Mickey Moniak hit his first career grand slam, and Taylor Ward also homered in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Jo Adell had an RBI double and Logan O’Hoppe added an RBI single for the Halos, who won three of four after taking two straight from Oakland.
Moniak cleared the bases with his fourth homerun of the season, sparking a five-run rally in the third. The former No. 1 overall pick has struggled despite receiving regular playing time during his first full season with the Angels, but Moniak has improved greatly in recent weeks with improved plate discipline.
Brent Rooker hit his 14th homer and JJ Bleday had an RBI single for the last-place A’s, who have lost four straight games and 17 of 22. Oakland lost its 10th straight road game and fell to a season-worst 24 games under .500.
Armando Alvarez had his first Major League hit and his first RBI for the A’s, ending the 29-year-old’s epic quest for those feats.
Alvarez doubled in the third, and he drove in a run in the eighth with a single. The former 17th-round pick has played exactly 700 games in the minors over eight seasons since 2016, but he received his first major league call-up last weekend after hitting .311 with Triple-A Las Vegas.
Tyler Anderson (7-7) yielded three runs on five hits and five walks over five uncharacteristically shaky innings for the Angels, during which he was visibly and verbally angry with himself. The left-hander has been Los Angeles’ best starter this season, but Anderson has walked 23 in his last six starts.
Ben Joyce escaped a jam in the eighth, and Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth for his 15th save — though the Angels closer lost his streak of 26 consecutive batters struck out since May 21 on Tyler Soderstrom’s two-out single.
Mitch Spence (4-4) scored six runs on eight hits while pitching in the sixth inning of his fifth straight scoreless start for Oakland.
Moniak walked in the sixth and scored on a double by Adell, chasing Spence. Ward added his 14th homer in the seventh.
Alvarez’s RBI single and Lawrence Butler’s sacrifice fly after a sliding catch by Moniak cut the Angels’ lead to 7-5.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling threw a bullpen session in Anaheim, and is expected to throw another on Saturday. He has been out since May 25 with a right elbow strain.
Angels: INF Miguel Sanó returned to the roster after a 50-game absence due to left knee inflammation and grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. …RHP Chase Silseth also returned from a 76-game absence with right elbow inflammation. He was assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
NEXT ONE
Joey Estes (2-2, 5.53 ERA) takes the mound for Oakland on Wednesday in the series finale against Roansy Contreras (1-0, 3.90 ERA), who will make his first start since joining the Angels in a trade with Pittsburgh last month . He started 29 games for the Pirates over the past two seasons.
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