Murray's Farewell At Wimbledon Starts With Loss
OAKLAND, Calif. -- — Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and the Oakland Athletics blanked the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday for a second straight game by the same 5-0 score to complete a three-game series sweep.
Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly in the decisive inning on a hot Independence Day in the Bay Area, with an announced holiday crowd of 11,956.
Oakland's pitching shut down an Angels lineup that had been on quite an offensive run.
“This offense that we faced had scored five or more runs in (seven) consecutive games, they had won six of their last seven, they swept us in Anaheim, beat a Detroit team at home, came here really confident and really swinging the bats well," A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “So our pitching staff really did a great job this series of controlling their offense, keeping the guys that had really been providing the offense at check and not giving away free bases.”
Sears (5-7) struck out six and walked one, allowing two hits over five innings to snap a six-start winless stretch since beating Houston on May 25. The left-hander had dropped his previous four decisions.
“It's contagious, you just want to do what the guy did before you,” Sears said.
The Angels lost a fourth straight game coming off a 5-0 shutout Wednesday. They were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since June 20-21, 2023 at home against the Dodgers.
The club now has a six-game losing streak at the Coliseum.
"It was just a tough overall series," said center fielder Kevin Pillar, who made several sparkling catches and said he was close to snagging Butler's eighth inning drive. “We were playing really good baseball at home, you got that off day, you come here, just playing these guys not a lot of secrets.”
Right-hander Roansy Contreras (1-1) walked two of the first three batters in the third to get in trouble, then gave up the run-scoring singles and a sacrifice fly before another walk — and that was it in his second start for the Angels. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
The Angels played the first of four straight day games as they head to Chicago to face the Cubs — their first visit to Wrigley Field since 2019.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: OF Mike Trout hit on the field off a tee during Monday's off day and is running on a treadmill as he recovers from a torn meniscus in his left knee. Manager Ron Washington saw the video and said “he looked natural.” ... 3B Luis Rengifo was feeling better after exiting a night earlier with an injury on his lower right arm near the wrist after fouling a ball off it in the ninth inning. ... 3B Anthony Rendon (left hamstring strain) will return to regular third base duties when healthy, with some games at designated hitter as needed, Washington said.
Athletics: LHP Kyle Muller has rejoined the team from his rehab assignment and is expected to be activated from the injured list this weekend after dealing with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.
UP NEXT
RHP Griffin Canning (3-8, 4.71 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels in the series opener with the Cubs. LHP Hogan Harris (1-2, 3.18) pitches for the A's in Friday’s series opener against Baltimore, which counters with RHP Albert Suárez (4-2, 2.43).
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
IMG 3070 1 Scaled Doors8 ?61728120230038334242d20e70746dfeea95e62d7c7f6636e3d IMG 1613 1200x900 De5e42 8ee09444488446718b0de0e0922e8d86~mv2 ?media Id=852168703581179?media Id=8521685502478617bfc5fa835fbb49df5d361866774bbf4 455 1920w Abe Doors Windows Allentown Pa 2024 X2 Jan Banners Cropped Logo Abc E1474306509480 AF1QipNVN7g6hF87r2VR8xGLetRyZtxmf5OsSC3t9xvu=s1280 P No V1Doors Front Final ?media Id=854160166715366Commercial Door Trend 848x480 64dfb55ba17888b40fee98e6 SecureView InSitu AF1QipM69ds0Cokq48zskaWclSC60ztHWWudZ11Bi0qc=s1280 P No V1AF1QipPJOFi8QLyGyBWIAKXfCMb2UAJEOV JdzZv7A1c=w1080 H608 P No V09VyKB5vGsEDsGZG0fH9EG2ftpjifVPt7uGxBlK9YVB7k5Dg5FBDPncTz5YYhki36rf7ixsiG ZmvAayKuQ=w768 H768 N O V1AF1QipN2u0KWkqrQE7ixjJNCKS2zdcoq4rio4hXMPVS2=w1080 H608 P No V025nZolsRgaPl41qA37nTtDpnaHtj8Ezx9caBtuabffYH5YWQUlqzuh0s00F2Kp0Tu1TCTbo A1fPWtWfjA=w768 H768 N O V1UEaDdTylZr ?media Id=214567347603634Careers Page Slider Image 1 ?media Id=214567360936966About Abc Garage Doors 1 3e7b3002 ?media Id=214567350936967Picture 092 E1616025356576 1280x720 ?media Id=2145673242703038bb79aacc5dae3aad2e328c03f88625e 44840862 2137651726284943 1063219368873164800 N 768x576 ?media Id=10006680221633619055732 1542623285787793 3134613701613735556 O 768x768 ABC Doors About Us Scaleable V3
Murray's Farewell At Wimbledon Starts With Loss
OAKLAND, Calif. -- — Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and the Oakland Athletics blanked the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday for a second straight game by the same 5-0 score to complete a three-game series sweep.
Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly in the decisive inning on a hot Independence Day in the Bay Area, with an announced holiday crowd of 11,956.
Oakland's pitching shut down an Angels lineup that had been on quite an offensive run.
“This offense that we faced had scored five or more runs in (seven) consecutive games, they had won six of their last seven, they swept us in Anaheim, beat a Detroit team at home, came here really confident and really swinging the bats well," A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “So our pitching staff really did a great job this series of controlling their offense, keeping the guys that had really been providing the offense at check and not giving away free bases.”
Sears (5-7) struck out six and walked one, allowing two hits over five innings to snap a six-start winless stretch since beating Houston on May 25. The left-hander had dropped his previous four decisions.
“It's contagious, you just want to do what the guy did before you,” Sears said.
The Angels lost a fourth straight game coming off a 5-0 shutout Wednesday. They were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since June 20-21, 2023 at home against the Dodgers.
The club now has a six-game losing streak at the Coliseum.
"It was just a tough overall series," said center fielder Kevin Pillar, who made several sparkling catches and said he was close to snagging Butler's eighth inning drive. “We were playing really good baseball at home, you got that off day, you come here, just playing these guys not a lot of secrets.”
Right-hander Roansy Contreras (1-1) walked two of the first three batters in the third to get in trouble, then gave up the run-scoring singles and a sacrifice fly before another walk — and that was it in his second start for the Angels. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
The Angels played the first of four straight day games as they head to Chicago to face the Cubs — their first visit to Wrigley Field since 2019.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: OF Mike Trout hit on the field off a tee during Monday's off day and is running on a treadmill as he recovers from a torn meniscus in his left knee. Manager Ron Washington saw the video and said “he looked natural.” ... 3B Luis Rengifo was feeling better after exiting a night earlier with an injury on his lower right arm near the wrist after fouling a ball off it in the ninth inning. ... 3B Anthony Rendon (left hamstring strain) will return to regular third base duties when healthy, with some games at designated hitter as needed, Washington said.
Athletics: LHP Kyle Muller has rejoined the team from his rehab assignment and is expected to be activated from the injured list this weekend after dealing with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.
UP NEXT
RHP Griffin Canning (3-8, 4.71 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels in the series opener with the Cubs. LHP Hogan Harris (1-2, 3.18) pitches for the A's in Friday’s series opener against Baltimore, which counters with RHP Albert Suárez (4-2, 2.43).
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
