A's Beat Angels 4-3 Behind Anderson's 3-Hitter
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - Brett Anderson tossed three-hit ball over eight scoreless innings and Andy LaRoche drove in three runs to help the last-place Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Thursday.
The A's split their four-game series with the second-place Angels, who fell to 4-7 in their past 11 games.
Anderson(3-4) struck out four and walked three to beat the Angels for the first time in six career starts. The left-hander had been 0-3 in his previous five starts.Andersonfinally got some run support from his teammates, who had supplied two runs or less in seven of his previous 10 starts this season.
Grant Balfour gave up a three-run homer to Mark Trumbo with two outs in the ninth.
The Angels' Torii Hunter, who had a hit and an RBI in each of his previous six games, failed to extend the longest such stretch of his career, going 0 for 3 with a walk.
The Angels' only hits offAndersonwere a single by Erick Aybar in the second inning, a double by Maicer Izturis in the sixth and a single by Alberto Callaspo in the seventh.
Joel Pineiro (2-1) gave up 11 hits and four runs in 6 1-3 innings—the same three totals he had in his previous start against Atlanta. The 11 hits are the most allowed by an Angels starter this season. The right-hander struck out three and walked none while falling short in a bid to notch his 100th career victory.
The A's extended their lead to 4-0 with three runs in the fourth. Josh Willingham led off with a single before Mark Ellis singled with two outs. LaRoche followed with a double to left field, scoring Willingham and Ellis. He scored on Cliff Pennington's single.
Oaklandled 1-0 in the second on LaRoche's groundout to third that scored former Angel Hideki Matsui, who singled to lead off the inning.
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