ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Yoenis Cespedes has made plenty of good plays in the outfield. Plenty of which have come against the Angels.
Tuesday was no different. He threw what Angels skipper Mike Scioscia described as a "guided missile" from deep in the left field corner to nail Howie Kendrick trying to score in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game.
So in the bottom of the 14th inning with the score the same, there was no reason to believe something extraordinary wasn't in the cards for Cespedes again.
Inches separated extraordinary from an Angels win when Collin Cowgill blasted a walk-off home run over the left field wall and just out of the reach of a leaping Cespedes, lifting the Angels to a 2-1 win. The Angels' fifth straight win pulled them within 2 ½ games of the first-place A's.
"No, (I didn't think I got all of it). I knew I got a piece of it," Cowgill said. "I was just hoping it was going to get over his head and get to second."
#HaloRecap: @Ccowgill12 worked his magic in the 14th inning & cast a #walkoff HR to beat the A's! #MoreCowgill pic.twitter.com/We5kMIVFDs
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 11, 2014
The win gave the Angels their first series win over the A's since last September. The series clincher was thanks to an unlikely cast of characters.
The home run for Cowgill was his fifth of the season -- a new career high and the first walk-off homer of his career.
I mean do it @Ccowgill12 #walkoff #opentheroof what a game
— Tyler Skaggs (@TylerSkaggs37) June 11, 2014
The Angels bullpen came in to throw eight innings of one-run ball.
The night started with Hector Santiago, just called up from Triple-A where he needed to work on some things, having his best outing of the season.
Santiago walked just one batter in six innings. He struck out a season-best eight batters and allowed no earned runs.
How @HankConger16 could help @HecSantiago53 return to form: http://t.co/limZRUjl9b via @RHaylock
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) June 11, 2014
"He looked like a different pitcher than we saw here a couple of weeks ago," Scioscia said. "He had more poise tonight, better confidence and his stuff was live. That's the best stuff we've seen this year."
