Stymied by Felix Peña through the first two frames, the Athletics tallied pairs in the third and fourth frames to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 behind a rock-solid Brett Anderson effort.
Anderson (W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) joined the first two Oakland starters going six scoreless innings, and holding the Angels (1-2) to three hits.
After his strong spring, including six scoreless frames in his final exhibition start last Sunday, Bob Melvin expected the southpaw to match the performances of Mike Fiers and Marco Estrada. Following a slow start that included a pair of walks, Anderson settled in and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
Said the skipper:
“His command is so good, it’s almost a surprise to see him missing. It just looked like the balls were running way off the outside corner, trying to get ground balls. … There was some traffic out there, and after that he cruised like he did basically all spring.”
With two outs on the board in the third, Josh Phegley put the A’s (2-3-) in the hit column for the first time, sending a line drive over shortstop Andrelton Simmons for a single. Robbie Grossman followed skipping his own single past second baseman David Fletcher.
After Matt Chapman was pegged on the shoulder with a 90-MPH fastball loading the bases, Stephen Piscotty lit up the scoreboard shooting a two-run single back up the middle.
The Oakland offense put another two-spot on the board in the fourth.
Kendrys Morales was walked in front of Mark Canha, who launched a 415-foot homer into left field and jump the A’s lead to 4-0. Canha did what he does — he flipped his bat and trotted the bases. Said Melvin:
“It ended up being the biggest hit of the game. It puts us up four and we ended up giving up two runs so it’s big. He brings a lot of energy. He has been around here for a while now and he is one of the senior guys here. He has really made himself into a nice player and a versatile player where we can put him in many positions. He is just a good player.”
After setting down the first eight hitters he saw, Peña (L, 0-1, 9.82 ERA) survived just 3-2/3 innings. He gave up four runs, four hits, a walk and had three strike outs. Noé Ramirez was the first Angel out of the bullpen and settled things down, allowing two hits over two scoreless innings.
Peña is now 0-2 with a 8.97 ERA in in four head-to-head matchups with the A’s.
Blake Treinen (S, 1, 0.00 ERA) recorded his first save of the season, pushing his current regular season scoreless-innings streak to 22 — dating back to Aug. 23 — holding Los Angeles to one hit in 1-2/3 innings of work.
The Halo’s had another productive eight inning, putting two runs on J.B. Wendelken. Fletcher started the rally, reaching on a throwing error by Jurickson Profar. Cozart hit a double deep into left field setting Mike Trout up with a second and third-no out situation.
Considering the matchup, Wendelken won the battle holding the two-time MVP to a sacrifice fly, but surrendered an RBI single to Andrelton Simmons before yielding to Treinen who left Angels at the corners.
The A’s left six men on base but were able to score four runs off seven hits and one error. The game lasted 2:42 minutes with 16,051 in attendance.
Up next
The A’s and Angels will finish the series Sunday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Frankie Montas, who went 5-4 with a 3.88 ERA last season, is scheduled to make his season debut for Oakland. The Angels will start lefty Tyler Skaggs for the first time this season. He went 8-10 with a 4.02 ERA in 2018.
Notes
The A’s now lead the four game series 2-1. … Josh Phegley had his first hit of the season after starting the year 0-for-7. … Mark Canha played his first game of the Angels series and hit a home run. … Jurickson Profar was charged with his first error of the season.
