OAKLAND, Calif.—Brent Rooker hit a three-run homer, Lawrence Butler had a bases-clearing double and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 8–2 on Saturday, July 20.
The A’s have won five of seven and are on a franchise-long eight-game home winning streak against the Angels, with an announced crowd of 14,574 in attendance at the Coliseum. They have won consecutive series after taking two of three on the road against the Phillies prior to the All-Star break.
“You just don’t know what you’re going to see, and how long it’s going to take the team to continue the progress that we’ve made ... so it’s nice to see that we’ve come out and swung the bat as well, and kept the momentum going,” manager Mark Kotsay said.
The A’s have scored 39 runs over their last three games, their most runs over a three-game stretch since 2012.
Athletics starter Mitch Spence (6–6) pitched into the sixth and held the Angels to two runs.
Rooker hit his 22nd homer of the season to give the A’s a 3–0 lead four batters into the game. Rooker is batting nearly .480 in July.
Butler cleared the bases with two outs in the fourth inning with a line drive to right that made it 7–1. The rookie has 22 RBIs in his last 14 games, entering the game second in the league in RBIs in July. Butler and Miguel Andujar each had three hits.
Butler was sen down to Triple-A Las Vegas after batting .179 over the first 41 games of the season, but since being called back up in June, he has settled into the hitter that Kotsay saw in spring training.
“When he’s behind in a count, you can see unconsciously—there’s a mentality there that he’s not going to let an off-speed pitch out of the zone beat him,” Kotsay said.
Spence said that watching Butler hit has been fun to watch.
“The stuff he’s been doing has been unbelievable,” Spence said. “The biggest thing is even when he’s not on an absolute tear, he doesn’t lose confidence. He’s still putting together great at-bats, and I think that’s what makes a great hitter.”
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (0–2), making his second career start, pitched an inning longer than in his debut. He allowed seven runs in four innings.
Manager Ron Washington said Kochanowicz settled into after the first inning, but lost his command in the fourth. The Angels were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.