Recap: Angels @ A’s Game 45

Afternoon extra-inning baseball results in a 3-1 loss for the A’s who slump to 22-23 and continue to hover around .500 but can’t get any distance above it. Angels up their win total to 20 and their record to 20-25 yet remain in the basement of the American League West.

• The two starting pitchers in this one pitched a heck of a game. If not for one mistake pitch to Seth Smith, Jered Weaver would have earned himself a win in this one with his eight inning, one earned run, three hit, two walk, four strikeout performance. Rookie Jarrod Parker matched him though, with seven innings of five hit baseball, allowing an earned run, walking just one while striking out eight in his most dominant performance yet.
• The A’s bullpen got the job done too with the exception of eventual loser Jordan Norberto. Ryan Cook continued to flirt with disaster walking two in his inning of work, but added one K to keep his scoreless innings streak alive. Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour both also added scoreless frames. Norberto however allowed a walk and a single before surrendering a two-run double to Alberto Callaspo to clinch the Halos victory.
• Offensively again there is little to nothing to say about how the A’s played. Aside from Seth Smith’s home run to tie the game in the sixth inning, the punchless A’s had two other hits: a single from Jonny Gomes in the second and a single from Jemile Weeks in the third. Hits with runners in scoring position (0-for-1) was as much a problem as getting men into scoring position.
• Coco Crisp earned himself an outfield assist in the game gunning down Albert Pujols trying to get to third on a single by Kendrys Morales. Lest you think suddenly Crisp possesses a cannon for an arm, he threw a solid throw to Cliff Pennington who threw on to Josh Donaldson to nail Pujols.