Oakland built a four-run lead before the Angels had taken a single swing. By the ninth inning, it was gone. Zach Neto's two-run homer to left in the ninth — the game's final scoring play — lifted Los Angeles to a 9-7 victory over the Athletics on Sunday at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.
Nick Kurtz carried Oakland's offense. The first baseman went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run, and 3 RBI, and scored twice. His two-run shot to center in the seventh — 437 feet — pushed the Oakland lead to 7-4 and appeared to put the game away. Kurtz is hitting .287 on the season with 19 home runs and 61 RBI. Zack Gelof scored three times and went 2-for-5 for the Athletics.
Oakland struck first and hard. The Athletics sent four runs across in the first inning: Zack Gelof scored on a Tyler Soderstrom walk, Kurtz scored on a Jonah Heim sacrifice fly, Jacob Wilson scored on a Joey Meneses single, and Soderstrom scored on a Henry Bolte single. Los Angeles answered with three runs in the second on Donovan Walton's three-run homer to right (391 feet), which scored Nolan Schanuel and Denzer Guzman. The Angels pulled within one in the fifth when Jose Siri scored on a Jack Perkins wild pitch. Kurtz's seventh-inning blast restored a three-run cushion. Then Guzman tied it in the eighth, homering to center (416 feet) to score Vaughn Grissom and Schanuel and knot the game at 7-7. Neto finished it in the ninth, his homer to left scoring Siri and giving Los Angeles the lead for good.
Oakland's bullpen could not hold the margin. Elvis Alvarado took the loss, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits over 1.2 innings, falling to 3-2 on the season with a 5.49 ERA. Jack Perkins started for Oakland and struck out 8 over 5.0 innings, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits. Reid Detmers started for Los Angeles and allowed 5 runs on 6 hits over 6.0 innings, walking 4 and striking out 4, with no decision. Chase Silseth earned the win, his second of the season, tossing a scoreless inning. Sam Bachman recorded his first career save, working a clean ninth.
Oakland fell to 38-39 with the loss. Los Angeles improved to 31-47.