The Athletics made a 4-0 lead disappear. Then they made an 11-4 deficit disappear, too.
Jonah Heim tied it with a two-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth, and Nick Kurtz drew a walk-off walk in the 10th as the A’s stunned the Los Angeles Angels 12-11 on Friday at Sutter Health Park. The win moved the Athletics back to .500 at 38-38 and pulled them within a half-game of Seattle in the AL West.
The early cushion
The A’s looked ready for a clean night after Thursday’s first home shutout of the season.
Lawrence Butler opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second. Then the Athletics added three more in the third.
Shea Langeliers doubled home Zack Gelof to make it 2-0. Next, Jacob Wilson doubled in Langeliers, with Tyler Soderstrom moving to third.
Carlos Cortes followed with a run-scoring out, giving the A’s a 4-0 lead.
The game flips hard
Then the Angels flipped everything.
Los Angeles scored seven runs in the fourth, getting a two-run homer from Denzer Guzman, a three-run shot from Jose Siri and a solo homer from Zach Neto. Soon after, Logan O’Hoppe hit a three-run homer in the fifth.
Nolan Schanuel added a solo homer in the sixth. At that point, the Angels led 11-4 and had scored 11 unanswered runs.
Jeffrey Springs allowed six runs over 3 2/3 innings. Justin Sterner followed and allowed four more in 1 1/3 innings.
Mark Kotsay also was ejected in the second inning by plate umpire Dan Merzel.
The climb back
The A’s started chipping away in the sixth, then found the real momentum in the seventh.
Wilson hit a two-run homer off Mitch Farris, cutting the deficit to 11-7. Then Max Muncy made it 11-9 with a two-run shot in the eighth.
The ninth brought the moment of the night. With two outs and Soderstrom aboard, Heim came off the bench and homered to right off Sam Bachman.
That tied the game at 11 and gave the Athletics eight unanswered runs of their own.
The extra push
Elvis Alvarado gave the A’s a chance to finish it.
Alvarado worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two. In the 10th, he helped strand the automatic runner after Muncy threw Christian Moore out at home.
Then the Athletics ended it in the bottom half.
Butler started as the automatic runner and stole third while Henry Bolte stole second. After Gelof was hit by a pitch, Kurtz drew a walk with one out to force home the winning run.
It was the A’s 21st comeback win of the season, the most in the American League. It also was their first comeback win after trailing by seven or more runs since July 24, 2018.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with 12 runs, 12 hits and no errors. The Angels had 11 runs, 11 hits and no errors.
Wilson went 2-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs. Soderstrom reached five times, going 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs.
Also, Gelof kept his hitting streak alive with a first-inning single, extending it to 23 games. Butler homered, walked, scored four times and stole a base. Muncy drove in two with his fourth homer, while Heim’s only swing changed the game.
For Los Angeles, O’Hoppe went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Siri drove in three, while the Angels hit five home runs.
In the end, no lead was safe. Not the A’s early lead, not the Angels’ seven-run cushion and not the division race sitting just above them.
Up next
The Athletics continue the series against the Angels on Saturday at Sutter Health Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PDT.
J.T. Ginn is scheduled to start for the A’s. The right-hander enters at 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 68 strikeouts.
Los Angeles is scheduled to counter with right-hander José Ureña, who enters at 4-5 with a 2.60 ERA and 58 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.
