By Morris Phillips

Offensively and especially defensively, Yoenis Cespedes put his imprint on the A’s 11-3 rout of the Angels.

Hitting fourth in place of the injured Brandon Moss, Cespedes doubled, tripled and hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning. The Cuban slugger also threw out two base runners at home plate in the second inning. With each great play, the sellout crowd at the O.co Coliseum roared its approval of Cespedes.

“No doubt about it. He just becomes a different player,” manager Bob Melvin said of the effect of the home crowd’s cheering on Cespedes.

With each great play, the A’s reversed the tide of the Angels 3-0 lead that came on Collin Cowgill’s three-run homer in the fourth inning. The A’s would go on to score 11 unanswered runs—one in the fourth, six in the seventh, and four more in the eighth to bury the Angels.

With a pair of wins to open the important series with the Angels, the A’s increased their lead to 3 ½ games in the AL West.

Tommy Milone made the start for the A’s and avoided disaster in the first inning by pitching out of a bases-loaded situation and keeping the game scoreless. But after allowing the home run to Tyler Skaggs in the fourth, Milone wasn’t around long enough to qualify for a win. Reliever Fernando Rodriguez pitched a scoreless seventh inning and picked up the win.

At 34-22 the A’s maintain the best record in the American League over the Central-leading Tigers and the East-leading Blue Jays.

Cespedes recorded a career-tying five RBIs in the win, but didn’t get a chance to bat for the cycle after homering in the eighth. His two outfield-assisted putouts at home in the same inning marked the first time the feat had been accomplished since 2011 when Cleveland’s Shin-Soo Choo did it.

The A’s look for the sweep on Sunday when Sonny Gray takes the mound for Oakland, and Jered Weaver pitches for the Angels.