ANAHEIM http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-jt-riddle-jersey , Calif. (AP) — The Angels are playing out the string, although it’s tough to tell by watching Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.The team’s two biggest stars both shined Friday night in an 8-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics.Trout hit a two-run homer and has reached base safely in nine of his last 10 games while batting .313 with six homers, 11 RBIs and eight walks in that span.Ohtani went 3 for 3 — his fourth three-hit game this season — and is batting .289.“For my money, he’s hands-down Rookie of the Year,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.Taylor Ward added a two-run shot for the Angels (79-81). If they can sweep the weekend series, they would finish with a .500 record in what is widely expected to be Scioscia’s final season after 19 years at the helm.“Any time a team being in the playoffs comes in, it’s always fun to beat a team like that,” Ward said.The Yankees routed the Red Sox 11-6 earlier Friday to clinch home-field advantage in the AL wild-card game, leaving the A’s to travel cross-country to play Wednesday night in New York for the right to face Boston in the best-of-five Division Series.“We’ve played well on the road this year and we’re a power-hitting team and that’s a home run ballpark,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.Mike Fiers (12-8) entered in the second inning for Oakland and was hit hard.Lou Trivino started and threw 11 pitches in the first inning before turning it over to Fiers. He gave up six runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked two.“I think we have a really good shot and I’m really excited,” Trivino said of the A’s visit to the Bronx.Taylor Cole (4-2) allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked one. Hansel Robles worked the ninth to earn his second save.“Cole is going to be an important piece of a major league bullpen going forward http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-j.-t.-realmuto-jersey ,” Scioscia said. “He’s helped us out a lot.”The Angels took a 3-0 lead in the second.Ohtani singled leading off, went to second when Justin Upton got hit by a pitch and stole third before scoring on Francisco Arcia’s RBI groundout. With two outs, Ward homered to the lower left-field seats, scoring Upton, who stole second.“These games mean the world to us younger guys,” Ward said. “Just trying to leave a footprint.”Trout hit his 39th homer to right field on the first pitch in the third, extending the Angels’ lead to 5-0. That gave Trout the sixth 100-run season of his career and made him the seventh player in major league history with that many 100-run campaigns before age 27.The Angels added a run on Ohtani’s sacrifice fly to the warning track in left in the fifth.Los Angeles made it 7-0 in the seventh on Ohtani’s two-strike infield single to the pitcher near the third-base line, scoring Kole Calhoun, who doubled leading off.The A’s didn’t get a hit until Jed Lowrie singled leading off the sixth against Cole, who promptly retired the next three batters on swinging strikeouts.Oakland broke out for five runs — two on errors — in the eighth to trail 8-5.Matt Chapman singled and pinch-hitter Mark Canha scored on right fielder Jabari Blash’s throwing error. Chapman scored on Lowrie’s RBI groundout.Ramon Laureano was safe at first on an error by Ward at third base, scoring Matt Olson. Marcus Semien’s RBI double brought in Oakland’s other two runs.Angels starter Jaime Barria tossed 4 2/3 hitless innings, walked a career-high six and struck out four. The right-hander became the first Angels rookie to make 26-plus starts in a season since Scott Schoeneweis made 27 in 2000.SAY HEY, SHOOhtani stole third base in the second inning Brian Anderson Jersey , giving him the third 20-homer, 10-steal rookie season in Angels history, joining Devon White in 1987 and Trout in 2012.SITTING ON 99Chapman has scored 99 runs and one more would make him the first A’s player with 100 in a season since Nick Swisher had 106 in 2006.UP NEXTRHP Trevor Cahill (6-4, 3.91 ERA) starts for the A’s on Saturday. His six wins and 20 starts coming in are his most since 2013 with Arizona, but he’s tossed five innings or fewer in his last five starts. LHP Tyler Skaggs (8-9, 3.91) makes his 24th start for the Angels. He is 2-5 with a 4.98 ERA in nine career starts against Oakland. CLEVELAND (AP) — The master plan was for Trevor Bauer to be Cleveland’s secret weapon, the October surprise.But that idea, and just about everything else the Indians tried, was tossed away.Bauer’s two throwing errors in the seventh inning helped Houston rally for three runs and the Astros overwhelmed the Indians 11-3 in Game 3 to complete a surprising sweep in the AL Division Series.After waiting months for a chance at redemption from blowing a 2-0 lead and losing to the New York Yankees in last year’s ALDS, the Indians fell flat in the fall once again.And the majors’ longest World Series title drought has aged to 71.