by Jerry Feitelberg

The Los Angeles Angels took game two of the three-game series 6-2. Cody Martin started for Oakland, and he pitched well the first two innings. He faltered in the third and was charged with five runs while allowing just three hits. A’s manager Bob Melvin used five pitchers in the game, and none of them was on the roster yesterday. The Angels Matt Shoemaker gave up a home run to the second batter he faced but settled down. Shoemaker went seven innings allowing just one run and five hits. The Angels used three more relievers to finish the game.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Brett Lawrie hit his fourteenth dinger of the season. It came on a 2-1 pitch and it landed about eight rows back in the left centerfield bleachers.

The Angels scored four times in the top of the third. Martin gave up three straight hits then walked a batter and hit Albert Pujols with a pitch before getting an out in the inning for two runs. The Angels scored another on a ground out, and the fourth run came in on a sacrifice fly..

The Angels added a run in the fourth and one in the seventh on a solo blast by Kole Calhoun. The A’s, on the other hand, have had just one hit since the second inning. 6-1 in the middle of the 7th.

The A’s scored a run in the bottom of the ninth. STephen Vogt and Billy Butler singled to put men on at first and third with no out. Vogt scored on a wild pitch. Street composed himself and retired the next three A’s hitters to secure the win for the Angels. Final score 6-2 in favor of LA.

Game Notes- Cody Martin, Arnold Leon, Dan Otero, Ryan Dull and R.J.Alvarez all pitched for Oakland Tuesday night. CVody Martin became the 26th player to pitch for Oakland this season. That tied an Oakland record set in 1997 and matched in 2009 and 2011.  Ryan Dull was the 27th, and that tied the franchise record of the Philadelphia A’s in 1915 and the Kansas City A’s in 1955.

The rubber game of the series will be played at 12:35 pm Wednesday afternoon at the O.co Coliseum. Sonny Gray will hurl for Oakland while Andrew Heaney will pitch for LA.

Time of game was three hours and four minutes and 14,178 were in the house.