1st loss in 2 weeks and past 11 games
Oakland’s winning streak, whatever it might be now or in the future, is over.
Shohei Ohtani saw to that Tuesday night with a two-out, two-run single off Joakim Soria in the ninth that gave the Angels a 6-4 victory at the Coliseum, Oakland’s first loss since May 14. The A’s were undefeated over their previous 11 games, including the suspended game May 19 in Detroit that will be completed Sept. 6.
Soria followed some terrific relief efforts by Wei-Chung Wang and Liam Hendriks by retiring the first two men he faced, but Tommy La Stella went the other way with a base hit to left, and Soria walked Mike Trout after an eight-pitch plate appearance that included two two-strike foul balls before facing Ohtani.
After a wild pitch moved up the runners, Soria threw a 1-2 curveball that appeared to be on the corner but was called a ball; two pitches later, Ohtani rapped a base hit to right.
Soria hadn’t allowed a run in 13 of his previous 15 games, putting up a 1.47 ERA in that span. He exchanged words with home-plate umpire James Hoye
after the inning and was ejected as he came off the field.
Frankie Montas started for the A’s, and he’s usually their best bet: Entering Tuesday, Montas had not allowed more than three runs in any of his 10 outings this season. In the second inning, the Angels tallied that and more, thanks to two walks, a couple of bloop singles — including a two-run dunk to right by No. 9 hitter David Fletcher — and a two-run double by La Stella, the one hardhit ball in the inning.
Despite his elevated pitch count, 55 through two innings, Montas made it through four and didn’t allow another run, and Oakland’s bullpen was solid, including Wang, making his Oakland debut. The lefthander worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and becoming the first native of Taiwan to play for the A’s. Wang, who has a particularly effective slider, hadn’t pitched in a big-league game since Sept. 27, 2017, when he was with the Brewers.
Hendriks worked the next two innings, throwing upwards of 98 mph and striking out four in the process, and he has not allowed a run in his past 11 games.
The Angels’ starter was an opener, Cam Bedrosian, who’d pitched in relief against the A’s just one day earlier. Marcus Semien, who was 1 for his previous 12 against the reliever, greeted Bedrosian with a homer on Bedrosian’s first pitch.
Nick Tropeano followed, entering in the second and working five innings, his first appearance of the year with the Angels after opening the season with right shoulder inflammation and then getting optioned to Triple-A. The A’s drilled two homers off him, Ramón Laureano providing a solo blast in the fifth to extend his careerhigh hitting streak to 11 games and Matt Olson clobbering a two-run shot to center in the sixth to tie the game.
In the seventh, Josh Phegley doubled with one out, and with two outs, Robbie Grossman walked, but Ty Buttrey struck out Matt Chapman to end the inning.