Oakland @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2010 ) Oakland 5, LA Angels 6
With Southern California broiling in a record-setting fall heat wave, the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels are in their own hotly-contested race - for second place in the AL West.
With the Texas Rangers having clinched the division and the Angels and A’s out of wild-card contention, playing for the runner-up spot is the best they can do. Both teams seem to be taking the fight seriously as they attempt to finish with winning records.
Round one went to the Angels on Monday night when they took advantage of a thin Oakland bullpen for a 6-5 victory as game time temperatures were in the mid-90s after highs of 110 in much of Orange County earlier Monday.
The victory pulled the Angels (76-80) one game behind the Athletics (77-79) for second place in the AL West.
Justin James imploded in a troubling seventh inning that saw the A’s use four pitchers.
Starter Brett Anderson left with one out in the seventh and a 4-3 lead.
Brad Ziegler walked Alberto Callaspo before leaving and James then allowed pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui to drive in the tying run. James walked Maicer Izturis to load the bases and then hit Erick Aybar. He followed that with a walk to pinch-hitter Hank Conger, scoring Mark Trumbo.
Ross Wolf finally ended the inning but not before the Angels scored three runs and led 6-4.
Kurt Suzuki tripled in a run in the eighth, but Oakland got no closer. The Athletics left a whopping 16 runners on base and the Angels left 10.
Mark Ellis had three hits, including a double, and is batting a league-best .407 (37-for-91) in September.
The three-game series continues Tuesday night when Oakland left-hander Dallas Braden (10-13, 3.49 ERA) faces Los Angeles right-hander Dan Haren (3-4, 2.85).
Braden’s 2010 season will be forever known for a perfect game in May and a spat with superstar Alex Rodriguez in April.
Despite those headlines, the season has gone mostly downhill since then for the left-hander.
Braden will finish with a losing record and has dropped four of his last five starts. He was exceptional in a 5-0 victory over Texas on Thursday, throwing one-hit ball through eight innings with seven strikeouts.
Braden is 2-5 with a 4.82 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels.
Haren was the Angels’ biggest acquisition during the season, coming to the team in a five-player trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 25.
But Haren never got much run support, receiving three runs or fewer in 11 of his 12 starts with the Angels.
He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA against Oakland, where he pitched from 2005-07. He has gone seven innings in each of his last five starts, but has just one decision, a 3-0 victory over Seattle on Sept. 12.
Haren will try to help Oakland snap its four-game losing streak.