ARCHIVES

Athletics and Angels Battle for AL Crown

Two division rivals, the Oakland Athletics and Anaheim Angels would face off for the American League Championship. The A's topped the New York Yankees in the divisional series. The Angels beat out the Twins to advance. 

SERIES BOX SCORES

GAME ONE In game one, the Athletics would once again use one big inning to propel them to victory. This time the big inning came in the second. With a run already across and the bases loaded, Eric Byrnes blasted and grand slam home run to give Oakland a 5-0 lead. That was all starting pitcher Mark Mulder needed. Mulder would go the distance for the A's, giving up just one run on 6 hits. Oakland-5 Anaheim-1 (Oakland leads series 1-0)

Eric Byrnes grand slam gave the A's the win in Game 1.

GAME TWO

Game two of the ALCS would be a battle of pitchers. Barry Zito and Jarrod Washburn would go head to head for seven amazing innings. Each pitcher had to battle to get out of the tough jams. Barry Zito had runners on second and third with no outs in the 5th, but forced three straight grounders to keep the game scoreless. Jason Giambi connected with a one-out triple in the 6th, but Oakland was unable to bring him in. The game would go to the 10th inning when the Angels would finally push a run across. Adam Kennedy would reach base on a fielder choice and steal second. With two outs Tim Salmon and Nate Murphy would hit back to back singles to score Kennedy and give Anaheim the win.

Anaheim-1 (10th)
Oakland-0

(Series tied at 1-1)

GAME THREE The Athletic's recipe for success appeared to be combining one big inning with great pitching to get wins. The one big inning never happened in Game Two of the ALCS, but it was back in Game Three. This time it came in the top half of the 2nd inning. Eric Chavez would double with Adam Piatt already on to set the A's up with runners on second and third with no outs. Miguel Tejada would single both runners in to put Oakland up. Brook Fordyce would draw a walk to push Tejada to second. Johnny Damon would rope a double to the right field gap to score Tejada, but Fordyce would be nailed at the plate trying to score. The three runs scored in the inning would be all Oakland needed. Once again Tim Hudson was looking like his old self as he pitched his second straight complete game shut out to give Oakland the series lead. Oakland-3 Anaheim-0 (Oakland leads series 2-1)

Johnny Damon's RBI double capped a 3 run 2nd inning.

GAME FOUR With a 2-1 lead in the series, the Athletics had a golden opportunity to take control of the series before going home to Oakland if they could take game four. The A's would strike early as Eric Byrnes doubled in the top of the first and was brought home by a Jermaine Dye RBI single. When Oakland took the lead in games during these playoffs they tended to stick. This time it was up Mark Mulder to hold down the lead. Mulder would go scatter 6 hits over 6 2/3 innings of work, but timely defense would keep the Angels from getting a runner to second base. The bullpen would continue that run as the A's took command of the series with the 1-0 win. Oakland-1 Anaheim-0 (Oakland leads series 3-1)

Mulder's Game Four shut out gave the A's a 3-1 series lead.

GAME FIVE

Oakland looked to close out the series and recapture the American League Championship in Game Five. The A's would have Barry Zito on the hill. The Angels would have their work cut out for them because Zito had yet to give up a run in the playoffs thus far. Anaheim would counter with tough lefty Ramon Ortiz. The A's would get on the board first in the top half of the 3rd. Eric Byrnes and Jason Giambi would draw back to back walks to lead off the inning. With one out Adrian Brown would single to score Byrnes. The Angels would load the bases in the 4th, but Zito would strike out Adam Kennedy and get Tim Salmon to fly out to end the threat. Jermaine Dye would hit a 2-run shot in the 7th to increase the Athletic's lead to 3-0. Oakland would add two more insurance runs, but they were not needed as Zito shut down the Angels again for the win and a trip to the World Series.

Oakland-5
Anaheim-0

(Oakland wins series 4-1)

Eric Byrnes scored key runs in Games One, Four, and Five. His performance would earn him series MVP honors. Meanwhile, in the National League, the Mets were able to build up a 2 games to 0 lead on the Rockies, only to see it quickly crumble. The Rockies would take the next four to capture their first ever National League Championship and would move on to face the Athletics in the World Series.