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 The A's had left-hander Jon Lester on the mound, fresh off his
third straight victory and his sixth win since being traded by
Boston to Oakland.
The Angels countered with left-hander Hector Santiago, who lasted a
combined three innings in his past two starts, allowing 10 runs and
12 hits.
Of course, little has gone as expected for the A's in the past six
weeks as they watched the Angels shoot past them to win the American
League West.
Santiago pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings, second baseman Howie
Kendrick drove in three runs and the Angels withstood a furious
rally Wednesday to hold off the A's 5-4 at O.co Coliseum.
The A's (86-72) remain tied for the American League wild-card lead
with the the Kansas City Royals, who lost to the Cleveland Indians
on Wednesday night. The A's and Royals hold a three-game lead over
the Seattle Mariners in the race for the final two AL playoff
berths. Oakland, Kansas City and Seattle all have four games left.
The A's lost two of three to the Angels in their final homestand and
will finish the regular season with four games at Texas.
"Once you make it to the playoffs, everything changes, the whole
mood, the whole negativity with the way we've been playing, trying
to find who we are again," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "All that
would go away if you get to the playoffs, I believe. So we're trying
to fight our way there.
"We played some complete games but not strung several in a row
together. That's been a problem for us. It wasn't a problem for us
earlier in the year.
"Right now, we're trying to find that. It's a difficult period to
try to find it because everybody's pressing a little bit, everybody
wants to be the guy. We want to go where we had planned to go, so
there's a little more at stake as far as trying to find who we are
again."
The Angels, who clinched the AL West last week, remained 2 1/2 games
ahead of Baltimore in the race to finish with the best record and
secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
"I think these guys have been terrific," Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. "What they've done the last 60 games, they've just
been incredible. These guys have played hard, they've played long
and they've played well, and it's fun to watch."
Santiago (6-9) gave up only three hits while striking out three and
walking two.
"I forgot about them, now everyone else can forget about them,"
Santiago said of his previous two nightmare starts.
Lester (16-11) gave up five runs (three earned) and eight hits in
seven innings, striking out seven and walking none.
"I think we're all fighting just to make it," Lester said. "Maybe
that (would) give everybody kind of a refresher almost where
everybody's back at zero, they're not worried about numbers or where
their ERAs are at or anything like that. Yeah, maybe, but we got to
get there first."
Kendrick went 2-for-4 with a double. Angels center fielder Mike
Trout was 1-for-2, stole his 16th base and scored a run, but he left
the game after the fourth inning because of a stomach illness.
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A's right fielder Josh Reddick went 2-for-4 with a two-run double,
shortstop Jed Lowrie had two hits and second baseman Nick Punto hit
an RBI triple.
Oakland committed three errors, one each by third baseman Josh
Donaldson, Reddick and catcher Derek Norris.
"Didn't play very good defense at all," Donaldson said. "It was nice
that we scored a few runs in that one inning, but we still have to
continue to do a better job at the plate."
The Angels built a 5-0 lead, but the A's scored four times in the
bottom of the seventh inning, making it 5-4 and snapping their
streak of 16 innings without a run.
Norris lined a leadoff single off reliever Mike Morin and moved to
third on Lowrie's single with one out. Reddick sliced a two-run
double to left and Punto launched an RBI triple to the right-center
field alley, ending Morin's day.
Center fielder Coco Crisp singled sharply to left off left-hander
Joe Thatcher, bringing Punto home. With runners on first and second
with two out, Angels right-hander Jason Grilli struck out
pinch-hitter Adam Dunn, ending the inning.
Angels right-hander Fernando Salas pitched a scoreless eighth inning
and closer Huston Street a perfect ninth for his 41st save overall
and 17th since being traded by San Diego to the Angels.
"Our bullpen has been awesome," Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun
said. "A little shaky right there. They're going to score some runs
but still held it together and came out with a win."
NOTES: Angels 3B David Freese (upper back tightness) was out of the
starting lineup Wednesday against Oakland for the second straight
game. ... Angels SS Erick Aybar was out of the starting lineup for
only the eighth time this season, getting a rare day off to rest.
INF Gordon Beckham made his second start at shortstop for the
Angels. ... RHP Jered Weaver continued making progress Wednesday in
his recovery from the stomach flu and said he expects to make his
scheduled start Friday against Seattle. ... Oakland C Derek Norris
started at catcher for the first time since injuring his right
shoulder Saturday against Philadelphia during a play at the plate.
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