Pennington's slam gives Halos sweep of A's

ANAHEIM -- Cliff Pennington's first grand slam highlighted a five-run seventh inning for the Angels, who erased a five-run deficit and scored seven unanswered runs to rally for a 10-8 win over the A's on Wednesday night, securing a three-game sweep at Angel Stadium.
The Angels trailed 8-3 after the A's erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning, but they scored twice in the fifth behind Albert Pujols' second home run of the night and then added five more run in the seventh on Kole Calhoun's RBI single off Danny Coulombe and Pennington's slam off Chris Hatcher.
Grand slams mean 40% off pizza
"I had him set up. I had the right plan, I just lacked the execution," Hatcher said of the 2-2 fastball, which followed four breaking balls. "I left it in the middle, and he put a good swing on it."

Mike Trout, who returned to action on Wednesday after missing two games with neck stiffness, and Pujols combined to score seven runs for the Angels, who stayed one game back of the Twins for the second American League Wild Card spot with their 39th comeback victory of the season.
"It's huge," Pennington said. "Every game right now is huge. We're not full-blown scoreboard watching yet, but you take care of business, you've got a chance right now. When you get a chance to put your team ahead late, it's fun."
• Pujols ties Thome for on all-time HR list
Trout went 4-for-4, with a solo homer, a triple and two singles, falling a double short of the cycle, while Pujols launched a pair of two-run shots to bring his career home run total to 612, tying Jim Thome for seventh on the all-time list.

• AL Wild Card standings
Matt Olson and Bruce Maxwell both homered for the A's, who fell 17 games below .500, matching their season low.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
No. 612 for Pujols: After falling into a five-run hole, the Angels clawed back into the game by scoring twice in the fifth on Pujols' second homer off A's right-hander Kendall Graveman. Trout ripped a one-out triple to left field before Pujols pummeled a first-pitch sinker from Graveman to center field, cutting the A's lead to 8-5. Pujols' four RBIs on Wednesday gave him 1,900 for his career, making him one of 10 players to ever reach the mark.
"Every night it feels like he passes somebody," Trout said. "It's pretty incredible. You look up there and see 1,900 RBIs, it's special to be a part of. I love it every time I look up there. It seems like every night he breaks a record." More >>

Penny slam: In the seventh, after Pujols reached on a hit by pitch, the A's brought in Coulombe to face Calhoun, who delivered an RBI single to bring the Halos within two. Hatcher then came in and struck out C.J. Cron for the second out of the inning, but he subsequently walked Luis Valbuena to load the bases. That brought up Pennington, who crushed a 2-2 fastball over the right-field wall to put the Angels ahead, 10-8. A's manager Bob Melvin asked for a crew chief review of the homer, but the call stood.
"I just knew I hit it good enough to probably get off the wall," Pennington said. "That's what I was probably hoping for. Obviously I was more pumped when it went over."
"A lot of things leading up to that," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "You can't keep putting guys on base. Now, we did all right with the bottom of the order toward the end of the game. It was the two guys at the top of the order that did all the damage against Kendall, and a game like that, when we have an 8-3 lead, we gotta find a way to close it out. We just couldn't do it."
QUOTABLE
"This week has been tough. A lot of stuff going on back home. Fortunately, my family has been in good shape in Corpus [Christi] and in Houston. My cousin got rescued on a jet ski two days ago, and he's staying at our house right now. When the game comes, it's time to get away and kind of do what I love to do, but then when the game's over, it's kind of back to reality and trying to figure out how we can help." -- Pennington, a Texas native and resident of Houston, on playing baseball after Hurricane Harvey
WHAT'S NEXT
A's: The A's will enjoy an off-day in Seattle on Thursday before beginning a three-game set at Safeco Field on Friday. Left-hander Sean Manaea, who is 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA in six career starts against the Mariners, will be on the mound for the 7:10 p.m. PT opener.
Angels: After an off-day on Thursday, the Angels open a three-game series against the Rangers on Friday at 5:05 p.m. PT at Globe Life Park. Left-hander Tyler Skaggs, who is 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA in five starts since returning from the disabled list, will start the opener for the Angels.
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