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 After all, Soto played for the A's in 2014 after going to Oakland
from the Texas Rangers in an Aug. 24 trade, and he caught Doolittle.
"I know Doolittle can get tough," Soto said. "He's got a great
fastball. It gets up on you. I was just trying to look for something
out over the plate that I can handle and put some good wood on, and
fortunately that's what happened."
Soto crushed Doolittle's 0-1 fastball over the left-center-field
wall for his first home run of the season, lifting Angels to a 5-4
comeback victory against the A's at the Coliseum.
Doolittle (1-2) walked pinch hitter C.J. Cron with one out before
facing Soto.
"It ended up in kind of like a buffer zone, thigh high, and the way
my fastball tends to ride, it's weird, I tend to get in trouble
sometimes when the ball's down," Doolittle said. "I didn't elevate
that pitch enough. He's a good fastball hitter. You can use it
against him if you execute and locate your fastball, but I didn't
locate it, and I got burned."
 Oakland led 4-1 through seven innings, but the Angels scored two
runs in the eighth off reliever Ryan Madson. Yunel Escobar and
Daniel Nava had back-to-back singles with one out, and Albert Pujols
lined a two-out, two-run double down the left field line.
Right-hander Huston Street pitched a scoreless ninth for his third
save of the season, and the Angels, who lost four of their first
five games, won their third straight.
"It shows a lot of character," Soto said of the comeback win. "It
shows that's what we're all about. We never stop, we're always going
to keep coming after you, and you have to beat us in 27 outs. That's
a good quality to have. That's a good theme or motto, if you will,
that we're trying to establish, that we're going to play 27 outs and
you've got to come and beat us."
Marcus Semien hit two solo home runs, and Kendall Graveman pitched
six strong innings for the A's.
Semien hit a leadoff homer in the second inning and a two-out shot
in the seventh, both off Angels left-hander Hector Santiago. It was
the shortstop's second career two-homer game.
"It felt great tonight," Semien said of his swing. "I just want to
keep consistent with barreling up baseballs, not necessarily hit
home runs. If it happens, it happens. I want to do better with
runners on base and maybe blow some innings open that way."
Graveman allowed one run on four hits. He struck out three and
walked two in a no-decision.
Santiago gave up four runs on seven hits over 7 2/3 innings and got
a no-decision.
Soto went 2-for-4 with his home run, Yunel Escobar was 3-for-5, and
Kole Calhoun finished 2-for-4 for Los Angeles.
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"A comeback win is always great," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
"We kept playing ball.
"Geo, he's a veteran and he understands what we need behind the
plate. He brings a lot of energy."
Josh Reddick drove in two runs for Oakland, while Billy Burns went
2-for-3, scored two runs and stole two bases.
The A's took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Burns led off with a
walk, stole second then tagged up and advanced to third when Josh
Phegley flied out to right. Reddick brought Burns home with a single
to center.
The Angels pulled even with a run in the second. Pujols led off with
a walk, moved to third on Calhoun's single to right and scored when
Andrelton Simmons hit into a double play.
Oakland regained the lead on Semien's leadoff homer in the third.
The A's scored another run in the third and made it 4-1 in the
seventh on Semien's second homer, but it wasn't enough.
NOTES: A's LHP Felix Doubront underwent Tommy John surgery on his
left elbow Tuesday in Cincinnati. The typical recovery time is 12 to
18 months. ... Oakland DH Billy Butler and 1B Mark Canha started for
the first time since Wednesday, and CF Billy Burns for the first
time since Friday. All three spent most of last season in the
starting lineup. ... A's INF Eric Sogard (strained neck), who went
2-for-4 Monday for Class A Stockton in his first rehab game, worked
out Tuesday in Oakland and will play for Stockton again Wednesday.
... Angels 1B/DH C.J. Cron, who was batting .077 with no home runs
or RBIs after going 0-for-4 Monday, was out of the lineup Tuesday.
"He's really an important piece to what we need to do," Angels
manager Mike Scioscia said. ... Angels 1B/DH Albert Pujols, who had
offseason foot surgery, started at first base for the second
consecutive day and second time this season.
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