TAKING NO PRISONERS, THE ATHLETICS PACHYDERM THE HALOS AT CHRISTIE PITS
Game Post composed with files from R.J. Caravaggio and Aaron Law
Under a ceiling of warm and hazy skies, the A’s defeated the Angels 11-5 in three innings of Mosquito Division play this evening at Christie Pits Diamond 2.
Here is an Athletics summary of the game:
- In the top of the first, A’s starter Nathan (13) wore a ‘garden hat’ on the mound, which brought him good luck as he struck out the side!
- After a series of walks to open the bottom of the first, a 2 RBI single by Daniel (4) A’s scored two runs. Later, Charlie (7) and Nathan (13) steal some bases and then home to complete a four run inning for the A’s.
- In the top of the second, A’s reliever Daniel (4) began his pitching stint against the Angels by allowing two singles. But Daniel recovered quickly as he found the groove by striking out the next Halos batter and induced a fielder’s choice for an out at third by Sebastian (3).
- The Angels get a walk and steal home for one run. A ground ball and a play to first get the third out for the A’s.
- Nikolas (8) leads of the bottom of the second with a walk and steals his way around the bases and all the way home on successive plays!
- After the patient A’s garner three consecutive walks to load the bases, a single by Sebastian and a double by Nathan combine to score three more for the Athletics and bring the curtain down on the inning.
- After the Angels load the bases on two walks and a hit batsman in the top of the third, the Halos rally with three hits and another walk to score four runs and trim the margin to 8-5.
- After Eli (15) and Sasha lead off the bottom of the third with back to back walks, both A’s steal their way around the diamond including home for two runs.
- A series of walks score another A’s run before a pop-up ends the inning and the game.
Here is an Angels account of the proceedings:
- It was a beautiful night for baseball when the Angels visited the A’s on Thursday night at the Pits.
- The A’s started out strong, racking up eight runs and holding the Angels to only one in the first two innings.
- However, the Angels offense broke open the floodgates in the top of the third, scoring four runs.
- Lead off Halos slugger Maggie (4) turned a walk into a run by stealing home.
- And hits by Angels sluggers Matthew (11), Myles (3), and Sadie (6) were easily turned into runs with some keen base running.
- Thursday night also saw the return of Jona (15) from a long hiatus away from the Halos roster. Jona scored one of the runs in the third.
- Defensively, the Angels are sharpening up as the Mosquito Division regular season enters the dog days of summer.
- Angels starting pitcher Alex (9) was finding his strike zone; reliever Myles (3) showed the A’s some heat; and Halos closer Cooper (2) held the potent A’s batting order to only three runs in the third by striking out one, forcing a grounder to third that was well played by Jack (10) and finally causing a pop-up that was caught at second by Julien (8) to end the game.