A’s finger is on Trigger
said after his club completed a 4-2 homestand. “It’s one guy away from getting somebody up in the first inning. And then give us six innings and nothing else. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t expect- ing it, but it was Houdini-like. It ended up being a great outing for him.”
After Triggs (5-2) walked the bases loaded, he struck out Luis Valbuena, allowed Jefry Marte to hit into a runscoring forceout and escaped further trouble when Ben Revere flied out on his 27th pitch.
He wound up giving up three hits and pitched out of trouble repeatedly on an afternoon the Angels went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
“It was kind of bizarre, but the ball was dancing on me a little bit,” Triggs said. “I didn’t make the adjustment quick enough, but I’m glad I was able to before things got out of hand there.”
Liam Hendriks, Ryan Madson and Santiago Casilla finished the four-hitter, with Casilla striking out his first two batters in a one-hit ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.
Jesse Chavez (2-5) allowed two runs and three hits over 5 ⁄ innings in the first start against his former club. The Angels were without sluggers Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.
“Jesse really pitched a strong game,” Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. “A broken-bat base hit, and then Pinder launched one that got up in the jet stream. I think at night time no way would that ball going to carry. He pitched really well for us.”
Mark Canha had two of Oakland’s five hits in his first start since returning from the minors, and Khris Davis added an RBI single that helped the A’s to their fourth win in five games.
Pinder hit a two-run homer in the fifth following Mark Canha’s leadoff single. The A’s second baseman also had to extend to make a running catch on Juan Graterol’s liner up the middle, ending the seventh.
Oakland had lost six of the previous nine games between the teams this season.