A’s Cruise Past Angels 11-5 On Moss’ Big Night

The Oakland A’s cruised past the Los Angeles Angels 11-5 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win after losing the first two games of the season. The A’s were led by first baseman Brandon Moss, who went three-for-four at the plate with a home run and five RBIs.

Left-hander Tommy Milone got the start for the A’s and received plenty of run support in his second straight outing. Milone gave up four runs off seven hits in five innings pitched.

The A’s got on the board early, as Jed Lowrie drove in Coco Crisp with a groundout in the top of the first. The Angels’ Josh Hamilton followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the bottom half, but it didn’t take long for the A’s to respond again.

In the top of the third, John Jaso drove in Eric Sogard with a single before Brandon Moss laced a two-run triple to right field. The A’s gave a run back in the bottom of the third when a Jed Lowrie throwing error allowed Albert Pujols to score.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Moss found the cheap seats in deep right center off Angels’ starter Joe Blanton for his second home run of the season. The A’s got to Blanton for 10 hits and six runs before he was relieved after giving up a a single to start the sixth inning.

Mark Lowe came into the game in relief of Blanton, and was touched up for three runs while only getting one out. Lowe gave up a single and walked in a run with the bases loaded before Dane De La Rosa became the Angels third pitcher of the inning.

De La Rosa wasn’t much better, and walked Moss to bring in another run before back-to-back singles made it 10-4 A’s. Moss wasn’t done yet, and drove in his third run in three straight innings with a single to shallow center in the seventh.

Moss’ three-hit night brought his average up to .400 on the season with two homers and 10 RBIs. His 10 runs batted in is third in the American League behind the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Davis and the Kansas City Royals’ Billy Butler.

The loss for the Angels was their third straight as they have dropped to the bottom of the AL West. With the win, the A’s now stand alone atop the division as the Texas Rangers fell a game back after losing 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday.

The A’s look to finish off a sweep of the Angels Thursday night as A.J. Griffin takes the mound. The Angels will give Jason Vargas the nod in hopes of avoiding the sweep in their home opening series. Can the Oakland A’s bats stay hot and finish off the Los Angeles Angels in game three on Thursday?

[Image via Keith Allison]