OAKLAND — Kurt Suzuki scored from third base in the 10th inning on a fielder’s choice grounder to an outfielder playing in the infield, lifting the Oakland Athletics to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.

Suzuki drew a one-out walk off Los Angeles reliever Fernando Rodney (2-2), moved to second on another walk then took third on a wild pitch.

After Angels manager Mike Scioscia called in left fielder Howie Kendrick to play in the infield, Mark Ellis hit a sharp grounder to Kendrick near second base. Kendrick tried to throw home but the ball sailed high as Suzuki slid across the plate.

Grant Balfour (3-1) pitched one inning with three strikeouts for the win.

The start of the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 25 minutes. It’s the third time in seven days the A’s have had games interupted because of weather.

The A’s blew a 3-0 lead then rallied to tie the game with one run in the ninth before Suzuki scored the winning run.

The Angels trailed 3-0 before rallying for two runs in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Maicer Izturis started the comeback with a leadoff single in the sixth. After back-to-back walks by Oakland starter Brett Anderson loaded the bases, Alberto Callaspo drove in one run with a fielder’s choice grounder. Mark Trumbo followed with a sacrifice fly to cut Oakland’s lead to 3-2.

Reliever Michael Wuertz gave up an infield single to Izturis then walked Torii Hunter to load the bases. Kendrick followed with a sharp single to the gap in left-center, driving in Bobby Abreu and Izturis to give the Angels a 4-3 lead.

The A’s scored three runs off Angels starter Joel Pineiro in the fifth.

David DeJesus was hit by a pitch then came all the way around on a three-base throwing error by Callaspo. Cliff Pennington’s RBI single scored Mark Ellis, and Josh Willingham later added a bases loaded sacrifice fly.

Scott Downs pitched a scoreless eighth for the Angels then turned it over to Walden. Walden, who had blown two previous save opportunities, couldn’t hold the lead.

Coco Crisp hit a two-out single, stole second then scored on Daric Barton’s single to shallow right-center to force extra innings.

Both starters were long gone when the game ended.

Pineiro gave up three runs and six hits over seven innings, coming up shy in his first bid at career victory No. 100.

Anderson also pitched into the seventh and had seven strikeouts, but walked four and allowed three earned runs.

The game was pushed back from its original start time while workers swept water off the tarp covering the infield. A’s manager Bob Geren walked onto the middle of the tarp at one point and spoke with one of the workers before retreating into the clubhouse.

Workers tried removing the tarp 30 minutes into the delay but quickly put it back on when the rains returned. After a meeting with team officials, the decision was made to start the game an hour later.

The conditions definitely had an effect.

Oakland’s Josh Willingham singled sharply down the third base line in the first inning but the ball came to a sudden splashing stop once it reached the outfield grass. Angels shortstop Erick Aybar sprinted over then slid in the water while trying to retrieve the ball.

Aybar went 0-for-4 with a walk, ending his career-high 13-game hitting streak. Aybar tried bunting for a hit in the ninth but was thrown out by Oakland third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff on a close play.

Comments

comments