by Charlie O. Mallonee

Where did the “Big Mo” go? You remember “Big Mo” – a.k.a momentum. Right now, it feels like the Oakland Athletics have lost all of the momentum that they had been building up earlier in the season.

The A’s are 5-8 in the month of June which is not good, but what makes that record even more devastating is the fact that six of those eight losses have come at the hands of American League West teams. The A’s cannot be losing that many games inside the division and hold on to any hopes of making the playoffs even as a Wild Card team.

What hurts, even more, is the Angels came into the game riding a five-game losing streak of their own. They are a team that had great expectations for 2018 and have now been beset by injuries.

The Angels are the team that the A’s must pass first if they are going to move up in the Western Division and make a run at the Mariners and Astros.

This game did not start well
Chris Bassitt was back on the mound making his second start in a week for Trevor Cahill, who is now on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained right achilles. Bassitt pitched well last Saturday against the Royals, despite taking the loss. Things did not go well Friday night.

After inducing Angels leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler to ground out, Bassitt gave up a single to Mike Trout. He then issued a walk to Justin Upton. Albert Pujols reached base safely when Bassitt fielded a ground ball and his throw to first base sailed into foul territory. Trout and Upton were able to scramble home to score while Pujols ended up at second. When the top of the first was over, the Angels lead 2-0 with both runs being unearned.

The third inning brought more bad news for Bassitt and the A’s. Trout singled to open the inning. Upton followed immediately with a single of his own. With Trout at second and Upton at first, Pujols reached first on Chad Pinder’s throwing error that allowed Trout to score and Upton to advance to third.

The Angels went on to score two more runs in the top of the third inning and held a 5-0 lead as the A’s prepared to come to bat in the bottom of the third.

Los Angeles went scored again in the fourth inning — which would be the final inning of work for starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. The Angels would go on to score two more runs off Oakland reliever Carlos Ramiez in the top of the fifth.

The A’s finally put runs up on the board in the home half of the fifth inning. Mark Canha led off the inning and reached base on a throwing error charged to the LA shortstop. Piscotty and Smolinski both struck out. Catcher Josh Phegley hit an RBI double to center field that drove Canha home to score. Marcus Semien then hit an RBI double of his own that allowed Phegley to score the second run of the game for the A’s. After five full innings, the Angels held an 8-2 lead.

The A’s added one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Chad Pinder ran home from third on a wild pitch by Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian to make it an 8-3 game.

The A’s never quit trying. In the ninth inning, Stephen Piscotty picked up a one-out single off LA reliever Justin Anderson. Pinch-hitter Dustin Fowler hit a hard grounder to second that Kinsler had trouble fielding and he legged it out for a single while Piscotty advanced to third. With Semien at-bat, Fowler moved up to second on defensive indifference. Semien walked to load the bases.

Anderson threw a wild pitch to Chad Pinder and Piscotty was able to score from third base to make it an 8-4 contest. Pinder struck out to end the game.

The Angels beat the A’s 8-4 in game one of the three-game series.

Tyler Scaggs picked up the win for the Angels and upped his record to 6-4, 2.81 ERA. The A’s Chris Bassitt is hung with the loss as his record drops to 0-2, 2.45 ERA. There was no save awarded for the game.

Major postgame news
In his postgame news conference, manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Matt Chapman will be going on the disabled list beginning Saturday due to a hand injury. Franklin Barreto was lifted from the Nashville Sounds game in El Paso before its conclusion so he could travel to Oakland for Saturday.

Chad Pinder will most likely be the primary replacement at third base but do not be surprised to see Lowrie spend time at the “hot corner” while Barreto fills in at second base.

Melvin’s postgame comments

In the batter’s box
Angels (38-32, 3rd place AL West)

• Mike Trout (the best player in baseball? If not, tell me who is better!) collected three hits in the game. That was hit his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
• Ian Kinsler hit his ninth home run of the year in the fourth inning off of Bassitt. He is batting (21-for-66) with five doubles, seven home runs, and 12 RBI in his last 16 games.
• Catcher Jose Briceno broke an 0-for-8 hittless streak with a 3-for-4 game at the plate on Friday night.

A’s (34-36, 4th place AL West)

• Jed Lowrie got back on track by ending an 0-for-8 hitless streak by picking up three hits in four trips to the plate on Friday night.
• Josh Phegley had his first multi-hit game of season. One of those hits was an RBI-double.
• Marcus Semien is being very productive with runners in scoring position. He is batting .359 when he has runners on base with a chance to score.

On the hill
Los Angeles of Anaheim

• This was Tyler Skaggs third consecutive win, which is the longest winning streak of his career.
• Skaggs struck out eight A’s batters, walked only one and allowed seven hits. He gave up two runs (none earned).
• The three Angels pitchers allowed a combinded 10 hits while they struck out 11 Oakland batters.

Oakland

• Starter Chris Bassitt is still looking for his first win since August 4, 2015. Of course, Bassitt missed almost two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery. He is actually 0-8 since his last win in 2015.
• The A’s used five pitchers in game on Friday night.
• A’s pitchers gave up eight runs off just nine hits in the game.

Up next

Coming on Saturday, the Angels and A’s will meet again at 1:05 pm PDT at the Coliseum. Los Angeles will start RHP Nick Tropeano (3-4, 4.83 ERA). The A’s will send LHP Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.49 ERA) to the hill.