 moved a season-best 11 games over .500 and have their best 27-game start since beginning 21-6 in 1990.''Always good to get off to a good start,'' Piscotty said, noting of two-out hits, ''those are big at-bats. A lot of us, including myself, have usually struggled a little bit there but it was only a matter of time before that started to turn.'' Fiers (3-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.Semien notched his third career leadoff home run and second this season as Oakland jumped on Andrew Heaney from the start, also getting Stephen Piscotty's two-run double in the first. Matt Olson added an RBI double in the fifth to chase Heaney (1-2) before Piscotty's run-scoring single.''I've pitched against this lineup and it's not fun,'' Fiers said. ''They burn you in so many ways.'' Angels star Mike Trout hit a broken-bat, two-run single in the sixth that glanced off first baseman Matt Olson's glove and then got past a lunging Chad Pinder.Joakim Soria threw a 76 mph slider to retire Trout on a called third strike to end an eight-pitch at-bat and the eighth inning. Liam Hendriks finished for his ninth save.Angels slugger Albert Pujols went 1 for 5 with a double and remained stuck at 659 home runs, one from tying Hall of Famer Willie Mays for fifth all-time.Anthony Rendon had four more hits for an 11-game hitting streak for the Angels.Heaney, who took a no-decision against the A's on opening day, hasn't beat Oakland since 2017.Los Angeles lost its fourth straight and eighth in nine.SIMMONS RETURNSThe Angels welcomed back Andrelton Simmons from a sprained left ankle nearly a month after he got hurt running out an infield single July 27 at Oakland.Simmons singled to start the third only to have the A's defense turn a double play on David Fletcher's ensuing grounder.''I'm going to move it around a little bit,'' manager Joe Maddon said of the lineup. ''I've just got to be mindful of Andrelton's ankle coming back. You just can't push it. That was nine innings tonight. I was watching it closely, he assured us that he felt fine and he was kind of guarding himself, which is smart.'' ALDRETE AWAYManager Bob Melvin said first base coach Mike Aldrete was away from the club for another day as his home near Monterey remains safe for now but is threatened by a nearby wildfire.''He's close enough to where we all have our fingers crossed for him,'' Melvin said. ''This whole thing is so sad. It puts things into perspective when you're out on a baseball field playing baseball.'' The A's medical staff is monitoring the air quality with haze and smoke surrounding the ballpark.TRAINER'S ROOMAngels: C Max Stassi was out a day after leaving in the second inning at San Francisco when hit in the right knee by a foul ball. X-rays were negative. He suffered a bruise and a strain. ''I would say it's going to be at least two, three weeks at the minimum,'' Maddon said. The Angels were already short-handed at catcher after Jason Castro exited Wednesday's game following a five-game absence because of neck stiffness. Anthony Bemboom started behind the plate. ... DH Shohei Ohtani got a break to work on his swing and will play again Saturday. ''It'll be very important for us to get him right,'' Maddon said.Athletics: LHP A. J. Puk was scheduled to throw another bullpen at the team's San Jose alternate site, then is likely to take two days off before throwing to hitters. Melvin figures he will need to face live hitting a few times before returning to the A's as a potential long reliever to fill a void after the A's lost Burch Smith last weekend to a strained forearm. ''If we can get him up to three innings that would take care of that, even multiple innings. Our starters are going a little bit longer now,'' Melvin said of Puk. ''In theory you don't need four, five, six, something like that, so even two innings would be considered probably that role and my guess is we'll get him up to at least two innings before he's here.'' OUCHT. Bear, a giant stuffed orange bear in the left-field seats, was OK and smiling with his head wrapped in tape a day after taking a foul ball from the bat of Arizona's Ketel Marte. The bear, unavailable for interviews for 48 hours after a concussion per the team, cradled the souvenir ball.UP NEXTRHP Chris Bassitt (2-0, 2.93 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series for the A's opposite RHP Griffin Canning (0-3, 4.70 ERA).---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sportsr)
Angels' Heaney looks to shut down league-leading A'sAndrew Heaney will be on the mound to start for the Los Angeles Angels Friday night in the series opener against the Athletics in Oakland, taking a "glass is half-full" mentality into the game.Heaney (1-1, 4.74 ERA) was the Angels starter on Opening Day but things have not gone well for the left-hander or the club in his starts. The Angels are 1-4 in Heaney's five starts, including a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers his most recent time out.But Heaney said something might have clicked for him in that start. He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks in the first three innings. But he managed to pitch into the sixth inning, and gave up no runs, no hits and one walk in his final 2 2/3 innings."I think the last three innings I started to kind of find a little bit of rhythm," Heaney said. "Definitely did some things better that I hadn't done in the last couple (appearances). But still, I want to win games. I don't want moral victories." It wouldn't hurt if Heaney got some support, not so much from the Angels offense, but rather, the Angels bullpen. In his five starts, Heaney has allowed 13 runs while the bullpen has surrendered 20 runs. Heaney, though, could help the bullpen by pitching deeper into games -- he's averaging just under five innings per start.In that Opening Day start against Oakland, Heaney got a no-decision after allowing one run on two hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked none in one of his better performances of the season.That game, like Friday's, will be in Oakland, where the A's have been very good, not just this season, but for the past few. Going back to the beginning of the 2018 season, only the New York Yankees and Houston Astros have better home records in the American League.The A's, owners of the best record in the American League, are 11-3 this season at RingCentral Coliseum."I think it's just more the routine at home," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We started out at Summer Camp here and had our first few games here. Then you go on the road and it's a little different feeling. We're going have a stretch pretty soon when we play a lot of games at home. That's going to be an important stretch. But I just think we feel pretty comfortable here." Right-hander Mike Fiers (2-1, 5.96) will start Friday for the A's, making his sixth start of the year and third against the Angels. In the first two, Fiers got a no-decision and a loss, giving up nine runs on 14 hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings.He suffered his only loss of the season in his most recent start against the Angels, giving up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings on Aug. 11. Anthony Rendon, Brian Goodwin and Jason Castro each homered off Fiers in that game. Fiers has allowed seven home runs in all, second most in the American League (Detroit's Matthew Boyd has allowed eight).--Field Level Media
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