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DiNardo pitches well as Athletics hold off Angels

Jul 25, 2007 - 6:13 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- After a recent spate of bad play, Lenny DiNardo and the Oakland Athletics have begun to wake up.

DiNardo pitched 6 2/3 outstanding innings as the Athletics defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4-3, on Tuesday.

Rookie Travis Buck had four hits, including a homer, and made a diving catch in the eighth to stop a rally for Oakland, which captured its first series in nearly a month.

"Buck was definitely the star of the game," A's manager Bob Geren said.

The Athletics had lost five straight series, including dropping nine games in a row around the All-Star Break to fall 10 1/2 games behind Anaheim in the American League West. However, Oakland has won two straight vs. Anaheim to gain a series win since taking two of three from the New York Yankees on June 29-July 1.

"It's good to come in here and get two big wins in the first two games," A's closer Alan Embree said. "It's a big boost for our ball club."

DiNardo (5-6) allowed one run, three hits and a walk to follow up his best start of the season. The lefthander went seven innings, helping throw a 6-0 shutout against the Texas Rangers last Tuesday. He has also surrendered two earned runs or fewer in five of his last six outings.

"My cutter to the righties tonight worked well and I kept the ball down in the zone," DiNardo said. "We gained a game in the standings and it was a big win for the team."

After reliever Santiago Casilla allowed two runs and three hits in the eighth inning to help the Angels cut their deficit to 4-3, Embree came on to get Gary Matthews Jr. to hit a hard line drive into right field that Buck made a diving catch to save a run and end the inning.

"He (Buck) keeps getting better and better in the outfield," Geren said. "That was a huge catch at that point in the game and it ended up saving us from possibly going extra innings."

Embree also pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 11th save in 13 opportunities.

"I knew I had to come in and throw strikes and be careful with their hitters," Embree said. "I just tried to get quick outs and not make a lot of pitches and I did that tonight."

Oakland gave DiNardo an early lead when in the first inning. Buck, Nick Swisher and Shannon Stewart each had base hits, before a sacrifice fly by Mike Piazza gave the A's a 1-0 lead.

"It's always good when your team goes out and puts runs on the board early because it let's me settle down and just pitch my game," DiNardo said.

With two men on the in the second inning, Buck hit a run-scoring double to increase the lead by two.

"Buck was the big hero for us tonight with his bat and glove," A's second baseman Mark Ellis said. "He's showing everyone how good he is."

After the Angels cut the lead in half on an RBI groundout by Robb Quinlan in the fourth inning, Buck made it 3-1 when he took the first pitch he saw from Kelvim Escobar over the center field fence. It was the seventh homer of the season for Buck, who also added an RBI single in the eighth inning. Buck now has two career four-hit games.

"Travis did an excellent job hitting the ball the opposite way tonight," Geren added.

Escobar (11-4) went seven innings, allowing three runs, nine hits and two walks, snapping his career-best winning streak at five.

"I just left pitches up in the zone early and they took advantage of them," Escobar said. "I ended up settling down later on in the game and that's when I kept the ball down, but they already got to me."

The righthander had been 5-0 with a 2.68 ERA in his last eight starts and hadn't lost since May 31.

Vladimir Guerrero hit two doubles for the Angels, who have lost two straight and seven of nine.