Stephen Vogt homer powers A's to 6-3 win over Angels

ANAHEIM - Stephen Vogt hit a go-ahead three-run homer, Marcus Semien also went deep against Matt Shoemaker and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.

Oakland right-hander Kendall Graveman was staked to a 5-3 lead in his third major league start, but lasted just three-plus innings. Manager Bob Melvin pulled him after he walked Erick Aybar and C.J. Cron to open the fourth and ran his pitch count up to 73.

Dan Otero (1-1) bailed out Graveman by retiring the next three batters and the four-year veteran reliever allowed one hit over a career-high four innings (42 pitches) for the win. He has not allowed a run in 13 career appearances against the Angels, spanning 19 2-3 innings.

Evan Scribner pitched a perfect eighth and Tyler Clippard got three outs for his first American League save and 35th of his career.

Shoemaker (2-1) threw 68 pitches in three-plus innings, giving up five runs and seven hits while retiring only eight of the 18 batters he faced. The right-hander had won his previous nine decisions, beginning with a three-inning relief stint against Boston in a 19-inning, 5-4 victory last Aug. 9.

Vogt gave the Athletics a 4-2 lead in the third with his fourth homer, driving an 0-2 pitch deep into the right-field seats after a leadoff double by Sam Fuld and an infield hit by Mark Canha. Eight of Fuld’s first 14 hits have gone for extra bases, including three triples.

The Angels scored an unearned run in the bottom half when Albert Pujols hit the ball to left field over Canha’s head, after Mike Trout reached on Semien’s fielding error at shortstop and stole second. Semien, the Athletics’ No. 9 hitter, got that run back with in the fourth with a towering drive into the lower seats in the left-field corner on Shoemaker’s final pitch.

The A’s didn’t get another hit until Eric Sogard led off the ninth with a double against Fernando Salas. Fuld drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Ike Davis drove in Oakland’s first run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. The Angels responded in the bottom of the first with a two-out, two-run single by David Freese, who continued to second on the throw to the plate from center fielder Fuld and was thrown out by Vogt.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: RHP Jesse Hahn will be skipped one turn in the rotation to allow the blister on his middle finger to heal properly. RHP Jesse Chavez, who relieved Hahn after 65 pitches in Saturday’s win at Kansas City, is penciled in to make the start instead on Thursday in the finale of this four-game series. … RHP Jarrod Parker’s next rehab outing is scheduled for Thursday with Class-A Stockton at Visalia. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery. … 2B/OF Ben Zobrist, whose 18-game hitting streak against the Angels is the longest by any active player, sat out with an injured left knee that occurred on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Athletics: LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-1) gave up four runs over five innings last Tuesday in a 6-1 loss at Houston, after pitching seven innings of two-hit ball in a 12-0 win over against Seattle in his season debut.

Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (1-1) allowed two earned runs over 231/3 innings in his four starts against Oakland last season. He faces an offense that has gone homerless in 322 at-bats against left-handers, dating back to last Sept. 7.