ANAHEIM, Calif. —  The Angels opened their final series of the season with a 5-1 victory over the Oakland A’s Friday night at the Big A. The win improved the Angels record to 72-88 and while the Angels aren’t going to continue playing in October, they still played with the future in mind against Oakland.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Led by the youth

Before the game, Phil Nevin acknowledged that he intentionally used a younger lineup, but added it gave the team the best chance to win.

The average age of the starting lineup was 25.7 years and featured a couple of players trying to finish their seasons that were truncated due to injuries.

Nevin added that getting these at-bats now should help sharpen his younger players when they return next spring.

Productive returns from injury

Outfielder Mickey Moniak and RHP Chase Silseth were activated from the IL for the final series and both made the most out of their time back in the lineup.

Moniak had been out of the lineup since early September due to a back injury while Silseth had been out since late August due to a concussion. 

Moniak hit his 14th home run of the season to double the Angels lead in the 5th and make the score 5-1. Silseth pitched for 4 innings and allowed 2 hits along with an earned run in his return.

Schanuel inches closer to history

First baseman Nolan Schanuel extended his on-base streak to 28 games against Oakland after getting walked in the 3rd inning. 

Schanuel owns the 4th longest streak to start a career in MLB history and has a chance to tie Enos Slaughter, who got on base 29 games in a row to start his career all the way back in 1938, in his next outing.

Schanuel, the first rookie from the 2023 draft class to make it to the big leagues, is batting .286 and has a .752 OPS this season.