Sierra, Ward come up clutch in Halos' 'team win'

ANAHEIM -- Considering Magneuris Sierra had zero career homers in 249 career games in the Majors entering Saturday, interim manager Phil Nevin naturally thought about pinch-hitting for him with two outs in the ninth and the Angels trailing by two with two runners on base.

But after Sierra came through with two go-ahead hits in extra innings in a win over the A’s on Wednesday, Nevin decided to stick with him against Twins closer Jorge López. The decision paid off, as Sierra delivered a game-tying two-run triple, though he was thrown out at the plate while going for a game-winning inside-the-park homer. His aggressiveness, however, didn't come back to haunt the Halos as Taylor Ward lifted a two-run blast to right field off Emilio Pagán to lead the Angels to a 5-3 walk-off win at Angel Stadium.

“It was a great moment,” Nevin said. “We thought Ward hit one last night, but this one he got a little more airborne. It was a matchup we liked. But Sierra's hit in the ninth, I just remembered Wednesday and the two big hits he got. This was a moment he's had before and bringing someone cold off the bench didn't make sense to me. And then he delivered again, which was amazing."

Sierra's game-tying triple was the seventh game-tying triple in the ninth inning or later in Angels history and the first since Gil Flores against the Red Sox on May 16, 1977. Sierra's triple came off a 1-2 sinker from López that was on the outside part of the plate that he was able to drive to left field past a diving Nick Gordon. Third-base coach Mike Gallego waved home Sierra for the potential walk-off inside-the-park homer, but Carlos Correa made a great throw home to get Sierra.

"I've always dreamed of a walk-off homer,” Sierra said through an interpreter. “When I was rounding second, I thought, 'I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it,' and that my dream would come true. But then I couldn't."

In extras, relievers José Quijada and Ryan Tepera both came up huge with a scoreless inning apiece despite dealing with the automatic runner at second base. It helped the Angels overcome a blunder in the 10th, when Luis Rengifo lined out to center fielder Byron Buxton, who made a sensational diving catch and then threw out Shohei Ohtani at first base for an inning-ending double play. Nevin said it was his call for Ohtani to attempt a steal on the play and that it was ultimately the wrong decision.

"Just to get that moment in the 11th, we had a lot of big factors,” Nevin said. “But I’ll be honest, I messed up in the 10th. Where Correa was positioned, I thought they could turn a double play and if Ohtani stole second, they’d walk Rengifo to get to Ward. But I’m glad they picked me up. Quijada's performance, Tep's performance and [Jesse] Chavez. That goes unnoticed with Chavez throwing a scoreless inning against the heart of their lineup."

Ward ended it in a hurry with his leadoff homer in the 11th on a 3-2 fastball from Pagán. It was the 16th homer of the year for Ward and an indicator that he's on the mend after dealing with a shoulder injury for most of the season.

"Unbelievable,” Ward said. “It felt really good. I was super happy. It was definitely a good sign going forward. It gives me the confidence to continue to grind through the rest of this year and hopefully continue to put good swings on pitches like that."

The win helped lefty Reid Detmers avoid a loss despite a mostly solid outing, as he allowed two runs over five innings and struck out nine. Detmers said his slider wasn’t as sharp as his recent outings, but he was happy to see Sierra and Ward come up with key hits to lead the team to victory.

"It was huge,” Detmers said. “Sierra came up clutch. The last couple games, he's been the man. He's come in late in games and done his job and led us to victories. And Wardo, he's been doing that all year, so nothing surprising. It was a great team win."