A’s strike big sixth inning to finish Angels
Even without having Ramón Laureano at their disposal over the last two-plus weeks, the A’s offense was rounding into form.
Now that Laureano is back and the A’s are close to full strength again, their lineup looks downright scary.
The A’s used six singles and a walk to score six runs in the sixth inning to help beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-4 on Wednesday, completing a three-game series sweep at the Coliseum before an announced crowd of 6,228.
The A’s went 8-1 on their nine-game homestand and will carry a six-game win streak into Friday when they begin a threegame series in The Bronx against the New York Yankees.
Matt Olson had three hits Wednesday, including two in the sixth inning as the A’s (43-27) batted around to erase what had been a 4-2 Angels lead. Matt Chapman, Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp, Mark Canha, and Olson all had RBIS in the rally as the
A’s took an 8-4 lead.
The A’s are now an Mlb-best 12-2 in June, as they came into Wednesday batting .274 with 79 runs in 13 games this month. They have now outscored the opposition 87-46 this month.
The A’s sixth-inning rally erased what had been an up-and-down outing for lefthanded starter Cole Irvin, who gave up four earned runs in the first two innings.
The Angels (33-35) struck for three runs in the first inning before Shohei Ohtani blasted a 435-foot solo home run to right field in the second inning, his 19th of the season.
Irvin settled down to some degree as he lasted 5 2/3 innings before he was replaced by Burch Smith with two runners on in the sixth. Smith then struck out Justin Upton on a 95 mph fastball to end the threat.
It didn’t take long for Laureano to once again make his presence felt.
Laureano, playing his first game since May 27, robbed Upton of a home run in the top of the fourth inning, timing his jump perfectly as he made a leaping catch over the wall on a long fly ball.
Laureano then followed that up with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning off Angels starter Griffin Canning to cut Los Angeles’ lead to 4-1.
Laureano was placed on the injured list June 1, retroactive to May 28, with a strained right hip. Before his injury, Laureano was batting .257 with 11 home runs, 22 RBI, and eight stolen bases in 48 games.
Despite the time away, Laureano entered Wednesday still ranked second among MLB center fielders in home runs with 11 and was tied for fifth in RBI with 22.