Three Angels Go Deep, LAA Survives Wild 9-7 Slugfest

The Angels hit three home runs and got contributions up and down the lineup to beat the Athletics 9-7 on Sunday. Doing it without Mike Trout — now on the injured list with a right hamstring injury — makes it land a little differently.

The story of the night was Los Angeles's ability to manufacture damage from multiple sources. Denzer Guzman went 2-for-3 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Donovan Walton matched him with a homer and 3 RBI of his own on a 1-for-3 night. Zach Neto added a third Angels home run, going 1-for-5 with 2 RBI. Nolan Schanuel chipped in 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored. That's four different players driving meaningful production — and it appears to be exactly the kind of collective offense a team needs when its franchise centerpiece is sitting in street clothes.

Athletics starter Jack Perkins had the stuff — 8 strikeouts over 5.0 innings — but the 4 earned runs he allowed were enough to put Oakland in a hole it never fully escaped. On the other side, Reid Detmers was shakier, surrendering 5 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks across 6.0 innings. That's not a performance that inspires confidence, but Chase Silseth cleaned things up with a sharp 1.0 inning of relief — no hits, no earned runs, 2 strikeouts. Oakland got a solid inning from Luis Medina as well (1 H, 0 ER, 1 K), but the Athletics' bullpen couldn't hold the deficit down. Nick Kurtz gave the home side something to cheer about, going 2-for-4 with a homer and 3 RBI, and Zack Gelof was relentless at the top of the order — 2-for-5 with 3 runs scored. The talent is clearly there in Oakland. The problem, it looks like, is that they needed a near-perfect night to win and didn't get it.

For the Angels, this win looks more significant in context. With Trout on the injured list, the roster has to prove it can produce without the safety net of its best player. Sunday's performance — three home runs, nine runs, contributions from six different players in the box score — suggests the depth might be more real than skeptics assumed. Whether that holds over a longer stretch is a genuine question, but for one night, Los Angeles answered it convincingly.