By Jerry Feitelberg

An adage in baseball says, “you never know what is going to happen in a game.” The A’s and Angels played a wild one Thursday afternoon at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The Angels hit seven solo home runs and lost 8-7.

It was the sixth time in baseball history that a team has hit seven home runs in a game and lost. Angels fans left the stadium, shaking their heads in disbelief. How could this happen? Yet it did. The A’s offense produced six runs in the third and two in the fourth. The Angels’ bullpen allowed the a’s just one hit over the next five innings.

The Angels’ DH, Shohei Ohtani, started the homer parade by hitting his 23rd of the year to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead. Former A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki made it 2-0 in favor of LA when he blasted his third dinger of the year in the bottom of the second inning.

The A’s offense came to life in the top of the third. A’s second baseman Jonah Bride got things going with a single. Third baseman Vimael Machin reached on a fielder’s choice. Bride was out at second. Angels’ starter Janson Junk walked Nick Allen and Tony Kemp to load the bases.

Ramon Laureano doubled to drive in Machin and Allen. Sean Murphy doubled to drive in Kemp and Laureano. Seth Brown hit his 16th home run of the year to put the A’s ahead 6-2. The A’s sent 11 hitters to the plate in the third. Tayloe Ward led off the bottom of the third with his 14th big fly to make it 8-3.

The A’s put two more runs on the board in the fourth. With one out, Tony Kemp bunted for a single. Laureano homered to make it an 8-3 ball game. In the bottom of the fourth, Blackburn gave up a solo home run to the Angels’ left fielder Jo Adell. It was the first time in Blackburn’s career that he gave up four home runs in a game. The A’s led 8-4

Blackburn left the game after pitching five innings. Lefty Sam Moll was on the hill for Oakland. Angels’ first baseman Jared Walsh homered with one out to close the gap to 8-5. Lefty Kirby Snead was brought in to pitch the seventh.

He hit the first batter he faced with a pitch. He got Taylor Ward to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. The next hitter was Shohei Ohtani. Snead threw Ohtani a pitch that appeared to be about three inches inside. Ohtani turned on the pitch and sent the ball out of the park for his 24th of the year. It was now an 8-6 game.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought Dany Jimenez to pitch the eighth inning. Jimenez was making his first appearance since coming off the 10-day IL. How did he do? He struck out the side. Zach Jackson, who earned his third save of the year yesterday, had the task of getting the last three outs of the game. Jackson struck out Kurt Suzuki for the first out.

The next hitter, Mickey Moniak, recently acquired in a trade with the Phillies, hit his first home run as an Angel. It was the seventh solo Angel Home run. Jackson walked pinch-hitter, Max Stassi. Jackson struck out Ward for the second out.

Shohei Ohtani came to the plate as the potential winning run. Mark Kotsay brought the very tall A.J.Puk to pitch to Ohtani. It was a very tense moment in the game. The suspense ended when Ohtani popped out on Puk’s first pitch. The A’s win 8-7.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s are 41-66. Oakland ended the six-game road trip 3-3. The Angels dropped to 44-61. Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. His record is now 7-6. His line was five innings pitched, six hits, four runs, one walk, three strikeouts, and four home runs. The losing pitcher was Janson Junk. Junk is now 1-1.

The A’s line was eight runs, eight hits, and no errors. Ramon Laureano had a double, home run, and four RBIs. Sean Murphy drove in two, and Seth Brown’s 16th of the year put two more on the board for Oakland.
Shohei Ohtani had three hits for the Angels. He had a single and two home runs. It was the 11th time in his career that he had two homers in a game. The Line score for the Angels was seven runs, nine hits, and no errors.
The A’s are off on Friday. They return home to face the San Francisco Giants on Saturday and Sunday. Then, they face the Angels for three more games starting on Monday. Starting pitchers for Saturday’s game for San Francisco Carlos Rodon (9-6, 3.00) for Oakland (1-4, 7.68) 7:07 pm PDT first pitch.

The time of the game was 3:25. 23,849 fans watched nine balls fly out of the park as the A’s outlasted the Angels 8-7.