The Athletics did not need chaos this time. They needed one loud inning and one rookie left-hander who keeps looking more comfortable with every start.
Gage Jump threw seven scoreless innings Thursday night, and the A’s beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-0 at Sutter Health Park. The win gave the Athletics their first home shutout of the season and moved them to 37-38, still second in the AL West and 1.5 games behind Seattle.
The first-inning punch
The A’s jumped on Ryan Johnson before the Angels could settle in.
Zack Gelof opened the bottom of the first with a single, extending his hitting streak to 22 games. Then Nick Kurtz doubled to put two runners in scoring position.
Shea Langeliers followed with the swing that decided the night. He hit a three-run homer to center, his 19th of the season, and gave the Athletics a 3-0 lead before Los Angeles recorded an out.
Then Tyler Soderstrom made it back-to-back. He launched his 13th homer to left-center, pushing the lead to 4-0.
The inning kept rolling from there. Jacob Wilson singled, Jonah Heim followed with another single and Henry Bolte later added a sacrifice fly to score Wilson.
As a result, the A’s had a 5-0 lead after one inning.
Jump takes over
After that, Jump did the rest.
The rookie left-hander allowed one hit over seven shutout innings. He walked three, struck out seven and threw 72 of his 107 pitches for strikes.
Los Angeles did not get its first hit until the fourth, when Oswald Peraza doubled with two outs. However, Jump stranded two runners by striking out Christian Moore.
Then he worked around traffic again in the seventh. Vaughn Grissom walked with nobody out, but Jump struck out Peraza and Moore before Langeliers picked off Grissom at first to end the inning.
It was another sign of how quickly Jump has become one of the A’s most reliable arms.
The finish holds
Mason Barnett took over in the eighth and kept the shutout intact. He allowed one hit and one walk but got through the inning without damage.
Then Hogan Harris handled the ninth. He allowed two singles, but struck out Jo Adell, Peraza and Denzer Guzman to finish the win.
The Angels finished with four hits and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, the A’s pitching staff struck out 11.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with five runs, eight hits and no errors. The Angels had no runs, four hits and one error.
Langeliers went 1-for-4 with the three-run homer and three RBIs. Soderstrom added a solo shot, while Kurtz doubled and scored.
Also, Gelof’s first-inning single stretched his hitting streak to 22 games. That continued one of the steadiest individual runs in the lineup.
In the end, the A’s got the kind of win they needed after two straight losses. One inning gave them the lead, and Jump made sure the Angels never got close.
Up next
The Athletics continue the series against the Angels on Friday at Sutter Health Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PDT.
Jeffrey Springs is scheduled to start for the A’s. The left-hander enters at 3-7 with a 5.13 ERA and 68 strikeouts.
Los Angeles is scheduled to counter with right-hander José Soriano, who enters at 8-4 with a 2.79 ERA and 92 strikeouts.
Related stories
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
