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 By the time Gray took the mound for the second inning, the A's owned
a 5-2 lead and were on their way to 6-2 victory at the O.co.
Coliseum.
Third baseman Brett Lawrie hit a three-run homer in the first inning
and right-fielder Josh Reddick added a solo shot in the seventh as
the ended a four-game losing streak.
"We knew that the boys were ready to go today," Lawrie said. "We
knew it wasn't going to stop in the first inning. Even though they
did put up a couple, we knew we had a lot of fight in us. That's the
type of team we are. We're a fighting team, from inning one to
inning nine. It was good to open up some support for Sonny. He did
an amazing job out there for us."
Gray gave up two runs on six hits over eight innings and improved to
3-0, winning the opener of a three-game series. He struck out six,
walked one and beat the Angels for the second time this season, in
back-to-back starts. Gray held them to one run and two hits over
seven innings in a 9-2 A's victory on April 22 at Angel Stadium.
"After losing four in a row, it could have been easy for us to turn
the switch off, but we responded and it was up to me to respond
back," Gray said. "That was important."
Angels right-hander Jered Weaver fell to 0-3, giving up six runs on
six hits, including two home runs, over seven innings. Weaver is
winless through his first five starts for the first time in his
career.
"It's definitely frustrating," Weaver said of his winless April.
"I'll go out and battle through my next start. I felt pretty good in
between starts. It just didn't carry over into the game."
Lawrie capped a five-run A's outburst in the first inning with a
three-run blast off Weaver, his second home run of the season.
Then with two outs in the sixth, Reddick hit his second home run of
the season, launching a Weaver pitch deep to right with two outs.
Reddick went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and scored twice. He extended
his hitting streak to six games and is batting .526 (10-for-19) with
six RBIs during that stretch.
"I'm seeing everything pretty well, not trying to do too much up
there," Reddick said. "Just hit the ball. I've always said once the
HR and long ball is off my mind then I'm gonna be set so that's what
happened tonight. I wasn't trying to hit one and did hit one."
Third baseman David Freese drove in both Angels runs with a
first-inning single.
Angles right fielder Kole Calhoun led off the game against Gray with
a walk and moved to third on first baseman Albert Pujols' one-out
single. Pujols went to second on a wild-pitch, and Freese lined a
two-run single to center.
"When you have an ace on the mound who can stop the bleeding, you
have to take advantage when you can," Freese said. "Both guys did a
good job of that."
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Oakland answered with five runs in the bottom of the first. With one
out, shortstop Marcus Semien hit an infield single then went to
third on catcher Stephen Vogt's single to center. Weaver hit
designated hitter Billy Butler with a pitch, loading the bases.
Weaver retired first baseman Ike Davis on a pop up, but Reddick
ripped a two-run single to right-center, making it 2-2 and bringing
Lawrie to the plate.
Lawrie crushed Weaver's first pitch, a belt high 84 mph fastball,
into the left-field seats for a three-run homer.
"He's crafty out there," Lawrie said of Weaver. "Obviously he
doesn't have the heater that he used to, so you got to kind of zone
him up and you got to try and hit pitches in the zone early."
NOTES: One day after the Angels traded OF Josh Hamilton to Texas,
manager Mike Scioscia said he was "concerned with Josh the person"
as he battles drug and alcohol problems, but was also disappointed
that Hamilton didn't publicly acknowledge the support he received
from his teammates. "I know that he got a lot of support from the
guys that are in that clubhouse and him not to show at least a
little remorse toward his teammates I just think is wrong," Scioscia
said. ... Angels C Chris Iannetta was out of the lineup because of a
cut on a finger he sustained when throwing his bat after making an
out Sunday against Texas, Scioscia said. "He got a little upset.
He'll play tomorrow," Scioscia said. ... A's RHP Jesse Hahn, who
skipped his previous start because of blister on his right middle
finger, will start Wednesday against the Angels. ... Oakland RHP
Jesse Chavez, who replaced rookie RHP Kendall Graveman in the
rotation, will start Thursday against the Angles, and LHP Scott
Kazmir's start was pushed back to Friday at Texas. ... A's CF Coco
Crisp (right elbow surgery) took swings off a tee and expects to
start a rehab assignment sometime during the Class A Stockton Ports'
homestand, May 1-7. ... A's LHP Sean Doolittle (strained left
shoulder) pitched off a mound for the first time since his injury,
throwing 21 pitches, all fastballs. ... Angels RHP Matt Shoemaker
will come off the bereavement list and start Wednesday against the
A's. RHP Cam Bedrosian was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
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