, who lost in Japan last week in his first opening-day start.Fiers allowed one hit, struck out two and walked three in six innings. Three relievers completed the three-hit shutout that breezed by in 2 hours, 18 minutes.Trout drew the trainer and Ausmus out in the eighth after he made a hard slide into second and jarred his right leg.Albert Pujols went 0 for 3 with a strikeout as he began his 19th season. Pujols has 633 career homers and is back at 39 after season-ending left knee surgery in August and a right elbow procedure in September to remove bone spurs,Angels starter Trevor Cahill (0-1) allowed four runs and six hits over six innings against his former A's club.Chad Pinder followed Jurickson Profar's second-inning triple with a sacrifice fly to put his team ahead.The Angels have won five straight series from the A's, who are coming off a 97-win season and returned to the playoffs last year for the first time since 2014.TROUT'S MILESTONEWith his seventh start in center field on opening day, Trout became the first Angels player to do so at the position. Tim Salmon holds the franchise record for most starts at any spot with 11 consecutive starts in right field from 1993-2003.ROBINSON REMEMBEREDLate Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who attended high school in Oakland, was remembered with a tribute on the big screen before the game.STRATTON'S NEW TEAMNew Angels fifth starter Chris Stratton stayed in the Bay Area after being traded by the Giants late Tuesday, joining his new Los Angeles teammates for a dinner Wednesday night.TRAINER'S ROOMAngels: LHP Andrew Heaney will see a doctor after feeling something in his elbow during a bullpen session earlier this week. Heaney, who had Tommy John surgery in 2016, had been experiencing discomfort in the elbow and missed a week earlier this month. ''I'm a little concerned,'' Ausmus said. ... DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani hit on the field for the first time Wednesday since Tommy John surgery Oct. 1.Athletics: LHP Sean Manaea played catch on flat ground from 90 feet Monday and Wednesday and is scheduled to do so again Friday in his throwing progression as he works back from shoulder surgery. A 12-game winner before September shoulder surgery, Manaea pitched a no-hitter against Boston on April 21. He is expected to be out until around the All-Star break. ... New INF Kendrys Morales was available off the bench after arriving in time for first pitch following his trade from Toronto a day earlier. To clear roster room, INF Franklin Barreto was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Matt Harvey makes his Angels debut after signing an $11 million, one-year contract in December.Athletics: New RHP Marco Estrada (0-0, 5.40 ERA) pitches in front of the home fans for the first time after giving up two homers in his initial A's start, a no-decision during last Thursday's 12-inning loss to Seattle in Japan.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
A's welcome Angels, aim to move past rocky Japan trip The Oakland Athletics hope Opening Day in America goes better than their international version did last week when they begin a four-game series against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Thursday afternoon.The same two teams opened the 2018 season in Oakland, with the Angels bouncing back from a 6-5, walk-off loss on Opening Day to take 2-1, 8-3 and 7-4 victories to win the series. The buzz in Oakland that week was Japanese import Shohei Ohtani, who made his big-league debut both as a hitter and a pitcher.There's a Japanese angle to Thursday's game as well, but it involves the A's. They opened the 2019 season in Japan, losing two straight to the Seattle Mariners, 9-7 and 5-4.In the process, they also lost first baseman Matt Olson to a hamate injury. He's since had surgery and could be out through the month of April.Right-hander Mike Fiers (0-1, 15.00) took the loss in last Wednesday's opener, roughed up for five runs in three innings.He will be opposed Thursday by Angels right-hander Trevor Cahill, who pitched last season for Oakland.Acquired from Detroit last August for two players to be named later, Fiers helped pitch the A's into the playoffs, going 5-2 in 10 games, including nine starts. He faced the Angels twice last season, getting a no-decision in a 6-1 Tigers win in May, before drawing the loss in an 8-5 defeat in Anaheim in September.The 33-year-old has faced the Angels 10 times in his career, nine times as a starter, going 3-4 with a 5.82 ERA.The biggest thorn in his side, not surprisingly, has been Angels star Mike Trout, who has bombed Fiers for a .429 batting average and 1.469 OPS in 23 career plate appearances. Trout has gone 8-for-19 with two home runs, four doubles and seven RBIs.Trout has been in the news this offseason, agreeing to a record contract extension with the Angels.Veteran slugger Albert Pujols was among those applauding the Trout news."He's a special kid, man," Pujols noted to reporters during training camp. "He's a very special kid. And if he stays healthy, I'm telling you, the last couple of years is just the start of a great career." Someone else who got a contract from the Angels in the offseason was catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who left the A's as a free agent for a $3.35 million, one-year offer from Los Angeles.Lucroy caught nine of Fiers' 10 games with the A's last season.Ohtani won't be with the Angels to start the season as he rehabs from Tommy John elbow surgery. He is not expected to pitch in 2019, but could join the Angels' lineup as a hitter as early as May.Cahill enjoyed a bounce-back season after signing with the A's last spring. He went 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA, his most wins since going 8-10 for Arizona in 2013.He had pitched previously for Arizona, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, San Diego and Kansas City, as well as an earlier stint with Oakland.One ex-teammate Cahill won't have to deal with is Olson, who, according to A's manager Bob Melvin, will be missed for more than just his 29-homer bat."There are certain guys who you feel like are a little more replaceable than others. He's a tough one," Melvin assured reporters. "He makes everybody in the infield better. All you've got to do is get it over in his direction. He's got a wide wingspan and he picks everything out of the dirt."It's tough not having him out there." --Field Level Media
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