Rare defensive mistake by Matt Chapman costs A’s in 13-9 loss to Angels
ANAHEIM - Racking up five homers and nine runs should have done the trick for the A’s on Friday.
But the Angels kept charging back, and finally, one of the Oakland’s most reliable assets did not come through: Defensive whiz Matt Chapman, on track for a superb game, made a game-changing error in the seventh inning and the A’s - who’d led the entire way until that point - wound up losing 13-9.
With two on and two outs, manager Bob Melvin made the unusual decision to bring in closer Blake Treinen to face Zack Cozart. Cozart hit a slow, high hopper to Chapman, who’d already turned in two terrific plays in the game.