ANAHEIM, Calif. — Athletics starter JP Sears made quick work of the Angels’ bats through the first five innings of Wednesday’s matinee affair, but the tides shifted in the sixth inning. 

Sears held the Angels scoreless through five innings while only allowing two hits and striking out eight. But things unraveled in the sixth. 

Kevin Newman and Zach Neto started the inning with back-to-back singles, but Sears recovered and struck out Nolan Schanuel for his ninth strikeout of the afternoon. After the strikeout, the Athletics went to the bullpen to face Mike Trout with runners on first and second and one out. 

“We finally decided to take Sears the other way,” manager Ron Washington said. “That kid was masterful out there until we started putting some at-bats together.”

The Athletics turned to Grant Holman, who walked Trout to load the bases and then hit Taylor Ward with a pitch to bring in the Angels’ first run of the day. Jorge Soler then hit a chopper that barely made it through the A’s middle infield and tied the game at 3-3. Without recording an out, Holman’s day was done, and it was Osvaldo Bido’s turn to try and stop the bleeding. 

But the bleeding didn’t stop as Travis d’Arnaud hit a sacrifice fly and then Jo Adell smoked a ball into the tunnel in left field for his 13th home run of the season. When the dust settled after the sixth inning, the Angels tagged on six runs to take a 6-3 lead. 

“I was going to stay on the fastball through the whole at-bat and just be aggressive on the pitches out over the plate and I was able to get some good swings off,” Adell said. “I had some balls foul early in that at-bat, so it let me know I was at least on time for the fastball. Once I got another one in the strike zone, I was able to handle it.”

Adell is now hitting .333 with seven home runs in his last 15 games. His seven home runs are the second most in baseball since May 26. 

Newman finished the day 2-for-3, with both hits coming in the sixth inning. 

Angels starter Kyle Hendricks did his job as he allowed three runs, but only two of them were earned, in six innings of work. Hendricks has started to settle in with the Angels this year as he now has a 4.50 ERA in his last eight starts after starting the season with a 6.65 ERA in his first five starts.

“Just found some consistency with what I’m trying to attack with,” Hendricks said. “We’ve seen what other teams are trying to do to me and now we’re pretty clear. “(d’Arnaud) has been a huge part of it, obviously, and all the rest of the coaches. But we know what we’re trying to establish early in the game.”

The biggest thorn in the Angels’ side today was Brent Rooker, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two home runs, including his two-run shot against Ryan Zeferjahn in the seventh inning to make it a one-run game. After the homer, the Angels’ bullpen shut it down from there.

Reid Detmers came into the game to get the save and promptly threw a one-two-three inning and struck out two. Detmers picked up his second career save and topped out at 97.7 miles per hour with his fastball, whereas his average fastball velocity is 95.2.

“Pitching’s pitching,” Detmers said. “Obviously, it’s a little bit different role, but I’m having a lot of fun. It’s a different role that I’ve never experienced, so I’m just going out there and making the most out of it and trying to keep the team in a position to win.”

Detmers closed the door on a 6-5 win to complete the sweep over the A’s. The Angels are now 7-0 against the A’s this year and are tied with the Seattle Mariners for second place in the American League West at 33-34.