Category: NBA

Los Angeles Angels Josh Lowe watches his grand slam in the bottom of the second inning against the Sacramento A’s at the Big A in Anahiem on Sun Jun 28, 2026 (AP News photo)

Grand Slam Blaze Torches A’s 4-1
By Mauricio Segura

 The Sacramento Athletics finale against the Los Angeles Angels needed a win, but one explosive inning by the halos led to a 4-1 game and series loss Sunday. Sacramento put runners on base throughout the afternoon yet never found the big swing, while Los Angeles needed just one thunderous swing from Josh Lowe to seize control.

The game stayed scoreless through the opening inning as both Aaron Civale and Sam Aldegheri showed their mound dominance. Shea Langeliers recorded the Athletics’ first hit with a single in the first, and Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy followed with back-to-back singles in the second, but Aldegheri escaped each threat to keep the Green and Gold off the scoreboard.

Everything changed in the bottom of the second. Vaughn Grissom singled, Wade Meckler drew a walk, and Oswald Peraza added another hit to load the bases. After a brief on-field delay, Lowe stepped in and crushed a grand slam to right field, instantly turning a scoreless contest into a four-run Angels advantage. It was the game’s defining moment, accounting for every Los Angeles run.

Civale recovered well after the damaging inning. The veteran right-hander retired eight of the next nine batters he faced and received help from a successful Athletics challenge in the fifth when Denzer Guzman was erased on a pickoff play after the original safe call was overturned. Civale finished five innings, allowing four earned runs, while the Athletics bullpen of Elvis Alvarado and José Suárez combined for three scoreless innings to keep the deficit from growing.

Sacramento finally scratched across a run in the fifth. Jeff McNeil lined a single to center before Alika Williams followed with another base hit. Henry Bolte advanced both runners with a groundout, and Joey Meneses lifted a sacrifice fly to center that brought McNeil home and trimmed the margin to 4-1. It was the Athletics’ lone breakthrough despite putting multiple runners aboard several times.

The opportunities continued to appear but never materialized into a rally. Butler singled three times and reached base in each of his final three plate appearances, continuing a productive stretch at the plate. McNeil collected a hit and scored the club’s only run, while Williams added a single and helped set up the fifth-inning scoring chance.

Langeliers reached safely twice with a single and a walk, but the Angels left-hander struck him out in two key situations with runners aboard. Aldegheri completed five innings, allowing just one run before turning the game over to José Fermín, Ryan Zeferjahn and Samy Natera Jr., who combined to blank the Athletics over the final four innings.

One of the game’s biggest missed opportunities came in the eighth. Bolte worked a leadoff walk and Meneses followed with another free pass, bringing the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Instead, Langeliers and Jonah Heim struck out before pinch hitter Nick Kurtz lifted a harmless fly ball to center, allowing the Angels to escape without damage.

The Athletics finished with nine hits compared to the Angels’ seven, but Los Angeles made its biggest chance count while Sacramento stranded runners throughout the afternoon. Butler’s three-hit effort led the offense, yet the club went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, the Angels capitalized on their lone bases-loaded opportunity, and Lowe’s grand slam stood as the difference from the second inning until the final out.

The loss dropped the Athletics to 40-44 after they had entered the day having split the first two games of the series. Even with the setback, several encouraging trends remain intact. Rookie Henry Bolte has continued to swing a hot bat since his promotion and entered the day leading all qualified major league rookies with a .305 batting average, while Langeliers remains in the spotlight after advancing to Phase 2 of American League All-Star voting and ranking among the league leaders with 19 home runs.

The Athletics now head home for an intriguing matchup with the reigning World Champs Los Angeles Dodgers. Rookie left-hander Gage Jump (3-1, 2.04 ERA, 35 strikeouts) gets the ball for Sacramento against Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer (3-5, 4.87 ERA, 42 strikeouts), with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Pacific at Sutter Health Park.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.

⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.

Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.

Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.

📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street

Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm

Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in. 

Sacramento A’s Alika Williams (12) dives into home plate on a Henry Bolte (33) RBI base hit in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at the Big A in Anaheim on Fri Jun 26, 2026 (AP News photo)

Seven Run Surge Sends Athletics Rolling Past Angels

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento A’s could not solve Los Angeles Angels starter Walbert Ureña for the first four innings. In fact, Ureña had a perfect game going to that point. Every batter was retired in order, and the Green and Gold found themselves chasing a 1-0 deficit after Donovan Walton’s RBI single in the fourth gave Los Angeles the early advantage. Then everything changed in one unforgettable fifth inning.

The Angels looked firmly in control behind Ureña, who cruised through the opening dozen hitters without allowing a baserunner. J.T. Ginn matched him for much of the evening, limiting the damage despite traffic on the bases and keeping the game within reach.

Ginn escaped a first-inning threat with a double play and stranded another runner at third in the third before the Angels finally scratched across the game’s first run when Walton lined a two-out single to center after Wade Meckler’s double and a passed ball.

That slim lead disappeared in dramatic fashion in the fifth as the Athletics erupted for seven runs on seven consecutive scoring opportunities. Tyler Soderstrom drew a leadoff walk before Jonah Heim reached on a force play and Lawrence Butler added another free pass.

Max Muncy broke up the perfect game with an infield single to load the bases, setting the stage for Jeff McNeil. The veteran second baseman ripped a single to right that scored Heim and Butler, giving the Athletics their first lead of the night.

The rally only gained momentum. Alika Williams followed with an RBI single that also turned into an extra base after an Angels throwing error, bringing home another run. Henry Bolte delivered a two-run single, then advanced on a disengagement violation before Nick Kurtz lined another run-scoring hit to center.

A wild pitch moved Kurtz into scoring position, and Shea Langeliers capped the outburst with an RBI single before swiping second base. By the time the inning finally ended, the Athletics had transformed a one-run deficit into a commanding 7-1 advantage.

Los Angeles answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jo Adell crushed a two-run homer to right-center, trimming the margin to four. Ginn finished five innings, allowing three runs while continuing his strong work away from home. Luis Medina followed with two scoreless strikeout-filled innings before Hogan Harris escaped a late eighth-inning jam, and Elvis Alvarado handled the ninth to complete the victory.

The Athletics were not finished scoring. Bolte reached on catcher interference to begin the seventh, stole second, and raced home when Kurtz lined another sharp single to center. Langeliers singled again before Jonah Heim drove a ground-rule double into the left-center gap, plating Kurtz and stretching the lead to 9-3. Those insurance runs removed any lingering suspense.

McNeil finished with two huge RBI in the decisive fifth, while Kurtz continued adding to his outstanding season with two hits and two RBI after entering the game among the American League leaders in RBI, walks and on-base percentage. Langeliers chipped in two hits, an RBI and a stolen base while strengthening his case as the Athletics’ lone finalist for the American League All-Star Game. Bolte reached base twice, scored once, stole a base and drove in two more runs, continuing the impressive rookie campaign that has seen him become one of baseball’s top first-year hitters.

Friday night’s win was the A’s 40th of the season and continued their strong play against the Angels. After snapping a four-game skid with an impressive comeback over San Francisco, the club carried that momentum into another division matchup with an offense that took control when they needed.

The series continues Friday as A’s starter Jack Perkins (2-3, 6.26 ERA, 57 strikeouts) looks to quiet the Angels against left-hander Reid Detmers (3-5, 3.93 ERA, 104 strikeouts), with first pitch scheduled for 6:38 p.m. Pacific.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.

⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.

Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.

Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.

📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street

Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm

Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in.