The Angels beat the A’s to take the series and put themselves back up on top in the division by 5 1/2 games.
The Angels put up two in the first couple innings to take a 2-0 lead. Erick Aybar scored on a wild pitch in the first and Howie Kendrick made it 2-0 in the second when he scored on a fielder’s choice by Juan Rivera. Rivera played in left in place of Garret Anderson for the third time in the last four games. Rivera’s start paid off when he hit a two-run homerun in the sixth to give the Angels the go-ahead run in the sixth after Kotchman doubled to score Torii Hunter. They added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth, a solo shot by Aybar in the seventh and a sacfly Reggie Willits to score Kendrick in the eighth.
Joe Saunders pitched his way to his AL-leading 12th win. He gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. The A’s scored their first run in the fourth after Emil Brown doubled and Gary Matthews Jr.’s throwing error allowed the runner to score from first. Saunders gave them two runs in the sixth for a short lead by giving up a two-RBI-single to Mark Ellis. The Angels regained the lead in the bottom half and another A’s unearned run in the seventh made no difference. K-Rod also closed the ninth for his 34th save to tie John Smoltz’s record for most saves before the All-Star break.
The Angels carry their two-game win streak into the weekend as they host the Jays after Thursday’s off day.
