by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s and the Angels had their aces going for them tonight. The A’s Sonny Gray was looking to pick up his third win of the year and the Angels’ Jered Weaver was hoping to get his first. Gray got the win as the A’s rocked Weaver for five runs in the first and went on to beat the Angels 6-2 and snap a four-game losing streak. Gray did not get off to a good start either as he gave up two runs in the first and was nailed for five hits in the first two innings. Gray settled down after the second and retired 18 out of the last 19 hitters he faced allowing just one single in the seventh. Weaver also settled down and he retired 13 in a row before giving up a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth and a solo home run to Josh Reddick in the sixth.

The Angels scored two runs in the top of the first. A’s ace, Sonny Gray walked the leadoff batter, Kole Calhoun, to start the game. Kole advanced to third on a seeing-eye single off the bat of Albert Pujols. Pujols reached second on a wild pitch. David Freese singled to center driving in Calhoun and Pujols. Freese was thrown out trying to reach second but A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt, alertly cut off the throw and nailed Fresse sliding into second. The A’s came roaring back in their half of the first as they scored five runs on four hits. Marcus Semien singled with one out to get the rally going. He went to third on a single by Stephen Vogt. Angels’ starter, Jered Weaver,  hit Billy Butler with a pitch to load the bases. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Semien and Vogt to tie the game. Brett Lawrie  took Weaver’s first pitch and sent it into the left field bleachers for a three-run homer to give the A’s a 5-2 lead.

There was no more scoring until the bottom of the sixth. Both Sonny Gray and Jered Weaver pitched well as each pitcher found his mojo and the hitters just couldn’t get to them until A’s Right Fielder, Josh Reddick, sent a Weaver pitch into the seats in right field to give the A’s a 6-2 lead after six.

Gray went eight innings and the A’s brought in Evan Scribner to pitch in the ninth. Scribner struck out the Angels three top hitters, Trout, Pujols and Freese to put an end to the game.

Game notes- The A’s won for the first time when the opponent scored first and have outscored the opposition 68-8 in their nine wins. Gray is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in the starts against the AL West and is 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA in seven career appearances, including six starts, against the Angels. Brett Lawrie hit a three-run homer in the first inning and has six RBI in the last two games. Josh Reddick was 2 for 4 and now has a 6 game hitting streak.

The A’s meet the Angels on Wednesday night at 7:05pm. Jesse Chavez will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Garrett Richards.

The A’s released the following information regarding Sean Doolittle and Coco Crisp.

Doolittle is expected to throw more bullpens before eventually facing hitters and getting into game situations. The A’s bullpen has been struggling in his absence, posting a 4.43 ERA as a unit, which ranked 25th in the league entering Tuesday’s game against the Angels.

Crisp, who underwent right elbow surgery April 3 to remove bone chips, sounds very close to game action. He is hoping to play for Class A Advanced Stockton at some point during their upcoming homestand, which runs Friday through May 7.

The veteran outfielder said it will be an adjustment since it’s the first time he was sidelined for Spring Training in his career. Not to mention he’s making the move from center field to left.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Crisp said. “I don’t know how many games I’ll need down there or if I’ll feel good right away, as far as my timing and my body.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said injured utility man Ben Zobrist underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday afternoon to repair a meniscus tear, but that he didn’t have any information about Zobrist’s expected recovery time.

Attendance was 17,674 and time of game was an astounding 2 hours and six minutes.