By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, having lost the first two games of the three-game set, with the LA Angels, bounced back Wednesday afternoon to win 8-4. The A’s used three home runs and three fantastic defensive plays by Ramon Laureano to beat LA.

The A’s Chris Bassitt went five and 2/3rds inning to earn his second win of the year. Pitching against the Angels is no easy task as they have two rabbits that set the table for the power guys. Mike Trout homered for the third time in the series and has hit four of eight home runs this season against the A’s.

Anthony Rendon, signed as a free agent after winning a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals, homered for the third straight game. Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, and Brian Goodwin are all tough outs. The Angels outscored the A’s 20-17 in the series.

The A’s Matt Olson, with two out in the first inning, blasted a 454 foot home run to right field to give the a’s an early 1-0 lead. A’s manager Bob Melvin said Olson’s blast “gave us a jolt of energy.” The lead didn’t last long as the reigning AL MVP blasted a Chris Bassitt pitch over the wall in right field to tie the game. For Trout, it was his eighth of the year and the fourth against the A’s.

The A’s put two more on the board in the second. Mark Canha led off with a double. Robbie Grossman, hitting a robust .310, homered to put the A’s in the lead 3-1. It was Grossman’s third of the year.

The Angels roared back to tie the game in the bottom of the third. With one out, Brian Goodman doubled. Singles by David Fletcher reached on an infield single. Goodwin advanced to third and scored on Tommy LaStella’s single. Fletcher went to third and scored on Mike Trout’s sacrifice fly.

The tie didn’t last long. Stephen Piscotty led off the fourth with a solo home run to left to make it 4-3. Oakland added another run in the fifth. Marcus Semien led off with a double. Angels’ reliever Jacob Barnes retired the next two A’s hitters. Barnes served up a hanging slider to Matt Chapman, and Chappie did not miss. Chappie’s blast went over left fielder Brian Goodwin’s head for a double. The A’s lead 5-3.

The Angels made it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth. With two out, Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon homered. Rendon homered in all three games, and it was his fourth of the year. A’s manager Bob Melvin, brought in Jake Diekman to take over from Bassitt. Diekman struck out Albert Pujols to end the inning. The A’s were still ahead 5-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ramon Laureano made his third sensational defensive play of the day to rob Goodwin of the game-tying home run. Laureano raced back to the base of the centerfield wall and timed his leap to catch the ball as it was about to leave the park.

In the eighth, the A’s scored three runs with only one hit. Three Angel relievers walked Grossman, Piscotty, Murphy, and Marcus Semien for one run. Laureano singled to drive in two more to put the A’s ahead 8-4. Joaquin Soria shut the Angels down in the eighth, and Liam Hendriks closed out the game for Oakland in the ninth. The A’s win 8-4.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s are now 13-6 for the season. The Angels drop to 7-12. Chriss Bassitt is now 2-0. Canning Griffin absorbed the loss, and his record is 0-3.
Ramon Laureano made three outstanding defensive plays and had a two-run single for the day. Liam Hendriks set an A’s record by striking out a batter in 28 consecutive games. He held the record at 27.

The Angels used eight pitchers on Wednesday. Angels’ catcher Jason Castro struck out four times to earn a Golden Sombrero.

The A’s are off on Thursday. They meet the San Francisco Giants for a three-game set at Oracle Park on Friday. It will be the annual Battle of the Bay. The two teams will play six games this year, and the winner of the series gets to receive the Bay Bridge trophy.
Frankie Montas will go for Oakland. Johnny Cueto will pitch for the Giants. The game will start at 6:45 pm.