Angels Fall To A's 3-2 In Oakland
OAKLAND (CBS/AP) -- The Los Angeles Angels couldn't do much at the plate against a trio of Oakland A's pitchers until the ninth inning.
Even then, Mike Scioscia's ball club needed help to keep the inning going when an apparent game-ending double play by Oakland was overturned on replay.
It still wasn't enough.
Billy Burns singled off reliever Fernando Salas with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lift the A's to a 3-2 victory over the Angels on Friday night.
"We scratched and clawed and got some key hits," Scioscia said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't hold it."
The Angels successfully challenged what would have been a game-ending double play not long before Salas gave up the game-winning hit.
A ball hit to right fielder Jake Smolinski was ruled a catch and with pinch-runner Todd Cunningham standing on second, it looked like an easy double play. Replays clearly showed the ball bouncing into Smolinski's glove and the play was reversed. Johnny Giavotella followed with a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 2.
The Angels' good fortune ended there.
Marcus Semien drew a two-out walk from Salas (3-3) and Smolinski singled him to third to set up Burns' first career walk-off RBI on the first pitch he saw.
"As a team it's frustrating," Los Angeles starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker said. "We have a good team so we're going to start winning these games. We're going to start winning the 1-0, 2-0 games."
Shoemaker allowed two runs -- one earned -- and six hits. He walked one and struck out seven while improving to 2-2 with a 1.82 ERA over his last six starts. Shoemaker has recorded 55 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings and walked one.
"It was a battle, early on especially," Shoemaker said. "I threw a lot of pitches and they fouled off a ton of balls. I threw balls up in the zone that got hit. But overall we got through it."
Khris Davis hit a tie-breaking homer off Shoemaker in the fourth and Oakland starter Kendall Graveman allowed three hits over seven innings.
Kole Calhoun hit a home run for the Angels, who had a two-game winning streak end. The Angels have lost eight of 11.
TRAINER'S ROOM:
Angels: RHP Nick Tropeano (right shoulder tightness) will be throwing but is about a week away from beginning a rehab assignment. He last pitched May 29. ... C Geovanny Soto (right lateral meniscus) was scheduled to catch a bullpen session and will take batting practice on Saturday.
A's: OF Josh Reddick (left thumb) took batting practice and will do so again Saturday. If all goes well, he'll start a rehab assignment on Sunday with Triple-A Nashville. ... LHP Rich Hill threw 10 pitches off the mound and will repeat that on Sunday. ... LHP Sean Manaea played catch from 90 feet, an encouraging sign.
UP NEXT:
Angels: Former Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum will get his first start of the season Saturday. The right-hander, who pitched for Oakland's Bay Area rival San Francisco Giants, is 5-3 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 career starts against the A's. He's making his first appearance in Oakland since June 22, 2012.
A's: Right-hander Andrew Triggs is expected to be called up from Triple-A Nashville to make his first career start in the majors in the second game of the series between the two division rivals.
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