4/15/84: Angels edge A's in thriller, 7-6

Doug DeCinces' sac fly to left in the top of the 9th gave the California Angels a thrilling 7-6 win over the Oakland A's at a rocking Coliseum on April 15th. 

The A's struck 1st in their half of the 1st on a leadoff 3-bagger by Rickey Henderson followed by a pair of 2-out walks by Carney Lansford and Bruce Bocthe. Davey Lopes doubled home both Henderson and Lansford for a 2-0 lead after 1. The Angels struck back for 4 runs in their half of the 2nd on a leadoff double by Reggie Jackson, who scored on a single by Brian Downing. Rob Wilfong doubled Downing to 3rd but after a pair of outs with the infield in, Gary Pettis walked to load the bases. Rod Carew then singled home both Downing and Wilfong to give the Halos a 3-2 lead, then Fred Lynn singled home Pettis to make it 4-2 after an inning-and-a-half.

The A's battled back in their half of the 2nd on a solo homer by SS Tony Phillips. They then tied the score in the 4th on a walk by Davey Lopes and single by Mike Heath with Lopes scoring on a 2-out single by Henderson, his 3rd hit of the game. The A's then scored 2 off Mike Witt in their half of the 5th on Bruce Bocthe's 2-out and double by Lopes, with Mike Heath driving in both runs on a single. 

But the A's lead did not last as in the top of the 6th, both Brian Downing and Bob Boone hit solo homers off Lary Sorenson that barely left the left field fence at the Coliseum. The score was still tied at 6 in the bottom of the 7th when Joe Morgan drew a leadoff walk and Carney Lansford singled, putting runners at 1st and 2nd. Bruce Bocthe then slow-rolled a grounder to Wilfong at 2nd, putting the runners at 2nd and 3rd. Davey Lopes was then walked intentionally, a strategy which paid off for the Halos as Mike Davis grounded to 2nd with the infield in and Mike Heath forced out to short.

The Halos loaded the bases on singles with 2 outs by Rob Wilfong, Bob Boone and pinch-hitter Daryl Sconiers in the 8th, but Gary Pettis flied to center to end that threat. With one out in the bottom of the 8th, Rickey Henderson tripled for the 2nd time, but Dwayne Murphy and Joe Morgan both walked to load the bases. Carney Lansford then lined to short and Bruce Bocthe struck out to end the threat.

Rod Carew led off the 9th with a single to right, then Fred Lynn singled Carew to 3rd. With Bill Caudill pitching for the A's, Doug DeCinces lofted a fly ball to left deep enough to score Carew, who just barely beat out the throw home. Luis Sanchez faced Davey Lopes to lead off the bottom of the 9th, Lopes leading off with a single. Mike Davis then popped to 2nd and Mike Heath struck out. Dave Kingman then PH for Tony Phillips and drew a 2-out walk bringing up Rickey Henderson again. He struck out swinging to end the thriller, Angels winning, 7-6. 

CAL 7-14-0 OAK 6-13-0 WP-Sanchez LP-Caudill HR-Phillips, Downing, Boone GWRBI-DeCinces CAL 5-7 OAK 6-5 

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