Angels Strike Back in Anaheim
It was a nice change of pace against the Athletics on Sunday, as the Angels salvaged the final game of a three-game matchup with a 4-3 win. After horrendous back-to-back outings from the Angels starters in this series, Mitch Farris was able to keep the A’s at bay by giving up two runs in six innings for the Halos. Unfortunately for Farris, the A’s spoiled a chance for him to earn his second win of the season, as the A’s fought back late to tie the game. Kenley Jansen earned his 26th save of the year to seal the Angels' win and send the A’s packing.
Jo Adell started the scoring early as he brought in two runs with a homer to center field, his 35th of the season off the A’s Luis Severino. Severino would allow two more runs after giving up a Bryce Teodosio ground-rule double, putting the Angels up 3-1 in the fourth inning. Severino’s day would end after five innings, where he finished by giving up three runs and striking out seven. There would be no score change for both teams until the seventh, when Tyler Soderstrom put another run up for the Athletics with a no-doubt blast to left field, which ended Farris’s day on the mound.
The A’s battled back in the following inning, with a Colby Thomas sacrifice fly that brought in Nick Kurtz to tie the game. The Angels responded in the bottom of the eighth with two men on base after a walk and a hit-by-pitch put Chris Taylor in scoring position. Travis d’Arnaud played the hero with a ground-rule double to bring in Taylor, which set the Angels up 4-3 with more chances to capitalize. The A’s Michael Kelly came in to stop the bleeding as Luis Rengifo struck out, and Mike Trout flied out to center to end the inning. Kenley Jansen made quick work of the A’s, retiring the side on just nine pitches and sealing the 4-3 win.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Halos and brought the Angels back to life after suffering brutal losses in this series. The Angels are now at 67-76 and will welcome the Minnesota Twins to Anaheim. The Angels' 2025 season will come to an end three weeks from today on September 28th. They may not be out of the playoff race yet, but the writing’s on the wall.
