The Oakland Athletics obliterated the Los Angeles Angels 14-0 to complete a two-game sweep of the LAAAAAAs and have briefly climbed into a first place tie with the Texas Rangers. The A’s received a dominant pitching effort from Gio Gonzalez while the offense put together season-highs in hits and runs. The win combined with the Texas loss gets the A’s back into first place for the first time since June 3 of last season.
The A’s offense was the story of the game as the lineup absolutely tattooed Angels pitching. The A’s jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and expanded their lead in three of the next four innings. Mark Ellis led the way going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and has used a 7-for-13 run to get his batting average over the Mendoza line. The A’s also got big contributions from Josh Willingham (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) and Coco Crisp (3-for-4, 2 RBIs), among others.
Somewhat lost in the rare offensive explosion was a brilliant performance by Gio Gonzalez. He lasted seven innings and gave up one hit and one walk while striking out seven. Gonzalez improved to 5-2 as he won his third straight start. It was a strong rebound for Gonzalez following a washed out start against Texas. Gonzalez had given up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings before the game was cancelled by rain and the poor performance erased from the record books. Tuesday night’s game almost suffered the same cancellation fate, with the A’s on the opposite end of the result. However, the two teams played on and made it through all nine innings.
The A’s will now welcome the Minnesota Twins for two games as they look to potentially claim the AL West lead all to themselves. The A’s will send out Brandon McCarthy and Tyson Ross to face Carl Pavano and Nick Blackburn.