The Athletics had the series opener in their hands Friday. By Sunday, they were leaving Anaheim with another series loss and another reminder of how thin their margin has become.
The A’s lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium, dropping the three-game series 2-1 and falling to 40-44. Now they head back to Sutter Health Park to face the Dodgers, who arrive with baseball’s best record at 54-30.
One swing decides it
The Angels did all their scoring in one inning.
Aaron Civale retired Los Angeles in order in the first, but the second got away fast. Vaughn Grissom singled, Wade Meckler walked and Oswald Peraza singled to load the bases.
Then Josh Lowe delivered the swing that shaped the game. He hit a grand slam to right field, his sixth homer of the season, and gave the Angels a 4-0 lead.
It was Lowe’s first career grand slam. It also gave Los Angeles all the offense it needed.
Civale settles after damage
Civale did not let the inning spiral beyond that.
After Lowe’s homer, he allowed a single to Tyler Heineman but got through the rest of the second. Then he worked around traffic in the third and retired the Angels in the fourth.
In the fifth, Civale picked off Denzer Guzman at first after an overturned challenge. He finished with four runs allowed on seven hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out two.
After that, the bullpen did its job. Elvis Alvarado threw a clean sixth, and José Suarez followed with two perfect innings.
One run, no push
The A’s had a few chances, but the big hit never came.
Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy singled in the second, but Jeff McNeil flew out and Alika Williams popped out. Then McNeil and Williams opened the fifth with singles to set up the only Athletics run.
Henry Bolte moved both runners up with a groundout. Joey Meneses followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring McNeil and cutting the deficit to 4-1.
However, the rally stopped there. Shea Langeliers struck out to end the inning.
Eighth-inning chance fades
The A’s had one more real push in the eighth.
Bolte walked, and Meneses followed with another walk against Ryan Zeferjahn. With two on and nobody out, the Athletics had the tying run at the plate.
Instead, Langeliers struck out, and Jonah Heim followed with another strikeout. Then Nick Kurtz came off the bench and flied out to center against Samy Natera Jr., ending the threat.
Natera later finished the ninth for his first save.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with one run on six hits. The Angels had four runs on seven hits.
Butler went 2-for-4. Langeliers, Muncy, McNeil and Williams had the other A’s hits.
Still, the key number was 0-for-8. The Athletics went hitless with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
For Los Angeles, Lowe drove in all four runs with one swing. Samuel Aldegheri earned the win after allowing one run on five hits over five innings.
In the end, the A’s did not lose because of constant damage. They lost because one mistake became four runs, and their offense never answered.
Up next
The Athletics open a series against the Dodgers on Monday at Sutter Health Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PDT.
Gage Jump gets the ball for the A’s. The rookie left-hander enters at 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA and 35 strikeouts.
Across from him, Los Angeles turns to left-hander Eric Lauer, who enters at 3-5 with a 4.87 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
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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.
