Anaheim, CA – Brandon Moss went 3-for-4 with one homer, one triple and five RBI to lead the Oakland Athletics to an 11-5 rout of the LA Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday.
Seth Smith added three hits, including a pair of doubles, and two RBI and John Jaso had two hits, one RBI and two runs scored for the A's, who have won seven straight.
"Obviously, I've hit some balls well," said Moss. "But no matter what it might look like, I've just had some hits that have found holes and broken bats and roll-overs that have gone through. Sometimes baseball's like that."
Tommy Milone (2-0) allowed four runs on seven hits while fanning five over five full frames to earn the win.
Howie Kendrick went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Josh Hamilton, Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger added one RBI apiece for the Angels, losers in three straight.
Joe Blanton (0-2) was tagged for six runs on 10 hits over five-plus innings to absorb the loss.
"There were a couple of situations where I tried to put guys away," Blanton said. "I mean, I generally don't try to strike guys out. I try to make the defense work for me."
The A's took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Coco Crisp hit a leadoff single, stole second and moved to third on a Jaso ground out. Jed Lowrie followed with a ground out to score Crisp.
The Angels, though, tied the game in the home half. Alberto Callaspo singled then moved to third on an Albert Pujols double. Hamilton followed with a sacrifice fly to score Callaspo.
Oakland poured on three more in the third. Erick Sogard opened the frame with a single and moved to second on a fielding error by Hamilton. Crisp's ground out moved Sogard to third and Jaso plated him with a base hit to right field. Lowrie followed with a single to left-center field to put two on with two out and Moss followed with a triple down the right-field line to clear the bases.
The Angels answered in the bottom half when Pujols scored after Trumbo reached on an error.
Moss clubbed his second homer in as many games in the fifth to give the visitors a 5-2 lead, but Los Angeles added a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to pull within 5-4.
Callaspo walked and Pujols laced a ground-rule double to left field to put runners at second and third. Milone struck out the next two hitters, but couldn't get out of the inning unscathed as Kendrick roped a two-run single to right-center field.
Oakland broke the game open with a five-run sixth. Mark Lowe issued a bases- loaded walk to Yoenis Cespedes, spelling the end of his night. Dane De La Rosa didn't fair much better though, as he walked the first batter he faced to force in a run. Smith and Josh Donaldson followed with back-to-back singles to cap the inning.
Moss' RBI single in the seventh gave Oakland an 11-4 lead, and Conger's base hit in the bottom of the eighth accounted for the final difference.
Game Notes
Donaldson had two hits ... Sogard went 2-for-5 and scored twice ... Oakland was 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position ... Pujols had four hits, including two doubles ... Angels outfielder Mike Trout went just 1-for-4 ... The Angels went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.
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