A’s Spring Training: Offense Abounds in Win Over Angels
August 8, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) takes a lead off first base behind Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Dan Straily (67) during the third inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Athletics took on the Los Angeles Angels today in a spring training matchup between AL West rivals, and they knocked around their southern counterparts to the tune of 15 hits en route to a 13-5 win.
Dan Straily got the start for the A’s, and he gave up two runs on four hits over two innings while striking out two. Straily’s gotten knocked around a bit in his two spring training starts, allowing four earned runs and six hits in 3.2 innings of work in Phoenix. The good news is he’s only likely to make one start before Bartolo Colon returns from suspension, and he’ll have plenty of time to continue to hone his skills after that without the pressure of a starter’s workload.
The A’s offense got going with a nice two-out rally in the fourth. Yoenis Cespedes reached on an outfield single, and after Jed Lowrie popped up for out number two, Brandon Moss had an outfield single of his own to move Cespedes over to third. After a walk to Josh Donaldson to load the bases, John Jaso came through with a line drive to right field, ending up with a triple to clear the bases. Jaso walked in his other at-bat to go 1-for-2 on the day.
The fifth ended up being just as productive for Oakland. Josh Reddick knocked in a run on a double in the fifth, scoring Seth Smith from second. Jed Lowrie then brought Reddick in on a single to center field following a walk to Cespedes, and Brandon Moss rounded things out with a single to left to bring in Cespedes and make it 6-5 in favor of the A’s. Moss went 2-for-3 on the day and is showing why the A’s placed their trust in him as the everyday first basemen, and he seems to be making the most of the freedom that management is giving him at the plate.
Oakland’s reserves performed well, scoring six runs in the eighth inning to effectively put the game away. Melvin got another good look at the bullpen, as Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Jordan Norberto all got into the game. Jesse Chavez finished the game for the A’s, and Melvin could be seeing if he can come in as a second closer in the event that Grant Balfour needs a little extra time to heal up from his February knee surgery.
Just another day of spring training baseball. Tomorrow Oakland takes on Team Italy in a split squad game as they gear up for the World Baseball Classic, and later in the day they’ll do the same thing against the Royals. We’ll recap that to whatever degree that’s possible tomorrow, so come back for more if you’re into that sort of thing.