OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Max Schuemann hit a three-run homer, JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers both added two-run shots, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 13-3 on Friday night but lost top prospect Jacob Wilson to a left hamstring strain in his major league debut.
Schuemann, who went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and entered the game batting .351 in July, gave the A’s a 6-2 lead in the fourth with his homer. He added an RBI double in the sixth. Oakland scored seven times in the sixth, with Bleday and Langeliers hitting homers.
The A's, who scored 18 runs the game before the All-Star break, have recorded double-digit runs in their last two games and the most runs scored in a two-game stretch by any team this season.
“Hitting is contagious,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “This lineup, they feed off one another. We have some power in this lineup. When these guys get locked in, the ball jumps off their bats and goes over the fence as we saw tonight.”
A’s starter JP Sears (7-7) pitched into the sixth and allowed two earned runs on solo homers by Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel.
“I think that you’re starting to see a lot of guys that are younger getting really comfortable with who they are,” Sears said of the team's recent offensive success. “You can see that at the plate, just the types of at-bats we’ve had.”
Wilson, the A’s first-round pick in 2023 and top prospect according to MLB.com, left the game after straining his hamstring while scoring on Lawrence Butler's two-run triple in the third. Wilson, who had just singled in his first career at-bat, was visibly frustrated in the dugout in between innings, stretching out his hamstring before leaving the game with a trainer.
Wilson, 22, also missed more than a month with a knee injury at Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this season. He was hitting over .400 in the minors.
“It was pretty horrible," Wilson said of leaving the game. “This is a day that you've been working for your entire life and I've been looking forward to it for a long time now. I had three innings there where I can say it was the high moment of my life right there.”
Wilson added that it was “better safe than sorry" for him to come out early. He said getting his first hit was “definitely a moment that you'll remember for the rest of your life.”
Kotsay hopes that Wilson just has a minor strain, but took him out of the game once he saw Wilson take the field in the fourth.
“There's no reason for us to push that kid when when there’s a lower half injury that can get any worse by having to make a play for us or by not being able to make a play — and hurting the team," Kotsay said. “From that standpoint, I admire the kid’s passion and desire to be on the field but at that point, it’s my job to make that decision.”
The A’s, who took two of three from the major league-best Phillies on the road prior to the All-Star break, also won their fourth straight game over the Angels in front of an announced crowd of 11,596 at the Coliseum.
Angels starter Griffin Canning (3-10) allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings before leaving the game with elbow irritation. Los Angeles has lost seven straight at the Coliseum.
“My goal for the second half is to figure out how to sustain, and get more consistent,” manager Ron Washington said before the game. “We just got to get more consistent. And if we can do that, the second half is going to be a beautiful time."
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: OF Mike Trout (knee) will face live hitters in Arizona before starting a rehab assignment at Triple-A Salt Lake City. … 3B Luis Rengifo (wrist) took ground balls and hit off a tee on Friday.
Athletics: 3B Abraham Toro (hamstring) will play at least two more rehab games at Triple-A Las Vegas this weekend, but is progressing well, according to manager Mark Kotsay. … RHP Ross Stripling (elbow) was scheduled to throw 75 pitches for Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday. … RHP Paul Blackburn (foot) is scheduled to throw between 60 to 70 pitches on Saturday for Triple-A Las Vegas.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Mitch Spence (5-6, 4.75 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the A’s against RHP Jack Kochanowicz (0-1, 12.00 ERA) for the Angels.
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