The Oakland Athletics dropped to 77-79 and a game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels after their bullpen blew a 4-3 lead and Brett Anderson’s chance at win number seven.
The Oakland A’s offense was able to string together some hits to take an early 3-0 lead, but once again blew several opportunities to blow the game open. In the first inning the A’s loaded the bases with one out but only managed one run on a Kurt Suzuki sacrifice fly. In the second inning, the A’s loaded the bases again with one out and only managed a single run on an RBI single by Mark Ellis.
The Angels put a three spot on the board in the second inning before Brett Anderson settled down and got into the seventh inning. Up 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Anderson struck out Howie Kendrick and then gave up a single to Bobby Abreu. Brad Ziegler entered and induced a Torii Hunter groundout that moved Abreu to second. Ziegler walked Alberto Callaspo, at which point A’s manager Bob Geren brought in rookie pitcher Justin James.
James gave up a Matsui single that tied the game then walked Maicer Izturis to load the bases. He subsequently hit Erick Eybar and walked Hank Conger to bring in two more runs. The A’s got one run back off a Kurt Suzuki triple in the eighth inning but managed nothing else as the Angels held on to a 6-5 victory.