by Charlie O. Mallonee
The Oakland Athletics won their second consecutive game over the Angels on Saturday night 4-0. The A’s combined strong pitching and key hitting to stop “the Halos” in their tracks.
The win upped the Athletics record to 45-39 for the season and made them 4-1 on this six-game road trip. They are 7.0 games behind first-place Houston and 1.5 games back of second-place Texas. Oakland is now 1.5 games out of the Wild Card race.
Pitching was key for the A’s
Brett Anderson had an outstanding start for the Athletics on Saturday night. He was able to work 7.2-innings of shutout baseball. Anderson allowed just two hits, two walks and struck out three Los Angeles batters. He threw 100 pitches (63 strikes). Anderson’s record improved to 8-5 for the year.
Liam Hendricks came in to close out the game for Oakland. Hendricks worked 1.1-innings giving up one hit and striking out two. It was not a save situation for Hendricks.
A’s used their power to score
Oakland put three runs up on the board in the fifth inning. Marcus Semien doubled to left field to send Jurickson Profar home to score. For Semien, it was his 19th double and 42nd RBI of the season.
Also in the fifth inning, Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run (20) with Semien on base. That gave the A’s a 3-0 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, Josh Phegley hit a single to right field that allowed Profar to score again. That put the A’s up 4-0.
The four-game series concludes on Sunday
Oakland will send Chris Bassitt (4-3, 3.86) to the hill to face off against Andrew Heaney (1-1, 4.99). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM.
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