Down to their final three outs and silenced by eight dominant frames, the Los Angeles Angels pulled a rabbit out of their hat.
The Los Angeles Angels came into Monday's series against the Athletics with a six-game losing streak and back-to-back sweeps against the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers.
For the first eight innings against the Athletics, the Angels looked ice-cold at the plate.
Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn threw eight no-hit innings, and he allowed just one walk in the fifth inning.
Ginn looked well on his way to a no-hitter, especially after the Athletics scored a run on Lawrence Butler's RBI single in the top of the ninth.
However, just a couple of pitches changed things for both sides.
Adam Frazier began with a single to center to ruin the no-hitter. Right after that, Zach Neto hit a walk-off, two-run home run
According to Sarah Lang, Neto is just the third player since 1961 to hit a walk-off home run after their team had been no-hit through eight innings.
The Angels also have not been no-hit since 1999, which is the longest streak in the MLB, although they were very close to seeing that end on Monday night.
Walbert Urena looked dominant for the Angels, going six scoreless innings with four hits and a pair of walks to drop his ERA to 2.70.
Sam Bachman threw two scoreless innings, but Ryan Zeferjahn allowed two hits and a run on two walks while retiring just one batter before Chase Silseth came in and cooled things down and ended up getting the victory.
In the eighth inning, a video captured fans chanting "Sell the team" as they looked on their way to being no-hit in what would've been a seventh straight loss.
Instead, J.T. Ginn's no-hit bid was ruined with a crushing walk-off loss for the Athletics, and the Angels somehow get back in the win column after an ugly weekend.
Still, the Angels looked like a very bad team for eight innings, and a span of two pitches completely changed things, showing once again how unpredictable the game of baseball can be.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay stood by his decision to leave Ginn in the game for the ninth, and that's hard to argue with somebody throwing a no-hitter.
Will this win give the Angels momentum? Or were the first eight innings a more realistic outcome for this group?
Jacob Lopez (3-2, 5.80 ERA) pitches for the Athletics on Tuesday as Reid Detmer (1-4, 4.38 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels.
