Skip to content

Athletics explode for 21 runs in historic blowout win over Angels

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The final score at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was 21-3 on Thursday. And no, the Raiders weren't playing.

The surging Oakland Athletics romped over the visiting Los Angeles Angels, earning a historic victory that moved them closer to the playoffs.

Oakland feasted on the Angels' pitching by scoring five runs in the third inning, seven in the fourth, and another six in the sixth while pounding out 22 hits. It marked the third time since the A's moved to Oakland in 1968 that the team had three innings of five or more runs in a game, according to Athletics baseball information manager Mike Selleck.

Stephen Piscotty, Chad Pinder, and Nick Martini all homered - for Martini, it was his first career round-tripper - while Marcus Semien recorded five RBIs. Ten different Athletics players recorded at least one hit, one run, and one RBI to tie an American League record, according to Stats By Stats.

The Athletics' 21 runs tied the team's second-highest scoring output since moving to Oakland in 1968; they previously scored 21 on June 14, 1969 against Boston, and on June 18, 2000 versus Kansas City. Oakland notched 23 runs against Texas on Sept. 30, 2000.

Their franchise record for runs scored in a game is 24, accomplished by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912 (a game they played against sandlot players filling in for the striking Detroit Tigers), and again in 1929.

On the Angels' side, their 21 runs allowed tied a franchise record first set on Sept. 30, 2000 when they lost to Seattle by a score of 21-9. Manager Mike Scioscia, who was a rookie skipper in 2000, has now been at the helm for both of the Angels' record defeats.

The victory was Oakland's 92nd of the season and it lowered the team's magic number for a playoff berth to just five. Oakland also moved within two games of the Yankees for the first AL wild-card spot, pending the result of New York's game against Boston Thursday night.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox