The Angels knew they had a tough task ahead of them when A’s ace Rich Harden took the mound on Sunday. Harden was dominant in the first, striking out the side on 9 pitches; The first time this has happened since July of last year, when Buddy Carlyle did it against the Padres. After Oakland put up a run in the first against Ervin Santana, Harden and Santana matched each other pitch for pitch until the fourth inning, when Vladimir Guerrero faced Harden.

Vladdy belted a 2 run homer to left field, putting the Angels in front. The Angels would plate another run on an RBI single by Gary Matthews Jr. The A’s would come back with a run the bottom half of that inning, making it 3-2 Angels. After Ervin Santana left with a lead in the 7th, Darren Oliver would allow the tying run to score. The Angels and A’s bullpen then dueled until the bottom half of the 12th, when the A’s loaded the bases with 2 outs against Chris Bootcheck.

Mark Ellis had 1 career walk-off home run before, and that was earlier in the season. This time, Ellis clubbed a grand slam off the left field foul pole to keep the Angels from winning their 8th straight game, and send A’s fans home happy. This was a huge boost for the A’s, who came into Sunday’s game 5.5 games back.

Final Score: 7-3 Athletics

Ervin Santana: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K

Rich Harden: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K

Justin Speier: 3 hitless innings