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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Art Howe wasn't sure why the Oakland
Athletics picked such a terrible time to stop hitting.
|  | | Kevin Appier kept the A's in the game with eight good innings, but allowed two home runs to Scott Spezio. |
Troy Glaus led off the 14th inning with his AL-leading 45th homer as the Anaheim Angels beat Oakland 6-3 Thursday, what could be a key defeat in the A's quest for the playoffs.
The Athletics' potent offense, which scored 26 runs in the
previous three games against Anaheim, managed just one extra-base
hit in 14 tiring innings. What's more, the extra innings forced the
Athletics to use seven pitchers -- 14 over their last two games -- with a critical weekend series against Texas looming.
"We just couldn't cash in any time we had opportunities,"
Oakland manager Art Howe said. "Sometimes at this time of the
year, you just have to reach down deep and pull out that extra
effort. We're going to need that this weekend."
Oakland (88-70) lost for just the second time in nine games, but
Seattle's 13-6 loss to Texas kept the A's a half-game behind the
Mariners (89-70) in the West. Oakland's lead in the wild card race
also stayed at 1½ games over Cleveland (87-72), which lost 4-3 to
the Twins in 10 innings.
Glaus, who hit 44 of his homers as a third baseman, broke the AL
record for homers by a third baseman set by Al Rosen in 1953. His
drive off reliever Scott Service (1-2) was the Angels' first run
since the fifth inning and the first homer off an Oakland reliever
since Aug. 20.
"It's nice to get a win, but 4:42 is a long time," said Glaus, referring to the time it took to play the game. "It's nice to have a say as far as the playoff race goes. We wish we were in their position, battling for it, but it's still nice to have this chance."
Four batters after Glaus' homer, Orlando Palmeiro added a
two-run double as the Angels avoided a four-game sweep. Mike Holtz
(3-3) pitched a perfect 13th inning, and Troy Percival struck out
the side in the 14th for his 32nd save in 42 chances.
"This was a 14-inning game that isn't going to help us, and the
guys were playing as hard as they did in spring training," Anaheim
manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's tremendous. The passion that
these guys have for the game is unbelievable."
Scott Spiezio homered twice to give Anaheim a 3-0 lead, but the Angels gave up two unearned runs in the fifth and an RBI single by Miguel Tejada in the eighth.
Neither team could get a runner past first in the extra innings
until the 13th, when the Angels got three walks to load the bases
but couldn't score.
The A's scored 53 runs in their previous eight games, but
starter Scott Karl set the tone for Anaheim's pitching staff with
five strong innings. Karl allowed only the two unearned runs when he
mishandled Mo Vaughn's toss while covering first.
Spiezio, dumped by the A's in the offseason and signed by
Anaheim as a free agent, hit a solo shot in the first and a two-run
homer in the fifth, his second multihomer game this season and the
third of his career.
After reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, he walked two starting the eighth. Tejada then drove in Porter with the tying run.
The run came at a price, however. The Athletics lost Jason
Giambi's bat when Porter replaced him as a pinch-runner. Giambi is
hitting .382 with 11 homers and 28 RBI in September.
"It was tough to sit there and watch, but I was cheering and
rooting us on," Giambi said. "We couldn't push anything across,
but we didn't give in. We need to take the same approach that we
applied to these guys and put it in play against Texas."
Kevin Appier kept the Athletics in the game, allowing just seven hits in eight innings. After an inconsistent season, Appier has
been strong in his last four starts, going 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA.
Howe, who said he was screaming at the television screen while watching Seattle play earlier this week, wasn't watching the Mariners on Thursday night.
"I'm just going to try to get a good night's rest," Howe said.
Game notes
Garret Anderson had three hits and Darin Erstad two for
Anaheim. Erstad, who had his 76th multihit game, increased his
major league-leading hits total to 236. ... Scioscia came to the
dugout step to argue balls and strikes with home plate umpire Bruce
Froemming shortly before Tejada's eighth-inning hit. Hasegawa
walked four in 1 2-3 innings. "I guess he was just missing,"
Scioscia deadpanned. ... Playoff fever still isn't exactly gripping
Oakland. Just 12,523 fans watched the game. ... The Athletics
played their usual overloaded infield against Vaughn, moving Tejada
to the other side of second base even when the Angels had two
runners on in the third inning. Vaughn, who hit 1-for-18 in the
series, obliged with two grounders to Velarde standing halfway
between first and second.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Anaheim Clubhouse
Oakland Clubhouse
Yanks, A's may play make up games on Monday
RECAPS
Anaheim 6
Oakland 3
Texas 13
Seattle 6
Baltimore 23
Toronto 1
Minnesota 4
Cleveland 3
Tampa Bay 11
NY Yankees 3
Boston 7
Chi. White Sox 6
Kansas City 8
Detroit 5
Florida 7
Montreal 4
Philadelphia 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Arizona 12
Colorado 3
Cincinnati 8
Milwaukee 1
St. Louis 7
San Diego 6
Pittsburgh 3
Houston 2
NY Mets 8
Atlanta 2
San Francisco 5
Los Angeles 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 For Art Howe, Thursday's loss was a hard one to take.
wav: 105 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jason Isringhausen knows that his team is still in a good place.
wav: 108 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Troy Glaus is happy to have an affect on the postseason.
wav: 90 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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