Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea throws to the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND- The A’s, behind a terrific outing by starter Sean Manaea, snapped an eight-game losing streak as they defeated the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Manaea went six plus innings and allowed no runs and just four hits. His record for the season is 10-9. The Angels’ starter Tyler Skaggs also went six innings, but he gave up five hits and three runs. Skaggs’ record is now 1-5

The A’s Khris Davis put one on the board when he led off the fourth inning with a solo home run that cleared the scoreboard in right field. For Davis, it was his 39th homer of the year, and he is now leading the American League in that department.

Oakland scored two more runs in the fifth. Only one was unearned. With one out, Marcus Semien doubled. Chad Pinder followed with a single to drive in Semien with the A’s second run. They scored the third run when Khris Davis hit a very high fly ball to left. Angels’ left fielder, Justin Upton, lost the ball in the sun. He did get a glove on the ball but couldn’t put it away. Pinder scored all the way from first, and Davis landed on second. Upton was charged with an error. Tha A’s lead 5-0 after five.

The Angels plated a run in the eighth. The big blow was Kole Calhoun’s triple into the corner in right field. Andrelton Simmons scored on the play.  The A’s bullpen did not allow another run as the A’s snapped the eight-game losing streak. Chris Hatcher earned his first American League save.

Game Notes- With the loss and the win by the Minnesota Twins over the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday, the Angels fall a half-game back of the Twins in the race for the second Wild Card in the AL. The Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Tamp Bay Rays all have a chance, and each game is so critical for these teams. The Angels really wanted to sweep but to the A’s and Bob Melvin deserve credit as they team refused to quit, and even though they lost two very close games to the Angels, they came to play on Wednesday.

A very strange event occurred in the fourth inning, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman was about to hit when he and Angels’ catcher Juan Graterol got into a bit of a heated exchange. Graterol jumped up from his crouch and confronted Chapman. Home plate Umpire Mike Everitt tried to intercede, and A’s manager Bob Melvin raced out of the dugout to quiet things down. Melvin appeared to have the situation in hand and headed back to the dugout. Chapman must have said something to Everitt as Everitt turned to Chapman and gave him the boot. Renato Nunez replaced Chapman in the lineup.

The Angels’ Mike Scioscia used just three pitchers in the game while the A’s used four. It was quite a contrast from the last two games when both teams used twenty on Monday and fifteen Tuesday.

The A’s are off Thursday and resume play Friday night against the Houston Astros. They will play single games on Friday and Sunday, and there will be an old-fashioned single admission doubleheader on Saturday. The A’s Jharel Cotton, with a record of 7-10, will pitch for the Green and Gold. Collin McHugh (2-2) will handle the pitching chores for the Astros.

Time of game was three hours and ten minutes and 10,544 faithful A’s fans were on hand to see the Green and Gold defeat the Angels 3-1.