Trout stays hot as Skaggs quiets A's

OAKLAND -- Mike Trout continued his tear, going 3-for-3 as the Angels took advantage of A's mistakes and backed a solid start by Tyler Skaggs for an 8-4 win that snapped a four-game losing streak on Friday night at the Coliseum.
Trout's perfect night at the plate included singles in his first three at-bats, a sacrifice fly, a walk and two runs scored. He is 10-for-14 dating back to the last series against the Mariners and has reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances, with the sacrifice fly the only exception.
The Angels did not look like a team with 15 players on the disabled list for the first time in club history.
"We're making plays," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Even though guys are down, we feel like we have a team that can go out there and win games."
On Friday, they leaned on another dominant outing from Skaggs, who allowed two unearned runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts. It was the 11th time in 13 starts this season that the southpaw has given up two or fewer runs, and he recorded five or more strikeouts for a career-high ninth straight game, which is the second longest streak in Angels history among left-handed pitchers. Skaggs is 3-0 in June, having allowed one earned run over three starts.

Half of the Angels' runs were unearned and another came on a bases-loaded walk as the A's committed two errors in the first three innings.
"They opened the door for us tonight," Scioscia said. "Couple of errors, which we took advantage of, which we really needed to do."
Both errors came off ground balls hit by Albert Pujols. With Trout and Justin Upton on base in the first, Pujols dribbled a slow roller that was fielded by A's right-hander Chris Bassitt, who made a wild throw to first. The ball skipped down the right-field line, scoring the first two runs of the game.

In the third, it was third baseman Chad Pinder who could not make an accurate throw to second on a Pujols grounder with two on and nobody out, with Trout scoring again. That started an inning in which eight men came to the plate, producing four hits and a 5-0 lead for Skaggs.
"It means a lot to a pitcher when you get those early runs, just so he knows one little mistake isn't going to change the course of a game," Scioscia said of Skaggs. "He was able to stay aggressive with everything."
Skaggs appreciated the early offense, which allowed him to pitch more freely than if it was a close game. He used all of his pitches, especially his changeup, which he thought worked well on Friday.
"It's a great feeling," Skaggs said. "You pitch a little bit more aggressively [with a big lead]. If you give up a few runs, you're still looking good."
Ian Kinsler homered to lead off the fourth -- his seventh in his last 16 games -- off Bassitt, who allowed six runs over four innings. The Angels tacked on two more runs in the fifth off reliever Carlos Ramirez, to take an 8-0 lead.

Skaggs' only blemish came in the fifth, when he allowed consecutive two-out RBI doubles to Josh Phegley and Marcus Semien after shortstop Nolan Fontana's throwing error opened the inning.
SOUND SMART
This was Trout's 21st multihit game of the season and his fourth straight, which is one shy of his career-high.
HE SAID IT
"It's a testament to [general manager] Bill Eppler. If you look at our farm system a few years ago, we'd never been able to do this. We're still growing. A lot of guys stepped up tonight." - Skaggs, on the Angels having 15 players on the DL
UP NEXT
The Angels will call up John Lamb from Triple-A Salt Lake to make his first Major League appearance since 2016 when the series continues on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. PT. Lamb is 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA in 13 starts for Triple-A Salt Lake this season, and will look to fill a void in the big league rotation with multiple starters on the DL. The A's will counter with Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.49 ERA).