By Jessica Kwong

AP photo: Oakland A’s Max Muncy (12) completes the double play by throwing to first after retiring the LA Angels Andrelton Simmon (2) at Angels Stadium on Thursday night

 ANAHEIM–Better late than never.

The Oakland Athletics brought their A-game in extra innings to beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8-6, snap a five-game losing streak and avoid being swept in the series.

 Coming out of a tied ninth inning, the Yonder Alonso doubled on a sharp line drive to center fielder Mike Trout, allowing Danny Valencia to score and put the A’s up 7-6. With that play, Alonso said, “I redeemed myself, we’re good” following his error in the eighth inning that let the Angels tie the contest.

 “It was costing us for a second and I was very disappointed,” Alonso said about flubbing the grounder.

 “I take a lot of pride in my defense and those are things that happen throughout the course of the game, but to be honest, I prayed to God that I would get an opportunity, get the chance to redeem myself and help my team win,” he said, “And I was fortunate enough that I got that opportunity.”

 Also in the tenth inning, Marcus Semien singled on a soft line drive to right fielder Kole Calhoun and Billy Butler scored, lifting the A’s to 8-6 and victory over the Angels who failed to score afterward.

 “There were a lot of guys that contributed. This was a total team win,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It was a great fighting win.”

 The A’s took an early lead when Max Muncy homered on a fly ball to right center field in the first inning and put them up 1-0.

 In the second inning, the Angels’ Ji-Man Choi homered on a line drive to right center field to tie the game.

 In the third inning, Ryon Healy hit a home run on a fly ball to left field to put the A’s up 2-1.

 But the Angels’ Andrelton Simmons singled on a ground ball to right fielder Valencia and Yunel Escobar scored, tying the game at 2-2. Then Choi homered on a line drive to right field and Albert Pujols and Simmons scored, elevating the Halos to a 5-2 lead.

 In the fourth inning, Valencia homered on a fly ball to right center field. Semien grounded out and Khris Davis scored, cutting the Angels’ lead to 5-4. Then the Angels’ Ricky Nolasco threw a wild pitch at Bruce Maxwell, allowing Alonso to score and tie the game at 5-5.

 A’s starting pitcher Jesse Hahn, who went four innings before being relieved by Zach Neal, said, “I just tried to go out there and do the best I could to keep the team going.”

 Perhaps the most entertaining play came in the fifth inning, when Coco Crisp went halfway over the wall to make a catch hit by Choi.

 “We’ve seen him so many times get big hits. That’s not an upset when you see that,” Melvin said of Crisp. “Certainly a game like that has so many ebbs and flows, you lose sight of what he did … to get the ball over the fence was terrific. That’s one of those moments you can talk about.”

 In the seventh inning, Crisp doubled on a fly ball to Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun and Jake Smolinksi scored, putting the A’s up 6-5.

 Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella reached on a force attempt, fielding an error by first baseman Alonso that tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning.

 The A’s have been fighting the whole year, and kept fighting on the road trip in Anaheim, Alonso said.

 “It shows a lot of character in our team,” he said. “It shows that we continue to keep fighting, continue putting at-bats together and our bullpen’s been great too.”

 The A’s (48-60) and still in last place in the American League west, return to Oakland to face the Chicago Cubs on Friday, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m.