'02 Halos clinch the AL West taking 3 of 4 from the '73 A's

9/26 - Edison International Field
Game 1 - Angels 5, A's 4

Oakland staked Vida Blue to a 4-0 lead after 3.5 innings thanks to HRs by Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando off Anaheim starter Ramon Ortiz. But the Angels came back to tie the game by the bottom of the 5th thanks to a series of singles, a wild pitch, an intentional walk and a fielding error.  But the key blow came in the bottom of the 6th when underachieving Benji Gill redeemed his season with a 1-out solo HR to give the Angels their first lead of the game.  Four Halos relievers shut the door over the last 3 innings, with Troy Percival earning his league leading 11th save.

     
9/27 - Edison International Field
Game 2 - A's 3, Angels 1

Desperately needing a win, Oakland handed the ball to their Cy Young candidate Ken Holtzman.  Holtzman (8-2) responded with 7 shutout innings, limiting the Angels to 7 singles and 2 walks.  Gene Tenace's RBI double and Joe Rudi's 2-run HR in the 2nd inning gave the A's a 3-0 lead, and all the cushion Holtzman would need.  Rollie Fingers pitched the final 2 frames to earn his 7th save. Jerrod Washburn (3-4) took the loss.

9/28 - Oakland Coliseum
Game 3 - Angels 10, A's 3

The series moved to Oakland with the A's needing to take the last 2 games to force a tie.  Catfish Hunter took the ball for the home team, while the visitors responded with Kevin Appier, their most consistent starter this year. Angles jumped out on top 2-0 in the top of the 1st behind RBI singles by Garrett Anderson and Scott Spiezio.  But the Athletics responded with 1 in the bottom of the frame on a Joe RBI sac fly, and 2 runs the next inning on a Ray Fosse double. The game stayed 3-2 A's until the top of the 5th, when the Angels struck with 2 walks 3 hits and a sac fly to score 4 times and take a 6-3 lead.  The key blow was a Garrett Anderson bases loaded double. The score remained as-is until the Halos broke it open in the top of the 8th, scoring 4 times off reliever Paul Lindblad.  Darin Erstad's 2-run single and yet another Garret Anderson RBI double did most of the damage.  Appier (4-2) got the win, while Hunter (4-6) took the loss, as Anaheim clinched the division win.  

9/29 - Oakland Coliseum
Game 4 - Angels 5, A's 3

Most of the regulars sat for the last game of the series, for it was known beforehand to have no meaningful effect on the final standings. The most remarkable aspect of the game is that Oakland managed not to use a single regular the entire game. Poor Oakland defense led to 4 unearned runs off tough-luck starting pitcher Blue Moon Odom.  Rico Carty‘s 2-run shot off Aaron Sele closed the gap to 4-2.  But that was as close as it got. With the potency of both lineups reduced, both starters pitched well for the first 7 innings.  In the end, Sele (2-3) ended up with the longer end of the stick than Odom (1-3).  Scott Schoenweis pitched the last 2 innings for his 2nd save.

--submitted by Douglas Zaner--