Manaea’s strong outing not enough as A’s fall 2-1 to Angels

He allows one run, but late rally sends A’s to sixth loss in seven games

ANAHEIM — Sean Manaea is an increasingly bright spot in another dark season for the A’s.

The rookie left-hander pitched seven sharp innings of four-hit ball, but the Los Angeles Angels beat the A’s 2-1 on Monday night when Ryan Dull bobbled Albert Pujols’ weak grounder in the eighth, allowing Yunel Escobar to score.

Manaea extended his strong finish to the season by trading zeros with Jered Weaver over the first five innings. He has allowed one run in 18 innings over his last three starts after a two-week absence with a back strain.

“He’s everything that we want him to be,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Aside from a few outings early on ... he’s been borderline dominant, and against good lineups. He’s been good all year long.”

Manaea is second among A.L. rookies with 119 strikeouts while starting 23 games, but he also yielded Mike Trout’s 29th homer early in the Angels’ fifth victory in six games.

Stephen Vogt homered in the sixth inning for the last-place A’s, who have lost six of seven.

After Manaea left, the Angels broke through against Dull (5-5). Escobar singled, advanced on Kole Calhoun’s double and scored when Pujols got his 119th RBI on a 45-foot grounder back to Dull, who bobbled it just enough to stop him from throwing home.

Weaver pitched five scoreless innings of onehit ball, retiring Oakland’s first 14 batters before Danny Valencia’s fifth-inning single.

The veteran used his deception and control to flummox the A’s in what could be his penultimate start at the Big A. The stalwart of the Angels’ rotation since 2006 doesn’t yet have a contract for next season, but he has strung together a series of solid starts down the stretch.

“It’s a little weird,” Weaver said. “It’s different, something I’ve never gone through or dealt with before, not knowing what the future holds. It was a little emotional coming down the tunnel here.”

Former A’s closer Andrew Bailey earned his sixth save for the Angels.

Josh Lambo rejoined n the A’s for batting practice three months after testicular cancer surgery. He’s hoping to play winter ball next month.