Angels edge A's on Calhoun's walk-off in 11th

ANAHEIM -- After the Angels and A's traded leadoff homers in the 10th inning, Kole Calhoun delivered a walk-off single in the 11th to lift the Halos to a 2-1 win on Tuesday night's series opener at Angel Stadium.
Danny Espinosa sparked the final rally with a single off A's reliever Ryan Madson, advanced to second on Martín Maldonado's sacrifice bunt and scored the winning run on Calhoun's first-career walk-off hit, a line drive to center field.
"I wasn't comfortable with the pitch," Madson said. "I should've taken a step out and rethought it. So I didn't throw it with conviction. It looked like it was off the plate, but it was up, something to handle."

It was an emotional lift for Calhoun, who has gotten off to a slow start this season and went hitless in his first four at-bats of the evening.
"It's a frustrating game," Calhoun said. "Early in the game, it wasn't going how I planned. I couldn't get anything to fall, and then I got a pitch to put a swing on and helped the team win. … The walk-off hit is pretty sweet."
The game was still scoreless when Josh Phegley's pinch-hit homer gave the A's a 1-0 lead in the 10th. Mike Trout then tied it in the bottom half of the inning with a drive to right field.
"We keep playing ball like every team does," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who earned his 1,500th career victory. "Sometimes it's going to work out; sometimes it's not. But when you have a guy like Mike in the lineup and anytime he comes around he can do what he did tonight -- not many people can go [opposite field], especially when the air is heavy like that. He really hit that ball."
Setting up the extra-inning drama was a classic duel between Angels right-hander JC Ramirez and A's righty Jesse Hahn.
• Ramirez stymies A's in best start of career

Ramirez, who is filling in for the injured Garrett Richards in the Halos' rotation, delivered a dominant performance in his third career Major League start, holding the A's to two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over seven innings.
Hahn countered with a gem of his own, tossing eight scoreless innings while yielding just one hit and two walks and striking out six. Neither starting pitcher allowed a runner past first base.
• Hahn's one-hit gem draws praise

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Phegley's pinch-hit blast: Phegley had the A's poised for victory in the 10th when blasted José Álvarez's first-pitch fastball to right-center field for his first homer of the season. It was also Phegley's first career pinch-hit home run.
"I knew he had a decent fastball, which is probably his most hittable pitch, and he's got a good breaking ball with a good changeup, so I was just looking something middle of zone, and he started me with a fastball, so I put a good swing on it," Phegley said.

Trout ties it: The A's lead didn't last long, as Trout opened the bottom of the 10th with an opposite-field shot off Santiago Casilla, tying the game again. Albert Pujols followed with a single and was replaced at first by pinch-runner Ben Revere, who stole second to put himself in scoring position with no outs. But Casilla retired the next three batters to leave Revere stranded.
"I don't know anybody who hits a home run right down the right-field line like that on a ball that looks like it's by him, slicing," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "There aren't too many guys that are going to do that. Maybe him and Khris Davis. It's not like it's a bad pitch. Sometimes you have to give credit to the hitter."

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Phegley's blast was the first extra-inning pinch-hit home run by Oakland since Chris Carter's three-run shot against Seattle in the 11th inning of a 4-1 win on July 6, 2012.
WHAT'S NEXT
Athletics: The A's will send lefty Sean Manaea to the mound for Wednesday's 7:05 p.m. PT contest at Angel Stadium. Manaea (1-1, 4.43 ERA) had a no-decision in his first start against the Angels this season, allowing four runs in six innings at the Coliseum on April 4.
Angels: Right-hander Matt Shoemaker will make his fifth start of the season on Wednesday as the Angels continue this three-game series. Shoemaker (0-1, 4.98 ERA) was charged with the loss in his last outing despite allowing just two runs over seven innings against the Astros on Thursday.
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