A’s dismantle Angels 13-3

But a bit of bad news too

Oakland got their first win of the second half tonight at the Coliseum, blasting the Angels 13-3 to kick off the start of the second half.

After Los Angeles scored first in the second inning the A’s got right to work in the bottom half of the third. Top prospect Jacob Wilson led off the rally by collecting his first major league hit, hopefully the first of many in an A’s uniform:

The good vibes immediately changed though. Following Wilson was Max Shuemann with the first of what would be three hits on the day. With two runners on Lawrence Butler tripled to give the A’s the lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish today:

And on that hit is where Wilson pulled up with an obvious leg injury. What a bad break for Wilson, who went from on top of the world to now almost assuredly heading to the IL. Hamstring strains can be tricky so the A’s would be wise to not rush him back. Whenever he does he won’t have to stress about collecting that first major league hit.

Shuemann kept the scoring going in the next inning when he smacked a 3-run oppo taco to extend the lead:

That was Shuemann’s sixth home run of the season. With Wilson likely down for the foreseeable future we’ll probably continue seeing Shuemann man shortstop.

And why stop there? Shuemann knocked in another run followed by RBI hits from Butler and Miguel Andujar. Then JJ Bleday got in on the action by belting his 12th long ball of the season to push the lead to 11-3:

Next up, Shea Langeliers with his 18th of the season:

That finally capped what would be a 7-run frame. They sure didn’t cool down over the All-Star break. That wrapped up the scoring from the Oakland bats for tonight but it was all they would need in this one.

With the bats having their way with Los Angeles pitching it was more or less smooth sailing for Oakland starter JP Sears. It hasn’t been the best year for the sophomore lefty but he’a coming off a pair of quality starts and he gave that to the A’s again tonight. Sears pitched all the way into the sixth inning, making it to 81 pitches. Los Angeles was getting their hits against Sears but he avoided major damage, allowing just two home runs in his outing today. We’ll see if he’s figured something out mechanically but he’s on a roll right now.

Sears was followed out of the bullpen by Austin Adams, Tyler Ferguson, Osvaldo Bido and Michel Otañez to finish this game off. It was uneventful as the Angels failed to collect a single hit as they went down quietly.

Wow. What a game. The Athletics had their way with Los Angeles tonight as they racked up 14 hits. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit besides Seth Brown, and even he had a pair of walks and scored twice. Today was a great all-around win but the injury to Wilson really takes a lot of the fun out of today’s contest.

The Athletics will look to win the series tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be right-hander Mitch Spence getting the start while Los Angeles will counter with rookie righty Jack Kochanowicz, who will be making just his second big-league appearance. Let’s hope the A’s saved some runs for tomorrow.