Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat as he hits a single during the first inning against the Oakland A’s at the Big A in Anaheim on Thu Apr 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (5-21) and the Los Angeles Angels (14-12) met for the fourth time this week on Thursday afternoon in Anaheim. The A’s hoped to win to gain a split of the four-game series. It would be daunting as the Angels had Shosei Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani entered the game with a 3-0 record and an ERA of 0.64. The A’s had lefty J P Sears handling the pitching chores. Sears had yet to win a game this year, and his ERA was 4.98.

The oddsmakers favored Ohtani and the Angels. They were right the Angels won the game 8-7. Ohtani had a meltdown in the fourth inning when the A’s plated five runs to tie the game at five. Ohtani stayed in the game, and his teammates supported him enough to make him the winning pitcher.

The Angels put five on the board in the bottom of the third. Sears walked Angels’ catcher Chad Wallach to start the inning. Taylor Ward singled, sending Wallach to third. Ohtani doubled to drive in Wallach with the Angels’ first run. Ward stopped at third.

Right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s sacrifice fly drove in Ward with the second run of the inning. Sears now had to face the hottest hitter in the Angels’ lineup, Brandon Drury. In the previous three games, Drury had homered three times and driven in nine. The battle was on. It did go well for Sears as Drury blasted another home run to put the Angels ahead 5-0. It was Drury’s fourth homer of the series, and he has batted in 12.

The A’s answered in the top of the fourth. Shohei Ohtani faced nine men in the first three innings and retired them all. Things changed in the fourth. A’s leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz reached first when hit by a pitch. Ruiz stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.

Ohtani walked Conner Capel. The A’s had two men on and no out. The next hitter was Brent Rooker. Rooker, filling in for the injured Set Brown in left field, has been a very productive hitter. Rooker homered for the seventh time in 2023 to make it a 5-3 game. Ohtani hit Jace Peterson with a pitch. The next batter was Shea Langeliers. Langeliers homered over the wall in center field to tie the game. Ohtani settled down, and the A’s could not do more damage.

In the bottom of the fifth, J P Sears was still on the hill for Oakland. Sears retired Ohtani for the first out. The Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon singled. A’s manager Mark Kotsay removed Sears from the game and brought in righty Chad Smith to pitch.

The next batter, Hunter Renfroe, singled, sending Rendon to third. Smith walked Drury and Luis Rengifo. Rengifo’s walk forced in Rendon with the Angels’ sixth run. Gio Urshela’s fielder’s choice drove in Drury with the second run of the inning and the seventh of the game. The Angels led 7-5 after five complete.

The Angels added a run in the sixth. Domingo Acevedo was on the hill for the A’s. Acevedo retired the first two hitters he faced, Taylor Ward and Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani tripled and scored on Rendon’s double to put the Angels up by three runs, 8-5.

The A’s, in the eighth, plated two runs off Angels’ reliever Jose Quijada. With one out, Langeliers singled. Mark Kotsay sent Jesus Aguilar to the plate to pinch-hit for Ryan Noda. Aguilar loves to hit lefties, and he did his job when he singled up the middle. Langeliers stopped at second. Alesmys Diaz then hit a ground ball that hit the mound and changed direction.

Angels’ second baseman Luis Rengifo misplayed the ball, and Langeliers was able to score. Kotsay sent Carlos Perez in to pinch-hit for Tony Kemp. Perez, like Aguilar, singled to drive the big man in to bring the A’s within a run of tying the game. Angels’ skipper Phil Nevin brought in left Aaron Loup to quench the fire. Loup got the Angels out of the jam. The A’s failed to score in the ninth.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s drop to 5-21. The Angels improved to 14-12.The winning pitcher was Ohtani. He is now 4-0. Sears took the loss. He is 0-2.The Line Score for Oakland was seven runs, seven hits, and no errors. The A’s homered twice in the game. The Angels’ line was eight runs, ten hits, and one error. The Angels outscored the A’s 34-24 in the series.

The A’s will play the Cincinnati Reds for three games starting Friday night in Oakland. The A’s have yet to announce their starter for Friday’s game. Luis Cessa (0-3 ERA 10.80) will pitch for the Reds. The game will start at 6:38 pm.

The time of Thursday’s game was 3:03. 21,740 fans watched the Angels beat the A’s 8-7.