Football
SportsTicker 18y

Saunders goes seven, Cabrera gets three hits as Angels win

ANAHEIM, California -- With first place on the line,
the Oakland Athletics flashed some leather and came up with a
timely hit. Conversely, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
hardly looked like a playoff team.

Mark Kotsay plated the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the
Athletics made several outstanding defensive plays en route to
a 3-2 triumph over the Angels in the rubber game of a crucial
three-game series.

It was the sixth victory in the last eight games for Oakland
(57-51), which extended its American League West Division lead
over Anaheim (55-52) to 1 1/2 games.

"It was good to come in here and take two games on the road
against the team who is chasing us in the standings," Athletics
manager Ken Macha said.

The A's and Angels have split the last four AL West titles, and
17 of the last 33 contests between the fierce rivals have been
decided by one run. Anaheim capitalized on Oakland's shaky
defense in Tuesday's 3-2 win, but the A's returned the favor a
day later.

The Angels threatened to snap a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning when
Garret Anderson advanced to third on Juan Rivera's one-out
single. Adam Kennedy followed with a sharp grounder to first
baseman Nick Swisher, who made a strong throw home to get
Anderson.

Red-hot Maicer Izturis batted for Robb Quinlan and ripped a hard
grounder down the first base line. But Swisher made a diving
stop to his left and beat the speedy Izturis to the bag,
preserving the tie.

"That play was more of a reacting play, because I had no time to
think about how I was going to field it," Swisher said.

The A's broke through in the eighth against reliever Scot
Shields (6-7), who issued a costly leadoff walk to Mark Ellis.
After failing to get down a bunt, Jason Kendall blooped a hit to
right field to put runners at the corners.

That set the stage for Kotsay, who lined Shields' 1-0 pitch up
the middle to plate Ellis and give Oakland a 3-2 lead.

"I was looking for something good to hit, because (Shields) was
in a jam," Kotsay said. "It's good to get a hit like that and
help the team win the game."

"I don't care who you face, but you just can't walk the leadoff
hitter in any inning," said Shields, who fell to 3-9 lifetime
against Oakland. "Good teams usually take advantage of it, and
they did today."

Kiko Calero (3-1) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win and
fellow righthander Huston Street pitched two perfect innings
for his 23rd save.

"I didn't pitch the first two games in the series, and we have a
day off tomorrow, so I prepared myself to go two innings
today," Street said. "I felt good and strong out there, and it
wasn't a big deal to go two today."

Kendall had two hits and Frank Thomas lofted a sacrifice fly in
the opening frame for the A's, who improved to 6-6 this season
against the Angels.

Anaheim entered with a 15-6 record over its last 21 games but
committed three errors and stranded seven runners Thursday in
one of its sloppier performances of the season. The Angels lead
the AL with 85 errors.

"We were in the game the whole time, even with our miscues,"
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The errors have been a big
problem for us the whole year and it's something we are always
working on."

Oakland grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on some good
baserunning by Marco Scutaro.

With Scutaro on second base and one out, Ellis struck out on a
pitch in the dirt. The ball skipped away from catcher Jose
Molina, who made a strong recovery and throw to retire Ellis at
first.

But rookie first baseman Howie Kendrick momentarily lost his
focus, allowing Scutaro to score all the way from second with
the go-ahead run.

"I just wanted to make a hard turn around third base," Scutaro
said. "But when I got there, I saw the catcher's throw to first
and that no one was covering home."

Kendrick atoned for the mistake in the following frame, however,
ripping a two-out RBIs single to plate Quinlan and forge a 2-2
tie.

Angels starter Kelvim Escobar looked sharp, allowing just two
runs and three hits with one walk in seven innings.

Oakland starter Esteban Loaiza yielded two runs and eight hits
in 5 1/3 innings.

"I felt really good out there today," Loaiza said. "I felt like
I got my velocity back up to where I want it. It was a good
game and a really good series."

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