OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Seth Brown hit his second RBI triple of the game to break a sixth-inning tie in a special home debut, Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Brown followed Mark Canha’s single in the sixth with the go-ahead hit off loser Noe Ramirez (4-3). Brown’s first triple came in the second, and he tied Oakland’s single-game record that has been done 12 times. Chapman hit two triples on July 26, 2018, at Texas.
Albert Pujols hit his 654th career home run leading off the fourth, moving the 39-year-old slugger within six of Hall of Famer Willie Mays (660) for fifth on the all-time list.
Mike Trout homered in the first for the Angels and Andrelton Simmons added an RBI single in the second against Mike Fiers, who has won 11 consecutive decisions spanning 21 starts dating to a May 7 no-hitter against the Reds but didn’t factor into the decision.
Justin Upton hit a tying homer in the top of the sixth against Blake Treinen after Chapman connected for his 31st homer in the third. Yusmeiro Petit (5-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Liam Hendriks finished for his 18th save after blowing a chance against the Yankees to lose Sunday in the Bronx.
Khris Davis had two RBIs, one on a groundout and a sacrifice fly in the sixth for an insurance run.
Fiers struck out four over five innings, allowing four runs, seven hits and two walks. With his next start he will match his career-high of 30 done three times previously.
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani returned to starting at designated hitter and went 1 for 4 with a double and two strikeouts after coming off the bench Saturday and Sunday and spending some extra time taking swings in the cage.
Angels starter Jamie Barria made his fifth consecutive road start and lasted just four innings. He gave up four earned runs and four hits, struck out five and walked two.
ROAD WOES
The Angels dropped to 3-14 over their last 17 road games.
At 65-74, Los Angeles is nine games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2016 season at 74-88.
UPCOMING DEBUT
A’s catching prospect Sean Murphy, a third-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Wright State, is scheduled to make his major league debut before the series ends. Manager Bob Melvin said Murphy would either start behind the plate Wednesday night or during Thursday afternoon’s finale.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: If RHP Justin Anderson (right upper trap strain) continues to make progress he will pitch in a simulated game as soon as Friday, when the Angels open a weekend series against the White Sox in Chicago. … All-Star INF Tommy La Stella, recovering from a broken tibia in his right leg, could join the Angels in Chicago even if he might not be quite ready to come off the injured list, manager Brad Ausmus said. … Los Angeles recalled C Anthony Bemboom from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Athletics: CF Ramon Laureano, nearly back from a stress reaction in his lower right leg, took live batting practice on the field for the first time and said the last four times he has done running work it has been at full speed. Laureano considers himself fully healthy and ready to return, and manager Bob Melvin said that will happen this weekend against the Tigers. When Laureano returns, Canha will return to RF and Melvin plans to pick a left fielder based on matchups. … RF Stephen Piscotty (right ankle) is yet to begin baseball activities in his latest rehab.
UP NEXT
LHP Patrick Sandoval (0-1, 5.24 ERA) faces the A’s for the first time in his career coming off five scoreless innings with a career-best nine strikeouts his last time out, a no-decision vs. Texas. Oakland counters with RHP Tanner Roark (2-1, 3.30), making his sixth start for the A’s since being acquired from the Reds at the trade deadline.
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