You don’t expect to flip on a game and see one of the most incredible plays you’ll ever see. But that is exactly what happened tonight.
Denzel Clarke robbed Nolan Schanuel on this sensational grab.
The only play I could think of to compare that insane grab to was this gem from prime Mike Trout.
Sadly for the A’s, defensive wizardry was not going to be the standard all game. Two gaffs in the bottom of the third inning helped the Angels grab a 3-0 lead. A’s infielders botched two would be outs that extended the inning. The final run was courtesy of 2025 Mike Trout, who is hitting the ball hard again.
An inning later the Angels stretched the lead to 4-0 thanks to a bomb by the red hot Jo Adell.
The score remained 4-0 into the 8th inning because Yusei Kikuchi was dealing tonight. Check out these numbers.
Yes, that is 1 freaking hit and only 2 total baserunners. Really, that walk total is a great sign to see after his last few starts. Kikuchi was attacking the strike zone consistently. That contributed to the A’s having to swing earlier in counts and put the ball in play, On the night Yusei had a very reasonable pitch count of 104 with 66 strikes.
Unfortunately, after Yusei left the bullpen entered. Conor Brogdon has looked good of late, but gave up a bomb that also cashed in the runner he inherited from Kikuchi and cut the lead to 4-2. Ryan Zeferjahn was able to record the last two outs of the inning to stop the damage.
A Mike Trout sacrifice fly punched in Zach Neto to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the 8th. That was the second run scored for Neto who also had 2 hits and an RBI.
Jo Adell then delivered the knockout blow with a 2 run single pushing the score to 7-2.
Shaun Anderson came in and made sure the A’s didn’t feel bad about themselves. He gave up his customary 2 run homer before recording 2 outs. Ron Washington had so much faith in Shaun he had closer Kenley Jansen warming up in the bullpen. Jansen came in to record the final out and preserve the win.
Light up the Halo! Angels win 9-4!
