Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Angels 5, Athletics 2
The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. Scott Spiezio homered and drove in three runs, and Ramon Ortiz won his fourth straight decision as the Anaheim Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2 Tuesday night.
The win was the 11th in 12 games for the Angels, who moved within two games of AL West-leading Oakland and extended their lead over Seattle in the wild-card race to five games.
Terrence Long hit a two-run homer for the A's, who lost for just the second time in 25 games. They had won three straight since their AL-record 20-game winning streak was snapped in Minnesota.
Ortiz (13-9) held Oakland hitless for 5 1-3 innings. He walked four and struck out two before being relieved by Brendan Donnelly to start the seventh.
Troy Percival, the fifth Angels pitcher, retired David Justice on a fly to center with two on to end the eighth, then blanked the A's in the ninth for his 36th save in 40 chances.
Spiezio hit a two-run homer off Ted Lilly (4-7) in the first, his 10th, to put the Angels ahead for good.
Starting at third base in place of ailing Troy Glaus, Spiezio also scored three times.
He hit an RBI double with two outs in the eighth off Ricardo Rincon, and Garret Anderson followed with his major league-leading 53rd double for a 5-2 lead.
Spiezio walked to open the third and scored on Shawn Wooten's one-out double, making it 3-0 and chasing Lilly. After hitting Tim Salmon with a pitch, Mike Fyhrie retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Ray Durham singled with one out in the sixth for Oakland's first hit, and Long hit the next pitch over the right-field fence for his second homer in as many games and 15th of the season.
Ortiz has allowed a major league-leading 37 homers. He issued two walks later in the sixth before striking out Justice with his 100th pitch to end the inning.
Ortiz entered 0-4 lifetime with a 5.68 ERA in six starts against the A's.
The Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh before Chad Bradford retired Bengie Molina on a grounder.
Lilly, who had been sidelined since July 20 because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder, allowed three runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings.
Notes: Angels LHP Jarrod Washburn is under investigation by Anaheim police in an alleged sexual assault. The 28-year-old Washburn (17-5), the Angels' first 17-game winner in 11 years, has not been charged and the case has yet to be turned over to the Orange County district attorney's office, according to Scott Boras, Washburn's agent. ... Glaus didn't start because of a jammed left ring finger but entered at third base as a defensive replacement in the ninth. He was injured sliding headfirst into second base Monday night and is listed as day-to-day. ... Lilly was making just his third start for the A's since being acquired from the New York Yankees on July 5. ... Ortiz also pitched 5 1-3 hitless innings two starts ago in what turned out to be his first career shutout, a five-hitter against Baltimore. ... Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda, a senior vice president with the Los Angeles Dodgers, attended the game. Lasorda, who turns 75 later this month, managed Angels skipper Mike Scioscia for 14 years with the Dodgers. I'm here to bring him some Lasorda luck, he said.
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