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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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| Hudson |
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Sending Tim Hudson to the mound can make
a manager's job easy.
Hudson scattered six hits and pitched into the eighth inning
Tuesday night as the Oakland Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels 5-1.
"He spoils me," Oakland manager Art Howe said of the
25-year-old right-hander. "Every time he goes out there, I expect
what he did tonight. And more often than not, he does it.
"He's just a terrific pitcher."
Hudson (2-1) held Anaheim to one run -- rookie David Eckstein's
first major league homer -- on six hits in seven-plus innings. He
struck out five and walked one.
"We had our chances, but Hudson made some good pitches to get
out of jams," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "He pitched a
heck of a game."
Hudson last year became the first 20-game winner for the A's in
a decade. He is 33-9 so far in his big-league career.
He was coming off a rocky outing against Seattle when he lasted
just 2 1/3 innings, where he gave up five runs on six hits in a 7-3
loss.
"The difference tonight was location more than anything else,"
he said after he ran his record against the Angels to 5-1. "I
think I was a little more relaxed out there and I was down in the
zone more.
"In Seattle, I was up in the zone more and you can't get away
with that up here (in the majors).
Jason Giambi doubled twice, drove in one run and scored another
as the A's won their second straight after losing seven in a row.
The defending AL West champions are now 4-10.
"This was our best game of the year," Howe said. "We had
great pitching, we had timely hitting and we played defense."
Anaheim's Ramon Ortiz (2-1) allowed five runs -- four earned --
and seven hits in six-plus innings. He was replaced after giving up
a single to Miguel Tejada and Giambi's double to start the seventh.
Reliever Mike Holtz's wild pitch allowed Tejada to score, then
Giambi came home on Eric Chavez's sacrifice fly for a 5-1 lead.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Angels, but Scioscia
wasn't particularly worried.
"The way we've played the last four days is not even scratching
the surface of what we can do," he said. "On the offensive side,
we've run into a couple of tough pitchers, and not hit very well,
and our defense hasn't played as well as it should.
"But pitching has been the one bright spot in this whole little
slump. That's almost reassuring to see those pieces fall into
place."
Ramon Hernandez's single had scored Olmedo Saenz from second
base to put the A's up 2-1 in the fourth.
Saenz scored again in the sixth to make it 3-1, reaching on
Eckstein's error at shortstop, advancing to third on a sacrifice
bunt by Hernandez and scoring on Jeremy Giambi's fielder's choice
grounder.
Both times Saenz scored when Angels' throws home were off the
mark.
Darin Erstad had a chance to throw Saenz out on Hernandez's
sharp single to center, but the Anaheim center fielder's throw was
wide to the left of the plate. In the sixth, with the Angels'
infield drawn in, second baseman Adam Kennedy fielded Giambi's
grounder and threw wide to the first-base side of the plate. Saenz
crossed the plate standing up ahead of Bengie Molina's sweep tag.
Jason Giambi doubled in a run in the opening inning after Ortiz
walked leadoff batter Johnny Damon.
Eckstein's homer to left came on a 3-2 pitch in the third
inning.
Ortiz had control problems, walking four and striking out just
two. Both his earlier wins were against Texas, a 7-2 victory last
week after a 10-3 victory at Arlington on April 5, when he held the
Rangers to a combined four runs on nine hits, with 17 strikeouts
over 14 1/3 innings.
Game notes
Oakland's worst record through 14 games is 3-11 in 1998.
... The A's have scored 27 runs in the last four games after
totaling 28 in their first 10. ... Howe is one win shy of 400 as
the Athletics' manager. Tony La Russa guided the team to an Oakland
record 798 victories. ... After Wednesday's game against Oakland,
the Angels begin their longest road trip of the season, starting
the 10-game swing at Seattle on Thursday.
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RECAPS
Cleveland 8
Baltimore 1
Detroit 7
Chi. White Sox 4
Toronto 6
NY Yankees 5
Boston 10
Tampa Bay 0
Minnesota 6
Kansas City 5
Oakland 5
Anaheim 1
Seattle 6
Texas 4
Philadelphia 6
Chicago Cubs 3
Cincinnati 3
Milwaukee 2
Houston 0
Pittsburgh 0
NY Mets 4
Montreal 0
Florida 3
Atlanta 2
Arizona 17
St. Louis 4
Colorado 9
San Diego 5
San Francisco 3
Los Angeles 2
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