Field Level Media
Jun 7, 2019
Stephen Piscotty drove in two runs with a home run and a sacrifice fly, and right-hander Mike Fiers worked six effective innings Thursday night, helping the visiting Oakland Athletics bounce back from a tough defeat the day before with a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
The routine win allowed the A's to take two of three from their California rivals in a series highlighted by a 10-9 Angels win on Wednesday in which Oakland blew a 7-1 lead.
Unfazed, Oakland jumped on Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (4-6) for three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-1 lead, an advantage that they this time were able to massage to the finish.
Piscotty's sacrifice fly came in the three-run fifth as the first batter to face Angels reliever Jaime Barria.
Skaggs was pulled with no outs in the inning after walking Chad Pinder and Matt Chapman before serving up an RBI single to Khris Davis to give the A's a 4-1 lead.
Ramon Laureano later followed Piscotty's sacrifice fly with one of his own to create the 6-1 advantage.
Fiers (5-3) limited the Angels to three runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
Two of the runs Fiers allowed came on a home run by Mike Trout, his 16th of the season, in the fifth inning.
Piscotty responded with his eighth homer of the year off Barria in the seventh to increase the Oakland lead to 7-3.
Liam Hendriks, after walking Trout, worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the bottom of the seventh to help protect the A's advantage.
Piscotty and Davis had two hits apiece, while Laureano matched Piscotty with two RBIs for the A's, who had won the series opener 4-2 on Tuesday.
Oakland has won six of 10 from the Angels this season.
Tommy La Stella and Kole Calhoun collected a pair of hits apiece for the Angels, who completed the first series in an eight-game homestand.
Skaggs was charged with six runs (five earned) in four-plus innings. He allowed six hits and four walks, and struck out four.
--Field Level Media