Oakland Athletics vs Los Angeles Angels Match Player Stats On Aug 30, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 31, 2017

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are the megastars, the big hitters in the Los Angeles Angels' lineup.

They showed why on Wednesday night against the Oakland A's, Pujols hitting two home runs and Trout finishing a double short of the cycle.

However, the biggest star of the night was a journeyman utility player who entered the game with all of 35 home runs in 10 major league seasons.

Cliff Pennington, getting just his third start of the season at shortstop, hit his first career grand slam in the seventh inning, lifting the Angels to a 10-8 win and a three-game sweep of the hapless A's.

The Angels (69-65) remain one game behind the Minnesota Twins in the race for the second American League wild card.

While the Angels certainly will take it, the win didn't occur the way they would have drawn it up in spring training. They took an early lead on home runs by Pujols and Trout, but Oakland exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning against Angels starter Parker Bridwell and reliever Blake Wood to take an 8-3 lead.

The Angels got to within 8-5 in the fifth inning on Pujols' second homer of the night; the two-run blast was No. 612 in his career, tying him with Jim Thome for No. 7 on the all-time list.

In the seventh, an RBI single by Kole Calhoun made it 8-6 and, a couple of batters later, Pennington came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

Former Dodger Chris Hatcher, the third of four Oakland relievers to follow starter Kendall Graveman, threw a 94 mph fastball down the middle on a 2-2 count, and Pennington got just enough of it for his third homer of the year.

It was close enough that A's manager Bob Melvin called for a review, but the replay showed a young fan catching the ball right at the yellow line atop the right-field fence.

Cam Bedrosian (4-3), one of five Angels relievers, got the victory over Hatcher (0-1). Blake Parker pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for Los Angeles to earn his fourth save.

Trout, back from a two-game absence caused by a sore neck, enjoyed a big night while ending an 0-for-17 slide.

He came to the plate in the eighth inning having homered in the first inning, walked in the third, tripled in the fifth and singled in the seventh. With a chance for his second career cycle, Trout smoked a line drive to right field, but directly at right fielder Matt Joyce for a single.

Matt Olson's three-run homer and Bruce Maxwell's two-run shot were the key blows in Oakland's eight-run fourth.

Bridwell allowed seven runs on six hits in three-plus innings. Graveman gave up five runs on six hits in five innings.

Pujols had four RBIs, increasing his career total to 1,900. He became the 11th player to reach the milestone.

NOTES: Angels SS Andrelton Simmons did not play, getting a day off for rest. Simmons has played in 131 of the club's 134 games, tops on the team, and he got his first day off since June 29. INF Cliff Pennington started in Simmons' place. ... A's C Josh Phegley, on the disabled list with a strained left oblique muscle since July 25, completed a rehab assignment and joined the club in Anaheim. He is expected to be activated on Friday, when rosters may be expanded.