Anaheim, CA – Kendrys Morales hit his first home run in nearly two years and finished 3-for-4 with four RBI, carrying the Angels to a 6-0 victory over the AL West-rival Athletics in the opener of a four-game set.
Morales' homer was his first since May 29, 2010, the day the budding slugger celebrated a game-ending grand slam by jumping on home plate and subsequently suffering a knee injury that threatened to cut his career short.
His efforts overshadowed Jered Weaver's 6 2/3 shutout innings. Weaver (2-0) allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out six for the Angels, who were coming off a 2-4 road trip.
Brandon McCarthy (0-2) surrendered five runs on 11 hits over seven-plus innings in Oakland's third straight loss.
Howie Kendrick and Albert Pujols each singled with one away in the first inning, and Morales brought them both home by hammering an 0-2 offering that barely cleared the wall in left-center,
Weaver set down the first 11 batters he faced and stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
Kevin Jepsen relieved Weaver with two on and two outs in the seventh and escaped unscathed, while Scott Downs worked around a two-out double in the eighth.
The Angels added to their 3-0 lead with three more in the eighth. Pujols came around on Morales' double to right, and Andrew Carignan issued three straight walks and uncorked a wild pitch to score two more.
LaTroy Hawkins struck out Jemile Weeks with the bases loaded in the ninth to finish off the shutout.
Game Notes
Weaver, in his seventh season, reached the 1,000-strikeout plateau with his sixth punchout...The A's have yet to produce double-digit hits in a game this year -- their longest ever stretch to start a season...Oakland went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.