Taylor Ward hit a grand slam to help the Angels erase an early 6-0 deficit, and Los Angeles beat the Oakland Athletics 8-6 on Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep.
Ward’s fourth-inning slam into the Oakland bullpen in left-center off Osvaldo Bido (2-2) was the fourth of his career and the fourth by an Angel this season. His previous grand slam was on May 4, 2022, also against Oakland. He has 16 homers this season.
“It’s one of the most amazing feelings in baseball, besides maybe hitting a walk-off grand slam,” Ward said.
Brent Rooker hit a bases-clearing double in a six-run third inning for the A’s, who had won eight of 10 and had already secured their fourth straight series win.
Luis Garcia, pressed into duty as Los Angeles’ closer after Carlos Estevez was traded to Philadelphia a day earlier, retired the side on nine pitches in the ninth for his fourth save.
Roansy Contreras (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Bido walked Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Luis Rengifo before Ward took him deep with two outs, putting the Angels ahead 7-6 and ending Bido’s day. He allowed seven runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
“We came out and swung the bats well in the third. Got a six-run lead,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “It was a long inning. Our starter sat for a little while. Leadoff hit by Neto and he hits [Jo] Adell. Similar game happened to us up in Oakland where you let them back into that game. Offensively, we couldn’t get anything more going on the rest of the game. We were one strike away. We hung a slider to Ward and it changed the outcome of the game.”
Willie Calhoun had a two-run single that got Los Angeles within 6-3 in the third.
Angels starter Jose Siriano was pulled after allowing four hits and a walk in the third. He was charged with six runs, three earned, in 2 2/3 innings.
A fielding error by Angels second baseman Brandon Drury on a grounder by Miguel Andujar allowed the first Oakland run to score.
“I was attacking the zone and continued attacking the zone,” Soriano said through an interpreter. “We had an error, but those, you can’t do anything about it and that’s part of the game. I kept doing my thing.”
Up next
Right-hander Griffin Canning (3-10, 2.91) will start Tuesday against Colorado. Canning is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two career starts against the Rockies.