Field Level Media
May 29, 2021
Alex Cobb threw seven scoreless innings and the visiting Los Angeles Angels posted their first shutout of the season in a 4-0 win against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon.
Cobb (3-2) allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two in his longest outing of the season. Cobb lowered his ERA to 1.60 in five career starts over 33 2/3 innings in Oakland.
Shohei Ohtani had two hits and drove in two runs, and Anthony Rendon had two hits and an RBI for the Angels, who took advantage of a misplay on a squeeze bunt to score four unearned runs in the fifth inning.
Oakland right-hander Frankie Montas (5-5) did not allow an earned run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked one.
The Angels will try for a split of the four-game series on Sunday.
The Angels had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth when David Fletcher laid down a bunt to first baseman Matt Olson.
Olson flipped the ball home in time to get Jose Rojas, who stopped a few steps from home plate before turning to run back up the third base line. A's catcher Aramis Garcia mishandled the throw, however, and Rojas turned around and scored for a 1-0 lead.
A wild pitch put runners on second and third, and Ohtani came through with a two-run single for a 3-0 lead.
Ohtani came in 5-for-10 with two home runs and five RBIs against Montas.
Following a stolen base, Ohtani scored on a single from Rendon to make it 4-0.
The A's put their leadoff batter on base in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but Cobb was aided by double plays in each of those innings to keep them scoreless.
Tony Watson pitched a scoreless eighth for Los Angeles, and Raisel Iglesias blanked Oakland in the ninth.
The Angels stranded an opposite-field double by Jared Walsh to lead off the second and a one-out double from Rendon in the fourth before getting to Montas in the fifth.
--Field Level Media