Angels lose ground in AL West as A's rally for victory

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics got another solid job out of rookie Vin Mazzaro and some splendid work from their bullpen. The most important throw of the game, however, was made by left fielder Scott Hairston.

After closer Andrew Bailey gave up a one-out infield single in the ninth inning to Chone Figgins, the Los Angeles Angels' all-time stolen base leader tried to advance on a a flyball by Bobby Abreu's fly to left. But Hairston anticipated Figgins' move and made a perfect one-hop peg to second baseman Mark Ellis, who slapped the tag on him to complete a game-ending double play that preserve a 4-3 victory for the A's on Saturday night.

"You have to anticipate he'll tag up in that situation," Hairston said. "Chone is very quick and very fast. So I just told myself, 'Number one, catch the ball; and number two, make a strong, accurate throw in case he was going to try. And it happened to be on time. If I would have hesitated, he would have been safe."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia defended Figgins' decision.

"It's going to be a tough play, because he's got to put the throw on the money," Scioscia said. "That's a reaction play. I'm fine with that. Figgy needs to get into scoring position, and Bailey is tough to run on. It was a good play, but they defended it. You have to tip your cap to Hairston, because he made a strong throw."

Rajai Davis tied the score for Oakland with a two-run single in the seventh inning and pinch-runner Eric Patterson scored the go-ahead run on an infield out in the eighth.

Maicer Izturis hit a two-run homer for the Angels, whose seventh loss in 10 games reduced their AL West lead over Texas to four after the Rangers' 3-0 win at Minnesota.

Jose Arredondo inherited a 3-0 lead from Angels starter Jered Weaver after six innings, but the A's promptly loaded the bases with none out in the seventh and all three runners ended up scoring.

Ellis, who triggered the rally with a single, came home on a wild pitch as Arredondo bounced an 0-2 delivery about three feet in front of the plate to Adam Kennedy before striking him out.

Davis then greeted Rafael Rodriguez (0-1) with a single up the middle to tie it. Davis' three hits gave him a .325 average in his last 66 games, after he batted just .146 through his first 26 contests.

"It's hard to say he got off to a bad start because he wasn't playing regularly," manager Bob Geren said. "He was kind of a fourth outfielder, pinch-runner and defensive replacement. I thought he was doing fine in that role, but he has taken full advantage of every opportunity I've given him to the point where he's played himself into a starting role."

Rodriguez gave up a walk to Jack Cust and a single to Hairston to open the eighth. Patterson ran for Cust, and both runners advanced on Ryan Sweeney's sacrifice bunt before Patterson scored on Daric Barton's groundout to the right side of the infield.

Brad Ziegler (2-4) pitched a perfect seventh inning for the win. The right-hander, who was charged with four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning during Friday's 11-7 loss, has a 3.20 ERA since beginning his big league career with a modern major league-record 39-inning scoreless streak.

Michael Wuertz worked a perfect eighth and Bailey got three outs for his 20th save in 24 attempts. He is the second rookie in Oakland history with at least 20 saves in a season, joining Huston Street, who had 23 in 2005.

"It's been a great season for me, and each and every outing is a new winning experience," Bailey said. "From where I was at five or six months ago to now, it's been kind of a whirlwind for me."

Weaver made 119 pitches, allowing four hits and two walks. He struck out three and stranded runners in scoring position three times.

Mazzaro allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings and struck out four. Abreu opened the scoring in the third with a sacrifice fly, and the Angels made it 3-0 in the fourth when Kendry Morales singled and Izturis followed with a drive that reached the seats in the right field corner.

The home run was the eighth this season for Izturis, one fewer than the five-year veteran hit in 626 at-bats over the previous two seasons combined.

Game notes
After the game, the Angels optioned Rodriguez to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room on the 25 man roster for LHP Scott Kazmir, who was obtained Saturday night in a trade from Tampa Bay. The two-time All-Star is scheduled to make his Halos debut next Wednesday at Seattle on six days rest against Felix Hernandez. ... The A's are 19 1-2 games behind the Angels with more than a month to go. They have finished a season 20 or more games behind the Halos in the standings on five previous occasions -- 1964 (25), 1967 (22), 1979 (34), 1982 (25) and 2008 (24 1-2).