Magneuris Sierra doubled home automatic runner Steven Duggar with one out in the 12th inning and the Los Angeles Angels held on to complete a three-game sweep of the host Oakland Athletics with a 5-4 victory Wednesday afternoon.
In a game that featured a pair of three-run hits — a sixth-inning home run by Luis Rengifo and a seventh-inning double by Tony Kemp — both teams scored once in the 10th before Sierra lashed his double to right field off the Athletics’ seventh pitcher, Austin Pruitt (0-1), as the second batter of the 12th.
Jaime Barria (2-2) pitched the final three innings to get the win, including retiring the A’s in order in the bottom of the 12th after Elvis Andrus had been placed on second base to start the inning.
Sierra and the Athletics’ Ramon Laureano had driven in the 10th-inning runs, extending a game that began as a surprising pitching duel between recent minor-leaguers Touki Toussaint and JP Sears.
Making just his third start for the Angels after Los Angeles acquired him from the Atlanta Braves last month, Toussaint shut out Oakland for five innings, allowing two hits. He walked two and struck out six.
Sears — acquired by the A’s when they dealt Frankie Montas to the New York Yankees at the deadline — was summoned from Triple-A Las Vegas when Wednesday’s scheduled starter, All-Star Paul Blackburn, had to go on the injured list with an inflamed right middle finger.
Sears matched Toussaint with five scoreless innings, then left after consecutive one-out singles by Andrew Velazquez and David Fletcher in the sixth.
Sam Moll came on and, after a wild pitch, struck out Shohei Ohtani for the second out, before Rengifo bombed his second homer of the series, a three-run blast to left that got the Angels on the board first.
Sears was charged with two of the runs. He allowed three hits in his 5 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and no walks.
The Los Angeles lead lasted until the seventh, when three walks loaded the bases with two outs and Kemp cleared them with a double to center field. Kemp was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, but all three runs were determined to have crossed the plate before the inning-ending out was recorded.
Duggar scored twice and Sierra, who was 0-for-3 before the start of extra innings, finished with two hits and two RBIs for the Angels. They improved their record against Oakland this season to 9-4.
Laureano had three hits and Kemp a pair of doubles for the A’s, who lost a fifth straight despite outhitting the Angels 7-6.
–Field Level Media
