The Oakland Athletics dropped the final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon in a frustrating loss the LA Angels. The Athletics were 2 outs away from securing a 4-2 victory when usually reliable closer Grant Balfour gave up a 2-run home run to Josh Hamilton to tie the game. The Angels would go on to score 1 run in the top of the 11th inning to take a 5-4 lead, which would hold up to give them the victory.
However, the Athletics maintain their 6.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers. They received help from the Tampa Bay Rays as the had their own extra inning victory over the Texas Rangers by the score of 4-3.
The Minnesota Twins come into town for the 1st time in 2013 to play a 4 game weekend set starting Thursday. These are the final 4 regular season games for the Athletics and they still have a chance to clinch the division at home.
Series recap:
Monday, September 16th
LA Angels 12
Oakland Athletics 1
WP: C.J. Wilson (17-6)
LP: Jarrod Parker (11-7)
Tuesday, September 17th
LA Angels 1
Oakland Athletics 2
WP: Grant Balfour (1-3)
LP: Michael Kohn (1-3)
Wednesday, September 18th
LA Angels 5
Oakland Athletics 4
WP: Juan Gutierrez (1-4)
LP: Jesse Chavez 2-4)
SV: Ernesto Frieri (35)