Read More: Chris Tillman (P – BAL), Ryan Sweeney (RF – OAK), David DeJesus (RF – OAK), Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees

The Oakland Athletics open a three game series with the Baltimore Orioles at the Oakland Coliseum Friday night at 7:05pm on CSN California. The A’s are coming off a four game series split with the Los Angeles Angels and will be looking to gain some momentum before the AL East-leading Yankees come to town next week.

The A’s send out Gio Gonzalez to face Orioles starter Chris Tillman. Although Tillman’s overall numbers aren’t spectacular, he’s been quite solid his last three starts. Since getting blasted by Kansas City on May 5, Tillman has pitched 16 innings giving up two runs over that span against Seattle, Boston and Washington. In his brief 2+ year career, Tillman has yet to face the A’s.

The A’s are giving Coco Crisp the night off and have moved David DeJesus into the leadoff spot, while starting Ryan Sweeney in center field. The moves make some sense as those two have been the A’s two best hitters in the month of May. DeJesus has a line of .301/.370/.589 in 73 at bats, while Ryan Sweeney has a line of .372/.449/.419 in 43 at bats. The A’s are looking for any sort of offensive spark, so getting their two best bats right now into the lineup makes all the sense in the world.

Oakland Athletics
1. David DeJesus RF
2. Daric Barton 1B
3. Ryan Sweeney CF
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Hideki Matsui DH
6. Kurt Suzuki C
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Andy LaRoche 3B
9. Cliff Pennington SS

Baltimore Orioles
1. Robert Andino 2B
2. Adam Jones CF
3. Nick Markakis RF
4. Vladimir Guerrero DH
5. Matt Wieters C
6. Nolan Reimold LF
7. Mark Reynolds 3B
8. J.J. Hardy SS
9. Jake Fox 1B

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Brett Anderson tossed three-hit ball over eight scoreless innings and Andy LaRoche drove in three runs to help the last-place Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Thursday.

The A’s split their four-game series with the second-place Angels, who fell to 4-7 in their past 11 games.

Anderson (3-4) struck out four and walked three to beat the Angels for the first time in six career starts. The left-hander had been 0-3 in his previous five starts. Anderson finally got some run support from his teammates, who had supplied two runs or less in seven of his previous 10 starts this season.

Grant Balfour gave up a three-run homer to Mark Trumbo with two outs in the ninth.

The Angels’ Torii Hunter, who had a hit and an RBI in each of his previous six games, failed to extend the longest such stretch of his career, going 0 for 3 with a walk.

The Angels’ only hits off Anderson were a single by Erick Aybar in the second inning, a double by Maicer Izturis in the sixth and a single by Alberto Callaspo in the seventh.

Joel Pineiro (2-1) gave up 11 hits and four runs in 6 1-3 innings — the same three totals he had in his previous start against Atlanta. The 11 hits are the most allowed by an Angels starter this season. The right-hander struck out three and walked none while falling short in a bid to notch his 100th career victory.

The A’s extended their lead to 4-0 with three runs in the fourth. Josh Willingham led off with a single before Mark Ellis singled with two outs. LaRoche followed with a double to left field, scoring Willingham and Ellis. He scored on Cliff Pennington’s single.

Oakland led 1-0 in the second on LaRoche’s groundout to third that scored former Angel Hideki Matsui, who singled to lead off the inning.

Notes: The Angels placed INF Howie Kendrick on the 15-day DL with right hamstring tightness, and signed INF Russell Branyan to a contract for the season. Branyan pinch hit in the ninth. … Angels INF Kendrys Morales underwent a second surgery in Vail, Colo., on his left ankle to clean out scar tissue, degenerative cysts and debris in the area. He won’t return this season. … The A’s closed their seven-game trip with a 2-5 record. … Oakland starters have allowed one earned run or less in seven of the past eight games.

(This version CORRECTS Athletics 4, Angels 3. Corrects to Andy in 1st paragraph. Restores previous.)

Read More: Daric Barton (1B – OAK), Conor Jackson (LF – OAK), Joel Pineiro (P – ANA), Los Angeles Angels

The Oakland Athletics wrap up their four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels hoping to secure a split with a win today. Brett Anderson takes the mound for the A’s and will face Joel Pineiro at 12:35pm pacific time. The game will air live on CSN California.

The A’s are giving Daric Barton a day off and starting Conor Jackson in his place. Barton is two for his last twenty with two singles and one walk. After a strong under the radar 2010 campaign, Barton has struggled immensely in 2011. He still brings the solid defense at first, but his offensive output has been just about non-existent. At the top of the order, this kind of offensive black hole can be extremely costly for an offense already struggling.

The rest of the A’s lineup remains the same, which means fans can continue banging their heads against the wall. Given how poorly the A’s have performed on offense, you’d think some kind of shake-up would be in order. The A’s have some hitters down at AAA that are performing well. Highly rated prospect Michael Taylor is off to a strong start through eleven games after a disappointing 2010. Adrian Cardenas and Jemile Weeks are both playing extremely well with a bit more time under their belts. At some point, if you’re Billy Beane and Bob Geren, don’t changes need to be made?

