JP Sears won at home for the first time this season, Zack Gelof capped a five-run fourth inning with a two-run double and the Oakland Athletics opened a three-game home series with a 9-2 romp over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Esteury Ruiz collected a single, double, home run, two runs, two RBIs and his 54th steal of the season, while Jordan Diaz had two doubles, a single, a run and an RBI for the A’s, whose 14 hits equaled their sixth most of the season. Eight of the 14 hits were doubles, surpassing the club’s previous season high by two.
Sears (3-11), who had been 0-5 in his previous 11 home starts this season, blanked the Angels on four hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Coming off a five-start August in which he was 0-4 with an 8.25 ERA, Sears worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first and another in the fifth.
In between, his teammates made his night a lot more comfortable with a six-hit explosion in the fourth after Patrick Sandoval (7-11) had matched zeroes with Sears for 3 1/2 innings.
Brent Rooker doubled and Jordan Diaz singled to set the stage for an Aledmys Diaz double that opened the scoring. A single by Jonah Bride and sacrifice fly by Nick Allen made it 3-0 before Gelof, facing reliever Jimmy Herget, belted his double to left field, making it a five-run inning.
All five runs were charged to Sandoval, who allowed five hits and three walks in his 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three.
Oakland tacked on in the seventh on Jordan Diaz’s second double of the night, making it 6-0, then blew the game wide open in the eighth on Ruiz’s two-run homer, his third, and an RBI double by Ryan Noda, who came in as a pinch-hitter for Carlos Perez in the fourth inning.
Gelof and Noda notched two hits apiece for the A’s, who beat their California rivals for just the third time in eight meetings this season.
The Angels’ runs came in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Brandon Drury and in the ninth on Logan O’Hoppe’s sixth homer of the year, a solo shot.
O’Hoppe finished with two of the visitors’ seven hits.
Serving as the DH, Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
–Field Level Media
