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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Maybe Oakland Athletics manager Art Howe
should hold more team meetings.
In their first at-bat after getting chewed out by Howe following
another listless performance Saturday night, the Athletics batted
around for seven runs in the first inning en route to a 10-3
victory over the Anaheim Angels on Sunday night.
Howe also knows hunches: Ryan Christenson, making his first
start since June 9, led off the game with a homer and added an RBI
single later in the first inning.
|  | | A's starter Tim Hudson had an easy time improving to 9-0 in his past 13 starts and 10-2 overall -- he was up 7-0 before throwing his first pitch. |
"I was looking for a spark, and that's what Ryan gave us. He
doesn't play much, but he stepped up," Howe said.
Christenson's two hits were among the seven Oakland got in the
first -- more than the Athletics collected in successive three-hit
losses in the first two games of the series.
Staked to a 7-0 lead before his first pitch, Tim Hudson (10-2)
improved to 9-0 in 13 starts since an April 20 loss at Cleveland.
Hudson, 21-4 in 38 career starts, allowed two runs and six hits in
seven innings, and struck out six.
The start was only Christenson's seventh since April 24, when
Terence Long was called up from Triple-A Sacramento and quickly
began to establish himself as a Rookie of the Year candidate.
Long, who brought a 17-game hitting streak into this series, but
went 0-for-7 in the first two games, was benched by Howe, who
instead started Christenson in center field.
" 'T' has been doing an awesome job. I enjoy watching him
play," said Christenson, who scored after a sixth-inning double
and finished 3-for-5. "I was surprised to see my name in the lineup. I just wanted to
go out and have as many good at-bats as I could."
He had two real good ones in the first inning as the Athletics
punished Tim Belcher (2-2), who allowed all seven runs in one third
of an inning.
"With all due respect to Art Howe, his meeting had nothing to
do with that first inning," Belcher said. "They could not have
had a meeting, and they would have still hit the pitches I was
throwing up there."
Christenson got it going with his second homer of the season as
the Athletics snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the
21st time in 29 games.
In the first inning, the Athletics exceeded their run total
during the losing streak (six). Ben Grieve, Olmedo Saenz, Ramon
Hernandez and Randy Velarde added RBI singles, and Miguel Tejada
had a run-scoring grounder.
"The jolt got it going," Oakland's Jason Giambi said, "and we
kept taking good at-bats and putting the ball in play."
Hudson has begun to spark speculation on whether he will be
picked for the AL All-Star team.
"It will be interesting," he said. "I'm not really expecting
it. If I make it, it'll be awesome, but I won't be let down if I
don't."
Belcher made the shortest of his 368 career starts. He allowed
seven runs, five hits and three walks as his ERA ballooned from
4.97 to 9.69.
"I didn't have much on the ball. I basically threw batting
practice, and when you do that to a club that's ready to break out,
that's what happens," Belcher said.
Mike Fyhrie blanked Oakland for 4 2/3 innings before Jason
Giambi's RBI single off Mark Petkovsek in the sixth. Tejada added a
two-run homer off Derrick Turnbow in the ninth.
Anaheim's Garrett Anderson hit an RBI grounder in the first, Tim
Salmon had a run-scoring single in the third, and another run came
in on Jeff Tam's wild pitch in the ninth.
Game
notes
Anaheim 3B Troy Glaus was hitless in four at-bats and is in
an 0-for-18 drought. ... Angels OF Orlando Palmeiro went 2-for-4
and is batting .360 (32-for-89) in 25 starts. ... Anaheim's Darin
Erstad (2-for-4) had his 42nd multihit game of the season. ...
Tejada's 13th homer of the season gave him 47 for his career, only
five behind Oakland's record for shortstops held by Bert
Campaneris.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 7
Minnesota 1
NY Yankees 5
Tampa Bay 2
Baltimore 3
Toronto 2
Chi. White Sox 8
Boston 2
Detroit 2
Kansas City 0
Oakland 10
Anaheim 3
Seattle 11
Texas 4
Atlanta 10
NY Mets 2
Florida 2
Montreal 1
Philadelphia 9
Pittsburgh 1
Milwaukee 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Houston 6
St. Louis 3
Cincinnati 14
Arizona 2
Colorado 3
San Diego 2
San Francisco 6
Los Angeles 5
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