ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mickey Moniak hit his first career grand slam, and Taylor Ward also homered in the Los Angeles Angels' 7-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Jo Adell had an RBI double and Logan O’Hoppe added an RBI single for the Halos, who have won three of four after taking two straight from Oakland.
Click to Gallery
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mickey Moniak hit his first career grand slam, and Taylor Ward also homered in the Los Angeles Angels' 7-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Oakland Athletics third baseman Armando Alvarez throws out Los Angeles Angels' Luis Rengifo at first during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker is congratulated for a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Taylor Ward, left, is handed an electronic halo after his solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Mickey Moniak, left, celebrates with manager Ron Washington after scoring against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Mickey Moniak gestures after advancing to second on a wild pitch by Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Mitch Spence during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Moniak capped the Angels' five-run rally in the third when he cleared the bases with his fourth homer of the season. The 375-foot drive just barely got over the yellow line atop the right field fence.
“When you put the team ahead, it’s always a great feeling,” Moniak said. “I’m just trying to simplify things. Baseball is a weird game. It ebbs and flows. The goal is to stay as consistent as possible. Just trying to get back to that.”
The former No. 1 overall pick has struggled this season with a batting average usually under .200 despite getting regular playing time during his first full season with the Angels, but Moniak has improved sharply in recent weeks with improved plate discipline and what he called a new mindset focused on processes, not results.
“He’s been putting in a lot of work, and he’s trying to find that consistency,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “That big blow he gave us tonight was huge. He needed it, and we really needed it.”
Brent Rooker hit his 14th homer and JJ Bleday had an RBI single for the last-place A’s, who have lost four straight and 17 of 22. Oakland lost its 10th straight road game and dropped to a season-worst 24 games below .500.
Armando Alvarez got his first major league hit and his first RBI for the A’s, ending the 29-year-old’s epic quest for those achievements.
Alvarez doubled in the third, and he drove in a run in the eighth with a single. The former 17th-round pick played exactly 700 games in the minors over eight seasons since 2016, but he got his first major league callup last weekend after batting .311 with Triple-A Las Vegas.
Tyler Anderson (7-7) yielded three runs on five hits and five walks over five uncharacteristically shaky innings for the Angels during which he was visibly and verbally upset with himself. The left-hander has been Los Angeles' best starter this season, but Anderson has issued 23 walks in his last six starts.
“Just was all over the place, falling behind,” Anderson said. “The adjustments to make it better just made it worse, and I was just chasing it down the rabbit hole.”
Ben Joyce escaped a jam in the eighth, and Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth for his 15th save — although the Angels closer lost his streak of 26 straight retired batters since May 21 on Tyler Soderstrom's two-out single.
Mitch Spence (4-4) yielded six runs on eight hits while pitching into the sixth inning of his fifth consecutive winless start for Oakland.
Moniak walked in the sixth and scored on a double by Adell, chasing Spence. Ward added his 14th homer in the seventh.
Alvarez's RBI single and Lawrence Butler's sacrifice fly on a sliding catch by Moniak trimmed the Angels' lead to 7-5.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling threw a bullpen session in Anaheim, and he's expected to throw another on Saturday. He has been out since May 25 with a right elbow strain.
Angels: INF Miguel Sanó returned to the roster after a 50-game absence with left knee inflammation and grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. ... RHP Chase Silseth also returned from a 76-game absence with right elbow inflammation. He was assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
UP NEXT
Joey Estes (2-2, 5.53 ERA) takes the mound for Oakland in the series finale Wednesday against Roansy Contreras (1-0, 3.90 ERA), who will make his first start since joining the Angels last month in a trade with Pittsburgh.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Mitch Spence sits in the dugout after being replaced T.J. McFarland during the sixth inning of the team's baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Oakland Athletics third baseman Armando Alvarez throws out Los Angeles Angels' Luis Rengifo at first during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker is congratulated for a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Taylor Ward, left, is handed an electronic halo after his solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Mickey Moniak, left, celebrates with manager Ron Washington after scoring against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Los Angeles Angels' Mickey Moniak gestures after advancing to second on a wild pitch by Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Mitch Spence during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.
A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”
Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.
Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris' father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden's, and a fly that was buzzing near him.
“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. "Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”
Trump repeatedly brought up Harris' Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden's executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump's handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
“I had to sit there and listen" to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”
The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”
Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.
Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trial.”
“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”
She Trump was “a very unserious man." “However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious.”
At Trump's event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.
Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate's arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment.
Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.
Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Teynor stressed to the crowd that Coronel Zarate is the only Venezuelan gang member his agency has encountered, but the violence his two alleged victims suffered at his hands earlier this month was very real.
Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Van Orden told the crowd Trump was the only one who could restore order.
“You’re going to see the one man who has enough strength and courage of conviction to stand up to anyone up to and including being shot in the head for us," he said.
Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Will Weissert reported from San Francisco.
Supporters cheer as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Merchandise vendor Sam Smith, of Sarasota, Fla., stands with his dog Milo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters pose for a photo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a town hall event at Macomb Community College Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
