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Angels rally to beat Athletics in ninth

Jul 14, 2008 - 12:13 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Justin Duchscherer deserved better.

The All-Star righthander tied a franchise record with his 19th straight start allowing three or fewer runs, but Huston Street could not preserve a one-run lead as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Erick Aybar reached on an RBI infield single after Howie Kendrick lifted a sacrifice fly to tie the game against Street (2-3) in the ninth. Pinch runner Reggie Willits scored from second base on the play when A's first baseman Daric Barton double-clutched and threw late to the plate.

"I turned to throw but Kurt was looking up the line," Barton said. "If I would have thrown it that first time, we would have had him. I saw him round third and I know he's fast. I've seen him take third on bunts."

Willits was running all the way on the slow chopper that got over Street's head and forced shortstop Donnie Murphy onto the grass.

"In that situation, all the way up through the minor leagues, we are trained to go as hard as we possibly can go," Willits said. "My thinking is, with two outs, I'm going as hard as I can on contact. Usually you look for a throw that draws the first baseman off the bag; you don't often get to score on an infield hit like that."

"You're going to run through the bag in that situation and see what you can create - fortunately for us, Barton double-clutched and we got him in there," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez earned his major league-leading 38th save, but loaded the bases prior to striking out the final two batters of the game.

"They looked like they were looking for my off-speed stuff all the way, so I stayed with my fastball," Rodriguez said.

Duchscherer was opposed by Dustin Moseley, who was called up by the Angels to start in place of lefthander Joe Saunders, whose wife gave birth to the couple's first child late Saturday night. Moseley saw his 7.85 ERA go up in the first inning when Emil Brown and Carlos Gonzalez each drove in a run to stake the Athletics to a 2-0 lead.

"They were just finding holes. It's been a thing I've had to deal with all year," Moseley said.

Los Angeles scored in the fourth when Kendrick beat a double-play throw to first, which plated Guerrero.

Moseley settled down after the first, allowing only a walk to Jack Cust in the next four innings.

"I had a lot of success last year," Moseley said. "I try to go back to my experiences where I've done well. Coming into today, that's where I was at - three days rest, flying in late last night, no real time to prepare, just do my best and see what happens. Maybe I should try starting on three days rest all the time."

With Moseley pitching on short rest, Scioscia replaced him with lefthander Darren Oliver with one out in the sixth. Cust launched his second pitch over the left-field wall to give the Athletics a 3-1 advantage.

"Dustin threw the ball today as well as he ever has for us," Scioscia said. "It's a huge step forward for him."

With two outs in the eighth, Casey Kotchman sent a curveball into the right-field seats to halve the deficit against Duchscherer.

"I'm a little bit disappointed with Kotchman," Duchscherer said. "The at-bat before I threw a curveball and he put a good swing on it and grounded out. Then I think I just went to the well one too many times and I didn't get it down where I needed to and he made me pay and I think that run made a big difference in today's game."

Garret Anderson followed with a single and Athletics manager Bob Geren lifted Duchscherer for Brad Ziegler.

Reliever Jose Arredondo (3-0) notched the win for the Angels despite walking a pair of hitters in the eighth.