Athletics:  9  Angels:  8

After scoring 10 runs yesterday against the Angels, the A’s were at it again today scoring 9 runs off of the Angels pitching staff.  The difference today was the A’s pitching was not nearly as dominant as it was yesterday.

The A’s looked good right away, scoring 4 runs in the second inning off of a 2-run home run by George Kottaras and back-to-back RBI singles by Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick, putting them up 4-1.  Unfortunately, Dan Straily could not hold the lead for the A’s and by the time he was pulled from the game he had allowed 4 home runs and 5 runs over 4.2 innings.

The A’s came back in the 6th against LaTroy Hawkins when Coco Crisp doubled in Cliff Pennington to tie the game.  They went on to add 4 more runs in the inning when Yoenis Cespedes hit a 2-run single and Chris Carter hit a 2-run home run.

The Angels scored again in the next inning when Grant Balfour allowed a home run to Mark Trumbo, which was the Angels 5th of the game and the 7th overall.  Sean Doolittle pitched a “clean” 8th, allowing two singles to lead off the inning, but then striking out the following 3 batters.

Ryan Cook came in to close the game and it was not pretty.  He allowed a lead off single to Albert Pujols, but then struck out Mark Trumbo.  Kendrys Morales then singled and he got Alberto Callaspo to ground out, but the runners moved over to 2nd and 3rd.  With 2 on and 2 out Howie Kendrick then singled and the 2 runs scored and once again it was a 1 run game.  Kendrick then stole second base, but Ryan Cook was able to get Erick Aybar to ground out to end the game.

Lines of the Day:

• Chris Carter:  3 AB, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI.  After going 2-4 yesterday, Chris Carter had another multi-hit day today, one of which was his 10th home run of the season.  He did have an error in the 5th, which was 5th of the season.
• Coco Crisp:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB.  Coco had a great day today, reaching base 3 times, stealing 2 bases and hitting the double that tied the game up for the A’s in the sixth.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Dan Straily: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 5 SO.  Straily looked good in the first inning, striking out the first 3 batters he faced.  He then went on to allow 5 more hits in his short outing, 4 of which were home runs.
• Ryan Cook:  1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 SO.  Ryan Cook has not been consistent since returning from the All-Start break.  He blew a save on both Friday and Saturday and tried again today.  There is still no word on whether or not he will remain in the closer role, but it might be time for a demotion.

A’s Extras:

• Cliff Pennington played in his first game today since July 19th.  He went 0-2 with 2 walks and 1 run.
• With Chris Carter hitting his 10th home run of the season today, the A’s now have 7 players with 10 home runs or more for the first time since 2005.