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 The right-hander got back on track against the Los Angeles
Angels, but after striking out a career-high 12 batters, he came
away with an all-too-familiar result.
The A's wasted Gray's gem, losing 2-0 to the Angels and falling into
a tie with the Kansas City Royals in the American League wild-card
playoff race.
The A's (86-71) and Royals (86-71) are three games ahead of the
slumping Seattle Mariners (83-74) with five games remaining.
Gray (13-10) allowed two runs, just one of them earned, over seven
innings but fell to 1-6 over his past 10 starts. He gave up three
hits and three walks. For the 16th time in his 32 starts, Gray
received two or fewer runs of support.
"Anytime you get a great pitching performance like that, it's
frustrating to not reward him," A's left fielder Sam Fuld said.
Right fielder Josh Reddick went had a season-high-tying three hits,
including a double, but the A's left eight men on base and went
0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
The Angels (97-61), who clinched the AL West crown last week, remain
2 1/2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles (94-63) in a battle to
finish with the best record and secure home-field advantage
throughout the playoffs.
Third baseman Gordon Beckham hit his ninth home run of the season
and his second since being traded by the Chicago White Sox to the
Angels on Aug. 21. Beckham, the No. 9 hitter, drilled a solo shot
leading off the sixth inning against Gray, increasing the Angels'
lead to 2-0.
Angels left-hander Wade LeBlanc (1-1) pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings,
allowing just five hits while striking out one and walking one.
"Staying aggressive, throwing strikes, commanding the fastball,"
LeBlanc said of his keys to success. "I didn't have much in the way
of swing-and-miss stuff tonight, but (catcher) Hank (Conger) did an
unbelievable job of changing speeds and controlling counts."
Gray fanned eight of the first 11 batters he faced, striking out the
side in the first and third innings. He became the first A's pitcher
to strike out 12 in a game since Dan Haren fanned 12 on Aug. 27,
2006, at Texas.
"I just felt good from the beginning," said Gray, who gave up five
runs and eight hits against the Texas Rangers in his previous
outing. "I felt good going out there in the first. I had a good
mindset. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough today."
LeBlanc, who spent most of the season pitching for Triple-A Salt
Lake, made just his third major league start of the season and 10th
appearance. In his previous start Thursday, LeBlanc blanked Seattle
on three hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking
none in a no-decision. He threw a second consecutive gem Tuesday in
his second career start against the A's, mixing up his pitches and
throwing fastballs for strikes on both corners of the plate.
"That's the way Wade pitches when he's on," Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. "Just his ability to command both sides of the plate
with his fastball. Although he's not overpowering, it has a lot of
life to it when you combine it with his off-speed pitches."
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After LeBlanc left the game, relievers Jason Grilli, Kevin Jepsen,
Joe Smith and closer Huston Street combined to blank the A's on two
hits for the remainder. Street pitched a perfect ninth inning for
his 40th save of the season overall and 16th since being traded by
the San Diego Padres to the Angels.
The A's loaded the bases against Smith in the eighth on second
baseman Eric Sogard's leadoff single and a pair of two-out walks.
However, Smith retired first baseman Stephen Vogt on a fly ball to
right to end the inning.
"(Gray) went out there and threw the ball well and gave us an
opportunity to win, and obviously I left a small village of runners
in scoring position tonight," Vogt said. "It was just really
frustrating to not get him the win and not get us the win."
The Angels scored an unearned run in the top of the second, grabbing
a 1-0 lead. Shortstop Erick Aybar hit a leadoff single to center,
swiped second on a delayed steal and continued to third when catcher
Geovany Soto's throw went into center field for an error.
Left fielder Efren Navarro walked with one out. Then, as designated
hitter C.J. Cron struck out swinging, Navarro took off for second,
drawing a throw from Soto and getting caught in a rundown. Before
Sogard tagged Navarro for the third out, Aybar raced home to score.
"There was some miscommunication on that," A's manager Bob Melvin
said. "Aybar came down the line pretty good, and we needed to stop
the runner there."
NOTES: Angels RHP Jered Weaver continued battling an illness and was
sent back to the team hotel before the game. Weaver is scheduled to
start Friday at Seattle, after the team's off day. ... Angels 2B
Howie Kendrick (strained left hamstring) returned to the lineup
after missing one game. ... Los Angeles 3B David Freese was out of
the starting lineup due to upper back tightness. Manager Mike
Scioscia expects Freese to start Wednesday's game. ... Angels RHP
Matt Shoemaker (mild left oblique strain) played soft catch for the
second consecutive day and continued making progress, but Scioscia
said Shoemaker will not pitch again during the regular season. ...
Oakland C Derek Norris (sore right shoulder) started at designated
hitter for the second straight game but was available to catch.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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