McCarthy Surrenders 7 Runs, A's Lose To Angels

ANAHEIM (CBS / AP) -- Alexi Amarista hit a two-run double on the third pitch he ever saw in the major leagues and added a sacrifice fly, and Howie Kendrick had three hits and scored three runs for the Los Angeles Angels in an 8-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.

Tyler Chatwood (2-1) pitched 5 1-3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits, including Conor Jackson's first homer of the season with a man on in the third. The Angels' rookie right-hander walked four and struck out one in a matchup of pitchers who were not on major league rosters at any time last season.

Brandon McCarthy (1-2) surrendered seven runs and 14 hits over 5 1-3 innings in his fifth start, raising his ERA from 2.10 to 3.57. The right-hander spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers before spending last season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, and was on the disabled list three separate times because of shoulder problems.

McCarthy signed with the A's as a free agent in December after making four starts in the Dominican Winter League.

For the second straight night, Oakland's Coco Crisp was tagged out by shortstop Erick Aybar after oversliding second base on what would have been a successful headfirst steal attempt. This time, it was after the Los Angeles native led off the game with his fourth straight hit and 10th in four games.

His next time up, Crisp hit a fielder's choice grounder and had to be lifted for a pinch-runner after feeling some tightness in his left quad. In Monday night's 5-0 loss, the A's had to pull left fielder Josh Willingham from the game in the sixth inning because of tightness in the left side of his upper back. Willingham remains day to day.

With one out in the Angels' second, Kendrick hit a grounder in the hole off the glove of third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and legged out a double as shortstop Cliff Pennington chased the ball down in short left field. Peter Bourjos chopped a single off the plate that Kouzmanoff had no play on, putting runners at the corners, and Amarista slapped a 1-1 pitch the other way into the left field corner to drive in both.

After Oakland pulled ahead 3-2 with a run-scoring groundout by David DeJesus and Jackson's homer, the Angels matched that three-spot in their half of the third to regain the lead for good.

Bobby Abreu scored on a wild pitch after leading off with a single. Wells' single off McCarthy's pitching hand drove in Torii Hunter, who doubled. Wells was thrown out trying to steal, but Kendrick followed with a more conventional double than his first one, and Hank Conger made it 5-3 with an RBI single.

The Angels tacked on two more in the fifth when Bourjos followed Conger's RBI double with a triple. He hit another one in the eighth, his fourth three-bagger of the season, and scored on Amarista's sacrifice fly.

Amarista started at second base one day after his contract was selected from Triple-A Salt Lake. He was the Angels' minor league player of the year in 2009, and was hitting .455 with 16 RBIs in 14 games this month before his promotion. Mark Trumbo, the organization's minor league player of the year last season, got the night off to contemplate his 1-for-22 slump while Kendrick shifted from second base to first.

Notes: The A's were held to one hit over the final 6 1-3 innings ... Kouzmanoff's two-out double in the ninth. ... The A's will place C Kurt Suzuki on the paternity leave list before Wednesday's game. He is returning to the Bay Area, to be with his wife Renee for the labor-induced birth of their first child, a daughter. ... Jackson made his second start at 1B this season in place of Daric Barton, who is in a 2-for-30 slump and didn't start after taking early batting practice. Barton entered the game as a pinch-runner for Crisp and stayed in defensively. ... A's closer Andrew Bailey, who has yet to pitch this season because of a forearm strain that occurred during an exhibition game on March 14, had a 35-pitch side session in which he threw just fastballs. He will progress to breaking balls on flat ground in his next one.

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