Victorino Crashes Into Wall And It Falls In Angels' Loss [VIDEO]
JANIE McCAULEY, AP Baseball Writer
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shane Victorino crashed into the wall left field and down it came. The ball eluded him, too.
The Los Angeles Angels keep finding different ways to lose, and had more bad fortunes in the decrepit Oakland Coliseum in an 11-5 loss to the Athletics on Monday night.
Danny Valencia hit a two-run double in the third inning and another RBI-double in the fifth to back Felix Doubront in his first win for Oakland in a game delayed for a fix of the wall after Victorino ran into it on Valencia's second double.
"We're in this," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We need to do things just a little bit better."
Reinforcements are coming, like third baseman David Freese on Tuesday.
The game was delayed 10 minutes as players briefly returned to their dugouts. The piece that fell was a middle red panel of an advertising sign. Scioscia switched pitchers after the delay.
Only hours earlier, the stadium was rapidly transformed back to a baseball diamond after the Oakland Raiders hosted the Arizona Cardinals in an NFL preseason game Sunday night. The A's didn't work out on the field beforehand during that process.
"We had a malfunction out there," said Valencia, who joined the A's on Aug. 3 from Toronto. "I guess the combination of the ball being hit as hard as it was and Victorino running into it as hard as he did, brought the wall down. You never see that. I bet you it was because they played a football game last night and the fence probably wasn't intact like it probably normally is. As I've been here I've seen it, a lot of shenanigans out there."
Erick Aybar hit an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in his first two plate appearances for the Angels, while Albert Pujols singled in a run.
Mark Canha hit a three-run homer and Jake Smolinski's three-run double highlighted a decisive third inning for the A's.
"That was a crazy night. Did we get a record for longest nine-inning game?" Canha asked of the 3-hour, 44-minute contest.
Oakland chased Angels starter Hector Santiago (7-9) after 2 2-3 innings as the A's earned their first three-game winning streak since Aug. 7-9, against Houston.
Doubront (2-1) allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, striking out five and walking four in his first win since July 7, at the White Sox. It was the lefty's fifth appearance — and third start — with the A's since being traded by Toronto on July 31.
The Angels lost for the ninth time in 11 games and the 17th time in 20 road contests after being swept at Cleveland during a weekend series.
Santiago lost his third straight start, fifth consecutive decision and saw his winless stretch reach eight outings since a win against the Red Sox on July 20 gave him three straight victories.
"I had a rough August, September here we go," he said.
The left-hander was tagged for five runs and four hits, struck out four and walked three in his shortest start this year and the shortest since one inning last Sept. 19, at Texas.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Freese, sidelined since July 23 with a fractured right index finger, was en route to Oakland and set to be activated from the DL and play Tuesday night. ... LHP Tyler Skaggs threw 40 pitches — all fastballs — in a bullpen session as he works back from elbow surgery that will keep him out all year.
Athletics: Reliever Evan Scribner was removed in the ninth with tightness behind his shoulder, further slowing the already slow game. He will have an MRI on Tuesday. ... LHP reliever Sean Doolittle, who has made three appearances since returning from a shoulder injury Aug. 22, won't pitch three straight days as the A's remain cautious with him. "We have a plan for how much we're going to use him," manager Bob Melvin said. ... RHP Chris Bassitt had been scheduled to pitch Tuesday night but is out with shoulder soreness. He was scheduled to be examined by team doctors.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker (6-9) seeks his first victory against the A's in five starts this season after going 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA vs. Oakland. He looks to improve to 2-0 in as many outings since returning from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Athletics: RHP Cody Martin will be recalled from Triple-A Nashville to start in place of Bassitt, who is already in Oakland. He expects between 10-20 family and friends as he makes his first career start a couple of hours from his home in Dos Palos. Traded by the Braves on July 2, Martin thought he would pitch in San Francisco for Atlanta in late May but was sent down.
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