ANAHEIM, Calif.—Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker each hit his ninth home run in July, and the Oakland Athletics continued their power surge with a 6–5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Daz Cameron put Oakland on top with a two-run shot in the fourth inning off Angels’ starter Kenny Rosenberg (0–1). The Athletics have hit 21 homers over their past eight games, and their 135 for the season rank fourth among all major-league teams.
Butler and Rooker’s nine homers in July are tied for third in the majors.
“Overall, this group has been swinging the bats really well, and it showed tonight,” Oakland Manager Mark Kotsay said. “We got down. We were able to come back, and hold the lead.”
Luis Rengifo had a two-run double during a five-run second inning for the Angels, who had won their previous four games.
Oakland’s Ross Stripling (2-9), activated before the game after missing two months due to a strained right elbow, snapped a four-game losing streak. The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on six hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.
Rookie Tyler Ferguson retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his first major-league save.
Butler leads the majors with 26 RBIs in July and is second with a .412 batting average. He led off the game with a double, stole third, and scored when Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe’s throw was wide of the bag.
The right fielder then drove a cutter from Rosenberg over the wall in center field for a two-run homer to get the A’s within 5-4 in the third inning.
“They had a big inning,“ Butler said. ”[Max] Schuemann got on, like he always does, and I was just trying to keep it going for the team. I just happened to hit a two-run homer to get us back in the game.”
Rooker is batting .403 this month, third-best in the majors. He extended Oakland’s lead to 2-0 in the first inning with a solo shot beyond the bullpens in left field.
The Angels sent nine batters to the plate and grabbed a 5-2 lead in the second inning. Rengifo’s two-run double gave Los Angeles a three-run advantage. Earlier in the inning, O’Hoppe and Zach Neto had RBI hits and Mickey Moniak added a sacrifice fly.
Rosenberg allowed six runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the season.
“Thing is, when we make mistakes in the wrong part of the plate with pitches, they’re not missing,” Angels Manager Ron Washington said. “We put the five on the board. If we could just get a shutdown inning, but then they got two. Then in the fourth they got two more, and that was the ballgame.”
