Oakland Athletics Beat Angels In 11 On Josh Donaldson’s RBI Double

Apr 15, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Jed Lowrie (right) rounds third base to score the winning run in the 11th inning as Los Angeles Angels pitcher Yoslan Herrera (center) and Athletics third base coach Mike Gallego react at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The Athletics defeated the Angels 10-9 in 11 innings. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Athletics shook off a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth by Mike Trout and beat the Los Angeles Angeles 10-9 in 11 innings at Angel Stadium.

The win was the fourth in a row for the A’s (10-4), who have won eight of their last nine.

Jed Lowrie led off the top of the 11th against new Angel pitcher Yoslan Herrera (0-1) by lining a single to left. Josh Donaldson followed by screaming a grounder inside the bag at third for a double that chased Lowrie home to give Oakland the lead.

Jim Johnson (2-2) survived the bottom of the 11th to get his second win in as many nights, getting out of a second and third situation with two outs by inducing Howie Kendrick to ground out to Lowrie at short to end it.

Oakland rallied from a 6-3 deficit through four innings, getting two runs in the seventh to get close and then erupting for four in the eighth to take the lead.

Joe Smith came on to replace starter Garrett Richards, who allowed five runs in his seven innings for the Angels (6-8). Lowrie led off with a walk and moved up on Donaldson’s single to left. Brandon Moss hit a sharp grounder that Albert Pujols deflected into no man’s land in short right field, allowing Lowrie to tie the game and moving Donaldson to third. Yoenis Cespedes worked a walk to load the bases and Alberto Callaspo lined a single to right to give the A’s a 7-6 lead.

That ended the night for Smith, who was lifted in favor of left-hander Jose Alvarez to face Josh Reddick. Oakland manager Bob Melvin countered with righty-swinging Derek Norris, who lined a single to center field that chased home Moss and Cespedes.

The Angels got one back in the bottom of the eighth. Reliever Ryan Cook issued a one-out walk to Kendrick, who moved to second on a single by J.B. Shuck and scored on a base hit by David Freese.

Sean Doolittle came on to try and close it out in the bottom of the ninth, but it got away from him quickly.

Kole Calhoun drove a ball into the gap in left-center for a double and Trout followed with a towering shot to left-center, his fifth homer of the season.

The Angels struck quickly against starter Dan Straily, getting two in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by Trout and Kendrick’s RBI single.

The A’s claimed the lead with a big third inning. Reddick led off with a walk and moved up on Craig Gentry’s single. Eric Sogard grounded a single to right to bring home Reddick, with Gentry moving to third. Gentry scored on John Jaso’s ground out and Lowrie doubled in the third run of the inning with a double to left.

Los Angeles chased Straily in the fourth. Chris Iannetta clubbed a two-run double to left and Calhoun connected for his third homer of the year for two more runs. Straily only made it 3.2 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts. But Drew Pomeranz worked 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing only a walk while striking out two, to keep Oakland close.

In the seventh, Reddick drew a one-out walk and moved up on a single by Gentry. Sogard singled to right to score Reddick and move Gentry to third, but Sogard was thrown out trying to take an extra base.

But Richards uncorked a wild pitch and Gentry scooted home to bring the A’s back to within 6-5.

The Angels got back to within 9-7 in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Freese.

Cook was charged with a run in his inning of work, with a walk and a strikeout. Otero allowed two hits and struck out two in his two-thirds of an inning. Doolittle was hit with his first blown save after giving up the two runs in the ninth and Johnson allowed a hit and a walk with a strikeout in his two innings of work.

The A’s banged out 16 hits, with Lowrie Donaldson and Gentry each getting three. Norris went 2-for-3 after entering the game in the eighth and Sogard also had a pair of hits, as well as recording his first two RBI of the year.

The series wraps up on Wednesday, with Tommy Milone (0-1, 5.40 ERA) slated to face off against Tyler Skaggs (1-0, 2.40 ERA) at 7:05 p.m.