And there were no disappointments.
Mike DiGiovanna reports, at the Los Angeles Times, "Angels get A's for effort in 4-0 victory":
Ball squirted out of Coco Crisp's glove and over the wall. It's a 2-run HR for Iannetta for 2-0 #Angels lead, but what an effort by Crisp.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) August 30, 2014That was #Angels C Chris Iannetta's first HR since May 25 vs. #Royals.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) August 30, 2014Oakland center fielder Coco Crisp risked serious injury when he crashed into the wall in a gallant effort to rob Angels catcher Chris Iannetta of a two-run home run in the fifth inning Friday night.More.
Angels left fielder Josh Hamilton hurled his body into foul territory to make a superb diving catch of Alberto Callaspo's fifth-inning popup with two on, to which center fielder Mike Trout responded: "That's what I'm talking about, baby!"
Trout raced into the left-center-field gap and caught Stephen Vogt's drive before slamming into the wall to save a run in the fourth. And Angels ace Jered Weaver pumped his fist violently and screamed an obscenity into the air after getting Josh Reddick to fly to left with the bases loaded to end the sixth.
What the Angels-Athletics rivalry might lack in name-brand recognition or a decades-old history of bitterness, it is making up for in on-field intensity.
Emotions ran high again Friday night, as Weaver gave up three hits in seven shutout innings to lead the Angels to a 4-0 victory before an energized crowd of 41,177 in Angel Stadium...
In an all-around phenomenal game, the Coco Crisp effort to snag Iannetta's home run was particularly dramatic.
I picked up tickets yesterday afternoon, so our seats were way up on the top level, almost all the way down the third base line. From my angle, the center-field fence was parallel with my view. I was talking to my son and not paying close attention when Iannetta came up to bat, but I saw him get some good wood on the ball and was wondering if it was going to go out of the yard. And then here come the outfielders to try to make a play. It took me a second to remember that Crisp was playing center, but as soon as he went up I knew, and he slammed into the wall hard. It looked like he robbed Iannetta of the homer, but we were too far away to see the ball pop out of the glove. And then Crisp jumped up and clutched his abdomen, finally doubling over in pain. I saw an usher or groundsman behind the center-field wall go over and pick up a ball, so I thought then that Crisp wasn't able to hold on. But the scoreboard hadn't recording the home run, and I didn't see the umpire signal the score. Pretty intense baseball, that's for sure. And so different watching it at the park than on television.
In any case, here's the Athletics home page with the video, "Crisp exits after crash into wall on stellar effort."
