Stephen Vogt homers in last career at-bat; A’s sweep Angels to end season

OAKLAND — Stephen Vogt homered in his final game before retirement and scored the first run on a sacrifice fly after Shohei Ohtani pitched no-hit ball into the fifth, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Wednesday.

Ohtani (15-9) finished with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings, and he hit .273 with 34 homers and 95 RBIs. He became the first player to qualify as a batter and a pitcher since rules for qualification were adopted in 1950.

Mike Trout hit his 40th home run with two outs in the eighth, a 452-foot drive above the first level of center-field luxury boxes. Trout reached 40 homers for the third time and first since hitting a career-best 45 in his 2019 AL MVP season.

Vogt galloped around the bases in glee when his seventh home run of the season and No. 82 of his career sailed into the right-field seats. His first career hit was a home run and came in his 33rd at-bat and he cleared the fences again in his final plate appearance at age 37.

Stephen Vogt #21 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates while trotting around the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the bottom of the seventh inning of the game at RingCentral Coliseum on October 05, 2022 in Oakland. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Ohtani struck out six and didn’t allow a baserunner until Vogt’s six-pitch walk with one out in the fifth. Chad Pinder followed with a double and was lifted for a pinch-runner so Pinder could walk off to warm ovation in his likely final game with A’s before testing free agency. Conner Capel hit a sacrifice fly.

Left fielder Jo Adell made a running catch on the warning track on a fly ball by Tony Kemp to start the fourth, the closest the A’s got to a hit before Pinder doubled.

Vogt wrapped up his playing career with a pregame retirement ceremony as the A’s celebrated him all afternoon with highlights and video board messages from former teammates and managers like former Oakland skipper Bob Melvin.

“I Believe in Stephen Vogt!” chants greeted Vogt for his first plate appearance in the second from the crowd of 11,232. The two-time All-Star is beloved by the Bay Area fans as he also played in 2019 for the Giants.

Rookie Logan O’Hoppe hit an RBI single in the eighth to get the Angels on the board after replacing starter Max Stassi.

Los Angeles finished the year with a third straight loss following a season-best seven-game winning streak.

The A’s won their fourth straight — the previous two in 10 innings and walkoff fashion — to match a season high also done from July 25-29.

The Angels (73-89) won the season series between the non-playoff AL West teams 12-7 but lost all three here by one run.

Another retiring catcher, former A’s fan favorite Kurt Suzuki, came out to make a late pitching change in a thoughtful gesture by Phil Nevin, who received a one-year contract earlier in the day to become Angels manager for 2023 after serving as interim since Joe Maddon’s June firing.

A’s starter Ken Waldichuk (2-2) struck out four and allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings in his seventh career start. Kirby Snead finished for his first career save.

OHTANI SHINES

The 28-year-old Ohtani’s first inning on the mound qualified him for the league leaders as a pitcher and hitter — the first player in the World Series era to do so.

He finished 1 for 4 with a strikeout at the plate. He hit 34 homers and drove in 95 runs. On the mound, he posted a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts over 28 starts and 166 innings.

VOGT’S FAREWELL

The journeyman Vogt started behind the plate in his final game, finishing his 10-year major league career with an on-field ceremony and waved to the crowd in every direction.

His three children announced him on the microphone as the upcoming batter and two of them also threw out the first pitch to their pop.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: 3B Anthony Rendon sat the season finale as a planned day off after playing the previous two games following his 90-game absence with a right wrist injury.

A’S AT HOME

Oakland (60-102) wound up 29-51 at home in manager Mark Kotsay’s first year.