A’s Win Two of Three Against Angels

Despite some troubles with their bullpen, the Oakland A’s just took two of three from another division opponent. For the most part, the Athletics continue to get quality pitching out of their starting rotation and bullpen and are doing enough offensively to earn the strongest record in the AL.

The A’s had a flair for the dramatic in Anaheim in the first two games in Anaheim before dropping the final game of the series Wednesday night. Here is a brief recap of each game.

Game 1 final score: Athletics 3, Angels 2

SP Jesse Chavez had his issues getting Albert Pujols out in the early innings of the game (2-2 with a HR and 2 RBI’s), but was otherwise spectacular in 7 IP with 9 strikeouts, 0 walks, and giving up only one earned run. Yoenis Cespedes cut into the Angels 2-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the 4th inning.

From there, both pitching staffs carried the load the rest of the way until the top of the 9th inning when John Jaso pinch hit for Derek Norris and hit a two run homerun to give the A’s the 3-2 lead and eventually, the win.

Game 2 final score: Athletics 10, Angels 9

It took 11 innings for this back and forth struggle to finally conclude. Dan Straily struggled in his 3.2 IP giving up 6 earned runs and 7 hits. The teams went back and forth in the early innings with the Angels once again jumping out to an early lead, only to see the A’s battle back once again. With a 6-3 lead going into the top of the 7th inning, the Angels and SP Garrett Richards let the A’s right back into the game, as the bottom of the lineup (Craig Gentry and Eric Sogard) came up with clutch hits to cut the lead to 6-5.

The A’s rally continued in the 8th inning, as the team put up 4 more runs to take a 9-6 lead. However, the Angels answered with 1 run in the bottom of the 8th and then a game-tying two run homerun from Mike Trout in the bottom of the 9th off of Sean Doolittle. In the top of the 11th inning, the red hot Josh Donaldson hit a double that scored Jed Lowrie to give the A’s the lead and win.

Important to note that Jim Johnson pitched the 10th and 11th innings for the A’s and didn’t allow a run to get the Win. Given Johnson’s struggles in the first two weeks of the season, he is looking to have shaken off the rust in his more recent appearances.

Game 3 final score: Angels 5, Athletics 4

After a RBI double from Trout in the bottom of the 3rd inning gave the Angels a 1-0 lead, the Athletics tagged SP Tyler Skaggs for four runs in the top of the 4th to take over the game. The inning was capped off with a three run homerun from Brandon Moss.

That was it for Athletics offense however as Skaggs and the Angels’ bullpen shut them down for the rest of the extra inning affair. In the 7th inning, the Angels cut into the A’s lead with two runs and a little help from the poor defensive play from Oakland. Luke Gregerson came in to pitch the 8th and 9th innings but gave up game tying run in the 9th inning to send another A’s and Angels’ game to extra innings. Oakland’s bats were silent in three additional innings and in the bottom of the 12th inning, Chris Iannetta salvaged one game of the series for the Angels with a solo shot to end the game.

The Athletics have the day off on Thursday and then return to the Coliseum to take on the Astros over the weekend. The best news on Wednesday came directly from Scott Kazmir on his bullpen session ahead of his forthcoming start this Saturday: