game’s best player is going right now: The threetime MVP entered the day with six homers and 10 RBIs in his previous eight games, and though Bassitt started him 02 in his first atbat Wednesday, Trout still smoked another homer, an oppositefield blast.
It was the first homer allowed by Bassitt in four starts this season. Trout also provided a sacrifice fly off Bassitt in the third, sending in Goodwin, who doubled and went to third when Chapman fumbled David Fletcher’s sinking liner.
Trout’s 38 homers are the most by any active player against Oakland, but especially now, pitching around the Angels’ center fielder wouldn’t make much sense: Anthony Rendon is adding even more pop to the offense and he homered in each of the three games this week. His solo shot off Bassitt in the sixth trimmed the A’s lead to 54.
“It’s basically: Unleash the Kraken when you have Trout, Rendon and Ohtani,” said Bassitt, who thought the ball was carrying especially well in the rare day game at Angel Stadium. “They can absolutely destroy the ball.”