A's only runs come from Dye, Long homers

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Anaheim Angels found out that 10-game winning streaks mean nothing to Tim Hudson and the Oakland Athletics.

Jermaine Dye and Terrence Long homered as the A's won for the 23rd time in 24 games, beating Anaheim 2-1 Monday night.

''It's always important to win the first game of a series, and we had the right man on the mound to get us going,'' Oakland manager Art Howe said. ''It's probably going to be nip-and-tuck with them because both teams are solid in every department. I just hope we score more than them.''

Garret Anderson homered for the Angels, who had their 10-game winning streak snapped -- one shy of the club record set in 1964.

The Athletics, who had their AL-record 20-game winning streak snapped Friday night at Minnesota, increased their lead to three games over the Angels in the AL West.

Anaheim remained four ahead of Seattle in the wild-card race.

The game pitted Hudson against Kevin Appier, two streaking pitchers from staffs with the two best ERAs in the AL.

''Those guys matched each other pitch for pitch,'' Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. ''Hudson and those guys were just one step ahead of us. He really did a great job, had good stuff and kept the ball down. Those guys played some terrific defense behind him to squelch any chances we had.''

Hudson (13-9) retired the first 10 Angels en route to winning his sixth consecutive decision. He allowed one run on six hits in 7 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked none.

''When I have a guy going against me who's on top of his game, like Appier, I enjoy the competition,'' Hudson said. ''I just had a good sinker going. When I'm spotting it and moving it around, I can get a lot of groundballs.''

Billy Koch got three straight outs for his 39th save in 45 chances.

Appier (14-10) gave up two runs on five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked three to lose for the first time in seven starts since Aug. 2.

''He bears down when games are on the line,'' shortstop David Eckstein said. ''I just wish we would have gotten him some runs.''

Dye gave the A's a 1-0 lead with his two-out homer over the center-field wall in the fourth. Long's shot to right field in the fifth made it 2-0.

''Not horrible pitches by any means. They happened to be looking in the right spot,'' Appier said. ''That's something you know they can do.''

Anderson's leadoff homer to right in the fifth cut it to 2-1.

Appier pitched out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the sixth. He gave up consecutive walks to Scott Hatteberg and Miguel Tejada, then Eric Chavez singled to load the bases.

''I was chewing myself out,'' Appier said. ''We were in a very bad situation there, but fortunately I squeaked out of it.''

Appier struck out Dye and David Justice, and Mark Ellis flied out to end the threat. Fans gave Appier a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout.

''That's some of the best pitching we've seen all year. It was incredible,'' Scioscia said. ''I'm sorry we couldn't take advantage of it.''

The Angels stranded the tying run at third in the sixth as first baseman Hatteberg robbed Scott Spiezio of an RBI hit with a diving stop of his grounder down the line.

''For him to be in there in that situation shows that we have more and more confidence in his defensive abilities,'' Howe said of Hatteberg. ''If he keeps making plays like that, he'll get to play a lot more.''

Oakland's defense turned its second double play of the game in the seventh, after Anderson led off with a single. Tejada got it started at shortstop with a nifty backhand flip to second baseman Ellis, who threw out Brad Fullmer at first.

Troy Glaus struck out to end the inning.

''The play Tejada made was ridiculous,'' Appier said. ''That was a big blow.''

Game notes
Eckstein went 0-for-3, ending his career-high 15-game hitting streak. ... The Angels fell to 26-17 in one-run games. ... Oakland took an 8-5 lead in the season series and improved to 14-9 at Edison Field. Seven of its next 10 games are against the Angels. ... The A's improved to 45-27 on the road, which leads the majors. ... The Angels are 7-1 in September, surpassing their victory total from last September and October, when they went 6-21.