OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - On a night when Mike Trout twice got thrown out at the plate, the Los Angeles Angels still found a way to score big in the standings.
Pinch-hitter Ben Revere lined a go-ahead single in the 10th inning that diving left fielder Matt Joyce just missed, and the Angels took over the second AL wild-card spot by beating the Oakland Athletics 8-7 on Tuesday night.
The Angels moved a half-game ahead of Minnesota, which lost at Tampa Bay. The Angels are five games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.
“Our offense has been really picking us up the last week,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Now we need to do a better job on the mound. It’s going to be tough to reach our goal unless we can get to a certain point in the game. We had this game on our terms probably three times and couldn’t hold it.”
Oakland lost its eighth in a row, matching its longest skid over the last five years.
Trout was nailed at the plate in the third when he tried to score from third on a grounder. The Angels star was nabbed again in the fifth when he tried to get home from second on a single.
Trout was hit by a pitch from Kendall Graveman in the left side in the first inning. Trout later drew a walk in his career-high 13th straight game.
Cam Bedrosian (5-4) pitched a scoreless ninth. Eduardo Paredes retired Jed Lowrie on a flyball to escape a bases-loaded jam for his first career save.
“Losing’s tough to begin with but when you lose and you battle so hard to come back it’s a little bit tougher,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.
Blake Treinen (1-4) retired the first two batters in the 10th. He then hit a batter, C.J. Cron singled and Revere followed with his hit.
Cron hit a two-run homer in the sixth and an RBI triple in the eighth. Albert Pujols hit a run-scoring single and sacrifice fly, giving him 14 RBIs in his last six games for the Angels.
Joyce hit his 22nd homer and a sacrifice fly in the eighth that made it 7-all. Khris Davis hit his 38th home run and Matt Olson connected for the third time in two games for Oakland.
Angels starter Garrett Richards retired his first seven batters while pitching for just the second time this season. He allowed one run and four hits in 3 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one.
This game came five months to the day that he strained his right biceps muscle in Oakland in his season debut. The plan for him was to throw about 50 pitches or three innings in this outing - he totaled 52 pitches.
“It just felt good to be back out there with them,” Richards said. “I was right where I wanted to be. Misses were small, pounded the zone and got ahead of guys. I did everything that I wanted to do. This is a good one to build off of and hopefully next time I can go a little bit longer but stay with the same output.”
The Angels won a day after topping the A’s 11-9 in 11 innings. Los Angeles set an AL record by using 12 pitchers in that win - Boston tied that mark in a 19-inning victory over Toronto that ended early Wednesday.
GOING THE DISTANCE
The Angels sure are working for it in September. Their last five games: 4 hours, 33 minutes, 4:09, 3:49, 4:38 on Labor Day and 4:12 Tuesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: RHP Bud Norris is set to return Wednesday when eligible from his second stint on the disabled list with right knee inflammation. He threw a bullpen session Monday to test the knee.
Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn was transferred to the 60-day DL to clear roster space for September additions. He has been sidelined since Aug. 23 with a deep bone bruise in his pitching hand that’s comparable to a fracture. … RHP Daniel Mengden was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and will pitch the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader at home against Houston.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (1-4, 4.89 ERA) looks to bounce back from his shortest start of the season of two-plus innings Friday at Texas in which he surrendered a season-high six runs. He is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in four career starts against the A’s, 0-2 this year.
Athletics: LHP Sean Manaea (9-9 4.52), 1-4 with a 6.81 ERA over his last eight starts, tries for his first win against the Angels after going 0-2 with a 6.38 ERA in his first five starts vs. Los Angeles.
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