Oakland Athletics
1. Coco Crisp CF
2. David DeJesus RF
3. Conor Jackson 1B
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Hideki Matsui DH
6. Kurt Suzuki C
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Andy LaRoche 3B
9. Cliff Pennington SS

Los Angeles Angels
1. Maicer Izturis 2B
2. Erick Aybar SS
3. Bobby Abreu DH
4. Torii Hunter RF
5. Alberto Callaspo 3B
6. Mark Trumbo 1B
7. Peter Bourjos CF
8. Jeff Mathis C
9. Reggie Willits LF

(Sports Network) – Behind Torii Hunter’s resurgent bat, the Los Angeles Angels
take aim at a series victory over the Oakland Athletics this afternoon in the
finale of a four-game set in Anaheim.

Hunter and Alberto Callaspo ripped back-to-back homers off A’s starter Trevor
Cahill in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s matchup, leading the Angels to a 4-1
victory. It marked the sixth game in a row for Hunter with an RBI, with the
outfielder driving in eight in that span.

The 35-year-old Hunter is batting .409 (9-for-22) over his last six games
after managing just one hit in his previous 24 at-bats.

“I’m just trying to settle in and focus,” Hunter said. “Cahill is one of the
best pitchers in the American League. We were able to capitalize on a couple
of his mistakes. He doesn’t make many.”

Ervin Santana threw six innings of one-run ball for the Angels, who have won
four of six and sit a half-game behind the Rangers for first place in the
American League West. The Athletics are three games back of Texas.

Coco Crisp brought in the lone run for Oakland, which has dropped seven of
its last eight games, while Cahill allowed all four runs — three earned — in
six innings of work to fall to 6-2.

The A’s have been held to just a single run or less in five of their last
seven games, batting .214 as a team in that span.

Oakland’s Brett Anderson and Joel Pineiro of Los Angeles will square off this
afternoon in a rematch of a May 16 contest in which neither starter factored
into the decision of the Athletics’ 5-4 victory in extra innings. Anderson
allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings while striking out seven, and Pineiro
was charged with three runs over seven innings.

Anderson’s no-decision is part of his current five-start winless stretch that
has seen him go 0-3 with a 5.04 earned run average since his last victory on
April 24. Following his outing versus the Angels, Anderson took the loss in
San Francisco on Saturday despite allowing just one first-inning run over his
five-frame outing.

“You don’t want to ever give up a run in the first inning,” Anderson told
Oakland’s website. “You walk the leadoff guy and he comes around to score, and
it’s kind of unfortunate, but you have to put that behind you.”

The 23-year-old is 2-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 10 starts this season and 0-2 with a
4.55 ERA in five career starts versus the Angels.

Pineiro, meanwhile, picked up his second straight no-decision on Saturday
versus the Braves. The right-hander gave up season highs of four runs and 11
hits over 6 2/3 innings, with all four runs allowed coming in the seventh
inning. The big blow came on a three-run homer.

“The only slider I hung was the home run. It seemed like all the pitches I
left up were in that one inning, and they made me pay for it,” said Pineiro.

Pineiro, 32, is 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA and is still sitting on 99 career wins. He
is 9-8 with a 4.12 ERA lifetime when facing Oakland.

Oakland has won four of six over Los Angeles since a six-game series losing
streak, but has dropped 10 of its last 12 at Angel Stadium.

The Sports Network

ANAHEIM, Calif. —
Angels 4, Athletics 1

Torii Hunter and Alberto Callaspo hit back-to-back homers, Ervin Santana allowed one run in six solid innings, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1 Wednesday night for their fourth win in six games.

Reggie Willits’ first hit of the season was a run-scoring double for the Angels, and Peter Bourjos added an RBI single. Los Angeles has won two of three in the four-game series with its upstate AL West rivals.

Santana (3-4) yielded six hits and two walks in his second straight victory after winning just once in his first nine starts.

Hunter and Callaspo connected in the fifth inning against Trevor Cahill (6-2), who couldn’t join Boston’s Jon Lester as the AL’s only seven-game winners.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Read More: David DeJesus (RF – OAK), Guillermo Moscoso (P – OAK), Josh Outman (P – OAK), Dan Haren (P – ANA), Los Angeles Angels

The Oakland Athletics finally got one in the win column as they defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-1 on Tuesday night. The A’s got a strong debut from Guillermo Moscoso and a big night from outfielder David DeJesus as they won for the second time against Dan Haren.

Although Moscoso had made relief appearances for the Texas Rangers in 2009 and 2010, his start against the Angels marked his first career major league start. Moscoso followed up Josh Outman’s strong Monday performance with a strong performance of his own. Moscoso lasted six innings and gave up three hits and three walks, but no runs. As with Outman, Moscoso bought himself at least one more start while Tyson Ross and Brandon McCarthy continue to recover from their respective injuries.

The A’s offense had a big night thanks primarily to David DeJesus. In four at bats, DeJesus had two home runs and drove in four runs. Josh Willingham joined in the phone with an RBI double that knocked in Daric Barton and Cliff Pennington.

The six runs were more than enough to get the A’s back in the win column. After Brian Fuentes went off on Bob Geren Monday night, the six runs meant there was no save situation for either Fuentes or Balfour to handle. Joey Devine, Craig Breslow, an Brad Ziegler each threw an inning of relief to close out the game.

The A’s and Angels play game three of their four game series Wednesday evening at 7:05pm. The game is going to be on CSN California and will feature Trevor Cahill faving facing off against Ervin Santana.