Murphy homers again, Montas wins as A's beat Angels 6-4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Frankie Montas induced Shohei Ohtani’s inning-ending double play in the third, then struck out the two-way star with three splitters low in the zone to finish the fifth.

Sure, Ohtani hit his 18th homer late — but he did minimal damage at the plate overall, and that’s certainly a mark of success for any Angels opponent.

Sean Murphy homered for the second consecutive night, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run double and Montas pitched the Oakland Athletics past Los Angeles 6-4 on Tuesday for their fifth straight win.

Montas enjoyed those battles with Ohtani, even though there was some added anxiety with runners on base.

“He was probably expecting fastballs,” Montas said of the strikeout. “He was swinging. He was trying to drive in a run.”

Montas (7-6) struck out eight with one walk over seven innings to win for the second time in six starts. He allowed two runs and five hits, including RBI singles by Justin Upton and David Fletcher.

“There’s no give up in Frankie,” second baseman Tony Kemp said. “It’s a blessing to play behind him.”

Ohtani homered with two outs in the eighth for the Angels. He is 2 for 9 in the series.

Pinch-hitter Seth Brown delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth and Andrus followed with his double to make it 5-2.

Yusmeiro Petit gave up a leadoff homer to Jared Walsh in the ninth but finished for his second save.

Los Angeles lefty Andrew Heaney (4-4) had his three-start winning streak snapped, allowing three earned runs and five hits over five innings. He struck out six.

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