The Angels led for five innings before crumbling late en route to a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, all in front of a sparse crowd featuring fiery “sell-the-team” chants from shirtless fans in the upper deck.
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, the A’s Zack Gelof hit into a fielder’s choice groundout off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.
Angels second baseman Adam Frazier had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after catching shortstop Zach Neto’s throw. That allowed Nick Kurtz to reach home as the go-ahead run.
Gelof was initially called out, but the A’s won the challenge — and ultimately the game 3-2.
The Angels were unable to tie against Athletics reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who earned the save, despite having runners on the corners and zero outs in the bottom of the 10th inning.
“Yeah, [Frazier] looked like he just couldn’t get the ball out of his glove,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “You know, one of those things where the ball got in, and he was doing everything right to turn it, just couldn’t get out of his glove.”
Bare chested fans wave their shirts in right field during the seventh inning of the Angels’ loss to the Athletics on Thursday at Angel Stadium. The fans chanted for Angels owner Arte Moreno to “sell the team.”
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Noah Schanuel gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run homer.
The A’s bounced back late as Darell Hernáiz and Kurtz hit RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to tie the score.
The Angels (17-34) lost three of their four games against the Athletics and nine of their past 10 games, earning the fewest wins so far this season.
That has prompted a group of fans that has grown larger each home game to gather shirtless in the upper deck at Angel Stadium and chant that owner Arte Moreno should “sell the team.” The chants could be heard on the Angels’ TV broadcast.