“We were just outplayed,” said center fielder Jason Kipnis, who was moved from his normal spot at second for the second year in a row. “I wish it weren’t that simple. It just seems from top to bottom we were out-scouted, out-pitched http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-miguel-rojas-jersey , out-coached a little bit. They really did just a fantastic job over there of being ready and prepared before the series.“I don’t think we were underprepared, they just went out and executed and played the way you need to play to win.”The Indians were inept across the board.They batted a collective .144, with All-Star Jose Ramirez continuing his postseason slump by going hitless in 11 at-bats. He’s now batting .064 (2 of 31) over the last two playoffs, hardly numbers worthy of an MVP-caliber player.Josh Donaldson, whose acquisition was supposed to put the Indians over the top, didn’t get his first hit until the ninth inning of Game 3 and the Indians were outscored 21-6 in the three-game blowout.But pitching, and more precisely Cleveland’s flawed bullpen, was the main reason why the club watched a third straight team celebrate on its field before trashing the visitors’ locker room at Progressive Field.For months, the Indians managed to work around their bullpen issues, which were exacerbated by injuries. But when it mattered most, the same problems popped up again.Andrew Miller, the star of Cleveland’s 2016 postseason run, was never himself as the left-hander spent three stints on the disabled three times for his hamstring Bryan Holaday Jersey , knee and shoulder.Miller wasn’t charged with a run in his two appearances, but he retired only one batter, walked three and gave up a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning of Game 2.“There were certainly times it was a grind,” said the 33-year-old, who is almost certain to sign elsewhere as a free agent. “Missing time was the hardest part for me. I felt like I was ready to go when the season wound down and I was in a good spot. There were certainly pitches that I didn’t execute in the series.“We tried to script things as best we could for me personally and for other guys on the team as well to be as sharp and as ready as we could for the playoffs. When the games started, obviously, it wasn’t good enough.”Bauer, who was having a Cy Young Award-worthy season before his leg was broken by a line drive in August, absorbed the brunt of Cleveland’s relief issues.Manager Terry Francona chose to use him in a relief role, mostly because it was his best option with both Miller and closer Cody Allen struggling.Bauer pitched in Games 1 and 2, and entered Game 3 with the Indians clinging to a 2-1 lead in the seventh. But the right-hander made two throwing errors, one on a pickoff throw and the other on a comebacker he should have turned into an inning-ending double play.Instead Brad Ziegler Jersey , the Astros scored three runs and wound up scoring 10 in their final three at-bats to put a bow on the blowout.Bauer accepted the role, but it wasn’t the one he envisioned having.“I executed pretty well pitch-wise,” he said. “Obviously didn’t execute defensively. But it is what it is, man. That was my role. Tito and I and a couple other guys had a meeting in Chicago towards the end of the year. I let them know what I had to say and they let me know what they had to say. I told them when I leave this room, ‘I’m 100 percent bought in on my role.’ That’s what I did. I left that room and got ready to pitch out of the bullpen. It is what it is.”And it is going to be another long winter for the Indians, who could look drastically different next season with Miller, Allen and All-Star Michael Brantley all eligible for free agency.“We tried. It’s tough,” Miller said. “There’s probably a million things you can point to why we didn’t win three games. It’s tough. It’s one of those things. You take the hand you’re dealt and make the most out of it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for us.”