ANAHEIM — Once they overcame the shock of it all, the Angels were off and running on Monday.
Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke froze time in the first inning with a stunning home-run robbing catch that nearly carried the former Cal State Northridge star over the wall. Two innings later, the Angels finally were able to spring forward toward a 7-4 victory.
Nolan Schanuel exacted a bit of revenge after his home run was taken away, delivering an RBI single in a three-run third inning, and left-hander Yusei Kikuchi allowed just one hit over 7⅓ scoreless innings as the Angels won for the fifth time in seven games.
Jo Adell hit his 12th home run, and his third in the past three games, by comfortably clearing the wall in the fourth inning. He finished with three RBIs.
“I just love the fact that nobody is trying to be the hero, guys are just going out and doing just what their game is,” Adell said. “… We’re reaping the benefits of it on the scoreboard so it’s really exciting. Keep this thing going.”
But Clarke’s catch still managed to resonate long after his out was secured, even as the A’s struggled on offense and weren’t much better on defense outside of one of the highlights of the season so far.
With one out in the bottom of the first, Schanuel’s drive to center carried toward the rock pile beyond the wall. Clarke hardly broke stride as he stuck his right foot into the padded wall, used his right hand to lift himself even higher and reached his glove hand into the air.
“I felt like I got it so I kind of did one of those courtesy jogs,” Schanuel said. “I see him climb up the wall and I’m like, ‘Maybe he’s just doing it (out of habit) like a lot of guys (do).’”
Except that Clark caught the ball with his waist at the top of the padding then twisted his body around in one full motion before landing on the warning track with two feet, while flexing his chest muscles.
The Angels did the preening from there.
With the victory in hand, it did give the Angels a chance to appreciate a high-level play from their opponent.
“I just sat here for like 10 minutes watching it over and over again,” Schanuel said afterward. “A bunch of my friends sent it to me. It hurts. It stings. But I mean it’s kind of like I get a little part of history with it because we’ll see that catch for years and years. It’s pretty cool, especially since we won.”
Said Adell, who missed his own chance at a home-run robbery in the eighth: “Yeah, that’s the best catch I’ve ever seen live. He was about sitting on top of the fence, and I’ve never seen that. Hat tip to him. He goes and gets it.”
Their third-inning outburst started with Scott Kingery’s bunt single that turned into two bases when A’s pitcher Jeffrey Springs misfired on his throw to first base. Kevin Newman followed by reaching base on another error, this one with the glove by third baseman Max Muncy.
Zach Neto made it 1-0 on an RBI single that left fielder Brent Rooker bobbled and Schanuel was able to breathe a little easier when his single to center made it 2-0. Clarke even bobbled that ball. Mike Trout made it 3-0 with a single through the left side.
Adell made it 4-0 in the fourth inning with a towering shot into the A’s bullpen in left field.
In the eighth inning, Adell’s chance to match Clarke came as he reached over the wall to catch a drive by JJ Bleday, but the ball was jostled out of his glove as he made impact with the padding. Bleday’s pinch-hit home run against right-hander Connor Brogdon cut the visitors’ deficit to 4-2.
After Brogdon followed with a walk to Seth Brown, Angels manager Ron Washington went to right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn, who ended the threat on a pair of ground balls.
Adell made up for his defensive play that wasn’t meant to be with a two-run single in the eighth for a five-run lead. Angels right-hander Shaun Anderson gave up a two-run home run to Muncy in the ninth before Kenley Jansen recorded the final out to end the game.
Kikuchi (2-5) retired the first 13 batters he faced before Muncy singled in the fifth inning. He finished his outing by retiring nine of the next 10 A’s batters. He had five strikeouts to go along with his one walk, while throwing 104 pitches.
“I think I was attacking the zone really well today and as you can see, I only gave up one walk,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter, while giving credit to catcher Travis d’Arnaud for an increase in curveballs. “Going in there with the mentally of pounding the zone really helped today.”
And while it might have been his best start in an Angels uniform, Kikuchi still was fine with giving Clarke the nod for play of the game.
“I’ve seen a lot of homer robberies out there, but yeah I think that’s the craziest one I have ever seen,” said Kikuchi, who is in his seventh major league season after eight at Japan’s highest level.