A's, Mitchell Takes Care Of Angels

July 5, 1998 / 10:10 PM EDT / CBS/AP

After two quiet months on the bench, Kevin Mitchell finally has caught the Athletics' attention.

Mitchell tied the game with his first homer in 15 months in the eighth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to force in the winning run as Oakland beat the Anaheim Angels 5-4 Sunday.

As closer Troy Percival was issuing an intentional walk to Ben Grieve, Mitchell's head wasn't exactly in the game.

"I thought they were walking Ben just because there was a man on second," Mitchell said, overlooking Ryan Christenson, who was on third. "I didn't realize the bases were loaded until I stepped into the box.

"In that situation, I didn't think he'd throw any breaking balls. All seven pitches he threw me were fastballs."

The last, with the count full, was up and inside, forcing Christenson home with the winning run.

"A tremendous at-bat," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "He fouled off a couple of tough pitches, and he finally drew the big walk."

The A's entered the All-Star break with fourth straight wins that improved their record to 41-45. Oakland had lost 15 of its last 16 meetings with the Angels prior to engineering its first three-game sweep in Anaheim since Aug. 9-11, 1991.

"Considering the problems we've had with them, this was a good finish to the first half," Mitchell said. "We just have to keep playing the same baseball, with the same intensity, after the break."

Despite remaining winless in July with their fifth consecutive defeat, their longest losing streak of the season, the Angels (49-37) still lead the AL West.

"After 0-5, it's hard to sum up the (first-half) highlights," Anaheim manager Terry Collins said. "But if you had told me in mid-May that we'd be leading now, I'd have laughed at you.

"If we play as well in the second half, we'll be where we want to be in October."

Christenson led off the ninth with a double off Percival (1-3). After Rickey Henderson walked, Bournigal sacrificed the runners to second and third, leading to Grieve's intentional walk.

"Bad pitch selection," Percival said of Christenson's double, the only hit of the inning. "It was out over the plate. You've got to throw more good strikes in a tie game like that."

Mitchell had tied it at 4 when he led off the eighth with a homer off Angels starter Chuck Finley, ending a career-long stretch of 122 at-bats without a homer.

Mike Fetters (1-2) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the victory. Billy Taylor pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

The Angels scored four times in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Jim Edmonds led off with his 15th homer and Garret Anderson and Paco Martin had RBI groundouts before Gary DiSarcina's RBI double.

Oaklnd took a 1-0 lead when Mike Blowers hit his sixth homer in the second.

The A's cut it to 4-3 in the fifth on Christenson's RBI double and Rafael Bournigal's run-scoring single.

Oakland starter Jimmy Haynes left after hitting Craig Shipley to open the seventh inning. Shipley was stranded at third base when Fetters struck out Cecil Fielder to end the inning. Haynes allowed four runs on five hits and five walks in six-plus innings.

Finley had a typically frustrating experience against Oakland, a nemesis against which he is 7-17 lifetime. He allowed eight hits and four runs in seven-plus innings, walking two and striking out seven.

Notes: The Angels last were atop the AL West at the break in 1995. They were 39-30 and tied for the division lead, then went 16-3 out of the second-half gate to take an 11-game lead by Aug. 1. Anaheim blew that lead, eventually losing a one-game playoff to Seattle. ... Mitchell's last home run came off Mark Gubicza on April 11, 1997 against the Angels. ... Henderson hasn't led off a game with a hit since May 25; the A's leadoff man is 0-for-27, with seven walks, opening games since. ... Bournigal, who started at second for Oakland, remained errorless in 52 games this season, 23 at second and 29 at short.