Wilson Outpitches Straily, Angels Win Over A's 2-0
ANAHEIM (CBS/AP) -- C.J. Wilson outpitched Dan Straily, retiring 18 consecutive batters at one point, and Alberto Callaspo homered to help the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 Saturday night.
Wilson (10-6) gave up three hits in 8 1-3 innings. He struck out eight and walked two. Jed Lowrie's two-out double in the first and Nate Freiman's leadoff single in the second were the only hits off the left-hander until Lowrie's one-out single in the ninth on Wilson's 119th and final pitch. Wilson began his string of consecutive outs with three straight strikeouts on 10 pitches and didn't allow another baserunner until he walked Derek Norris on a full count leading off the eighth.
Ernesto Frieri got the final two outs for his 24th save in 26 chances, striking out pinch-hitter John Jaso with runners at first and second to end it.
Wilson joined Ryan Dempster and Derek Lowe as the only pitchers in major league history to post 10 or more wins as a starter in four consecutive seasons after three straight seasons with 10 or more saves. The two-time All-Star is 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA over his last seven starts.
The AL West-leading A's lost their second in a row coming out of the All-Star break. Home Run Derby champion Yoenis Cespedes sat out his second straight game because of a sore left wrist that he injured during batting practice on Friday.
Straily (6-3) allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings, struck out four and walked none. The right-hander was 5-0 with a 2.83 ERA in his previous nine starts.
This is Straily's fifth stint with the A's this season alone. He was optioned to Triple-A the day after four of his starts -- once because Bartolo Colon was reinstated from the suspended list, once because Brett Anderson went on the disabled list, another time because the team had three days off during an eight-game stretch, and again because the All-Star break was coming up.
The Angels, who have won 13 straight games in which Josh Hamilton has driven in a run, opened the scoring in the first with his sacrifice fly after Mike Trout was hit by a pitch and took third on Albert Pujols' opposite-field single. Trout extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a third-inning single, matching his longest in the majors.
Callaspo drove Straily's first pitch of the seventh inning into the first row of seats above the 18-foot wall in right field for his fifth homer.
NOTES: Batting practice was canceled for both teams because of a steady rain that required the rarely used tarpaulin to be put on the field. The Angels have not had a home game rained out since June 16, 1995, when the Chicago White Sox were in town. "I didn't even know there was a tarp here. Apparently, there is," A's manager Bob Melvin said. ... Straily retired Mark Trumbo on an inning-ending double-play grounder in the sixth. The Angels have grounded into an AL-worst 98 double plays, while the Athletics' defense has executed a major league-low 69 DPs. ... Cespedes hasn't homered in his last 19 games, after averaging one for every 19.0 at-bats in the majors prior to this drought. Only four previous Home Run Derby champions hit fewer than 10 after the break -- Justin Morneau (2008), Bobby Abreu (2005), Garret Anderson (2003) and Ken Griffey Jr., who was limited to 24 games during the rest of the 1994 season because of a strike that wiped out the final 40 games of the Seattle Mariners' schedule.
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