WEST SACRAMENTO — Mike Trout found a way to make history again on Wednesday night with a home run in the top of the fourth inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Angels fell to the Athletics, 7-3, for their 98th loss of the season.
With his blast at Sutter Health Park, Trout has now hit a home run in 31 different MLB stadiums. With his 22nd homer of the season, he also has the most career home runs (44) against the A’s since the franchise moved to California in 1968, breaking his tie with Alex Rodríguez and Rafael Palmeiro.
Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Atlanta’s Truist Park and Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park are the only active MLB ballparks where the three-time American League MVP has never homered.
Vaughn Grissom hit back-to-back homers with Trout, and the Angels threatened in the top of the fourth, but a potential game-tying home run off the bat of Christian Moore died on the warning track in center field. They added another run in the top of the fifth when Tyler Heineman scored on an RBI single by Grissom to get them within 5-3.
The last time Walbert Ureña pitched in Sacramento, he went five scoreless innings and didn’t walk a batter. Donovan Walton was also his teammate at the time. Ureña wasn’t nearly as sharp this time, giving up four runs in the first inning with the big blow being a three-run homer from Walton that snuck just inside the right field fair pole.
Ureña was pulled after four innings, giving up five runs (all earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
Heading into Wednesday’s slate of games, the Angels’ pitching staff had a 2.91 ERA since the beginning of August, the second-best mark in the majors. One of the reasons for that late-season surge has been Ureña, who finished his 2026 campaign with a 2.97 ERA.
The last major-league starter who was 22 or younger to record nine or more wins and have a sub-3.00 ERA was Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 2024.
Ureña also finished his season with 142 strikeouts, which ranks No. 2 in franchise history among players in their first major-league season behind Bo Belinsky’s 145 in 1962.
Even with the less-than-stellar end to his season, there has been plenty to build on heading into 2027.
“He’s got a lot of [José] Soriano in him,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said Tuesday, comparing Ureña to a pitcher the Angels traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the deadline in August. “A hard, heavy sinker that’s explosive. He attacks the zone, and I think that’s what stands out.”
At least one teammate pointed to Ureña’s slow heartbeat.
“The poise is there,” catcher Tyler Heineman said before Wednesday’s game. “He doesn’t really get rattled by anything. I think he’s made for the moment, even though he hasn’t had too many moments right now.”
Heineman also said the right-hander reminds him of Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara, who is Ureña’s favorite pitcher. The key difference between the two is that Alcantara had a little more control coming up through the minor leagues, but the hard sinker and great secondary pitch are tough to ignore.
“Just fearlessness, man,” Angels relief pitcher Ryan Watson said. “He goes out there every five days and just pounds the strike zone.”
“Every time he takes the ball you feel really good,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said before the game. “He’s been really fun to watch.”
The next step for Ureña’s development will be learning how to harness his pitches on a consistent basis.
“His stuff moves so much,” Suzuki said. “Sometimes it’s hard to control. He’s learning how to harness it now, and when he gets a full understanding of how to harness [his pitches], the sky’s the limit.
The A’s scored again in the second inning on a Henry Bolte double that scored Alika Williams from second base, but Ureña worked his way out of trouble in the third, stranding a runner at third base.
With the A’s leading 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Shea Langeliers roped a two-run double down the right field line to pad the margin.
Zach Neto was checked by the Angels’ training staff in the bottom of the first after a ground ball ricocheted off his glove and into left-center field, scoring the A’s first run of the game. Neto remained in the game. The play was scored a single and an RBI, with that decision leading to four runs being charged to Ureña in the first.
With four games left in a forgettable season, the Angels (60-98) need to win three games in Seattle this week to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history.