OAKLAND, Calif. — Three months later, the Angels swept a series again.
The Angels beat the Oakland A’s, 5-4, in 12 innings on Wednesday afternoon to complete their first series sweep since taking a four-game set from the Cleveland Guardians in April.
Magneuris Sierra drove in both of the Angels’ runs in extra innings, with a single in the 10th and a double in the 12th. Jaime Barria worked all three extra innings, allowing the automatic runner to score just once.
The Angels hadn’t had a three-game winning streak of any kind since June, when they won the final three of a five-game series in Seattle.
This one was a little more dramatic than they would have liked. Luis Rengifo’s sixth-inning three-run homer and five scoreless innings from Touki Toussaint built a 3-0 lead that the Angels still held in the bottom of the seventh. But Aaron Loup and Andrew Wantz combined to walk the bases loaded and then Jesse Chavez gave up a game-tying three-run double to Tony Kemp.
The Angels re-took the lead with a run on a Sierra RBI single in the top of the 10th, but Barria gave it back in on a two-out infield single by Ramon Laureano in the bottom of the inning.
The Angels essentially got two automatic runners in the 11th, because the A’s intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani as the leadoff hitter. The Angels moved both runners up on Rengifo’s fly ball to the warning track, but Taylor Ward and Steven Duggar struck out.
Finally, in the 12th, Sierra doubled home the automatic runner. He was then caught stealing third, with spoiled the Angels’ chances at an insurance run.
They didn’t need it. Barria struck out Chad Pinder, got Skye Bolt on a groundout and then got Cal Stevenson on a groundout to end it.
Although the Angels pulled out the victory, they would have preferred to finish it off for Toussaint.
Walks had been one of Toussaint’s issues as he struggled to reach the major-league promise from his days as a top prospect with the Atlanta Braves, and he began Wednesday’s game by issuing two walks in the first inning.
He got out of that jam with a double play, and after that, he didn’t walk another batter. Catcher Max Stassi helped bail him out of a jam in the fourth when he nailed Ramon Laureano trying to steal third for the first out of the inning.
Toussaint needed just 71 pitches to get through five, and he didn’t walk another batter after the first inning. He struck out six.
