Angels 1 - 2 Athletics
Final
  for this game

A's catch Angels on wild pitch

Aug 24, 2014 - 6:32 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Coco Crisp scored the go-ahead run on a Joe Smith wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics tied the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim atop the AL West with a 2-1 win.

Crisp singled off Smith (5-2) to begin the eighth and moved to third base on consecutive groundouts. Smith was then wild with his command, hitting Derek Norris before throwing the errant pitch.

"Joe's been one of the mainstays down there (in the bullpen), one of the biggest reasons why we've been able to pick up ground and get to the top our standings and hopefully stay there," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "He'll be big down the stretch also. It just didn't happen tonight."

Luke Gregerson (3-2) picked up the win after retiring the Angels in order in the top of the eighth. Sean Doolittle worked around a two-out single by Howie Kendrick in the ninth to earn his 20th save.

The Athletics will look to complete the three-game sweep and reclaim sole possession of first place on Sunday.

"What we're gonna have to do is not look at the big picture," Doolittle said. "Obviously we have that goal, but we're gonna have to take it step by step in order to accomplish anything."

Oakland's Jon Lester and the Angels' C.J. Wilson dueled through the first seven innings Saturday.

The A's opened the scoring in the second, as Jonny Gomes came around on a Sam Fuld single. Alberto Callaspo was erased in a rundown on the play, and Oakland later had a runner thrown out at the plate.

Josh Donaldson led off the sixth with a walk and tried to score on a Norris double to left field, but was called out on a bang-bang play. The A's challenged the call, which was upheld by replay.

The Angels tied it in the seventh when Kendrick doubled and scored on an Erick Aybar single.

Game Notes

Oakland leads the season series 8-3, including a 5-0 mark at home ... Craig Gentry extended his hitting streak against the Angels to 13 games ... Lester and Wilson both gave up a run on five hits ... Lester struck out seven and walked one in seven innings, while Wilson had three walks and fanned three in 6 1/3 innings.






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