Dodgers To Honor Longtime Owner O'Malley
OAKLAND, Calif. -- — Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and the Oakland Athletics blanked the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday for a second straight game by the same 5-0 score to complete a three-game series sweep.
Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly in the decisive inning on a hot Independence Day in the Bay Area, with an announced holiday crowd of 11,956.
Oakland's pitching shut down an Angels lineup that had been on quite an offensive run.
“This offense that we faced had scored five or more runs in (seven) consecutive games, they had won six of their last seven, they swept us in Anaheim, beat a Detroit team at home, came here really confident and really swinging the bats well," A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “So our pitching staff really did a great job this series of controlling their offense, keeping the guys that had really been providing the offense at check and not giving away free bases.”
Sears (5-7) struck out six and walked one, allowing two hits over five innings to snap a six-start winless stretch since beating Houston on May 25. The left-hander had dropped his previous four decisions.
“It's contagious, you just want to do what the guy did before you,” Sears said.
The Angels lost a fourth straight game coming off a 5-0 shutout Wednesday. They were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since June 20-21, 2023 at home against the Dodgers.
The club now has a six-game losing streak at the Coliseum.
"It was just a tough overall series," said center fielder Kevin Pillar, who made several sparkling catches and said he was close to snagging Butler's eighth inning drive. “We were playing really good baseball at home, you got that off day, you come here, just playing these guys not a lot of secrets.”
Right-hander Roansy Contreras (1-1) walked two of the first three batters in the third to get in trouble, then gave up the run-scoring singles and a sacrifice fly before another walk — and that was it in his second start for the Angels. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
The Angels played the first of four straight day games as they head to Chicago to face the Cubs — their first visit to Wrigley Field since 2019.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: OF Mike Trout hit on the field off a tee during Monday's off day and is running on a treadmill as he recovers from a torn meniscus in his left knee. Manager Ron Washington saw the video and said “he looked natural.” ... 3B Luis Rengifo was feeling better after exiting a night earlier with an injury on his lower right arm near the wrist after fouling a ball off it in the ninth inning. ... 3B Anthony Rendon (left hamstring strain) will return to regular third base duties when healthy, with some games at designated hitter as needed, Washington said.
Athletics: LHP Kyle Muller has rejoined the team from his rehab assignment and is expected to be activated from the injured list this weekend after dealing with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.
UP NEXT
RHP Griffin Canning (3-8, 4.71 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels in the series opener with the Cubs. LHP Hogan Harris (1-2, 3.18) pitches for the A's in Friday’s series opener against Baltimore, which counters with RHP Albert Suárez (4-2, 2.43).
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
29iran Strikes 1 Tkwv VideoSixteenByNine3000 9333875e 86a1 4d5a B831 617a1fa40829 Palestinian Militants Kidnap Israeli Woman 230126101856 03 Israel Raid Jenin West Bank 012623.v1 Israeli Arab Diplomatic Ties V2 0 Iq 02 2531c915 09de 4178 B992 Aed4423ca7d8 Iraq Syria Map IStock Iraq Road Map Israel Nbr90 Map Middle East Region Near Transcontinental Orange Highlighted Turkey Syria Iraq Jordan Lebanon Israel Flat 82075226 3801f6a5 25f3 4f18 92b8 2b999b690920.b042646b4182369f20a848b19274e3a8 Guerra Gaza Israel 69 ?crop=5298,2980,x0,y56&width=1280&height=720&optimize=low&format=jpgPngtree Map Of Iraq Political Map Of Iraq With The Several Governorates Picture Image 2379725 Iraq Map In Asia Zoom Version Icons Showing Iraq Location And Flags Vector Mediteranean Map ?fit=987,837&ssl=1ALL TOUCHSCREEN MAPX ISRAEL AT WAR AT LEAST 130 ATTACKS ON US FORCES 01124 1 ?ve=1&tl=1Doodle Freehand Drawing Of Iraq Map Free Png IraqSyria Maps Web 01 Iraq Map Of Israeli Settlements In The Palestinian West Bank V0 77uukmujstqa1 ?auto=webp&s=f1d25ed6957ec738aa7ba7747ad6da8d3c338097 131399087 Gaza Detail Map V3 640 Nc 2x Nc 2020 01 10 Iraq Isis War Map 2020 Who Controls What Governorates Of Iraq Map Large Political And Administrative Map Of Iraq With Roads Cities And Airports Small Pngtree Map Of Iraq Political Map Of Iraq With The Several Governorates Picture Image 2377941 Eastern Mediterranean19480611 2000px Iraq%252813%2529 Israel And Iraq Middle East Map Political Map Of Israel Iraq Map Provinces 0 Iraq Political Map Administrative Divisions Governorates Kurdistan Region Grey Vector Labels 266496723