Olson homers, Kaprielian dominates as A’s blank Angels 6-0

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Olson homered for the second straight game, James Kaprielian tossed six scoreless innings and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-0 on Tuesday to sweep a two-game series.

Kaprielian (5-3) scattered five hits and two walks, striking out seven. The rookie right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.65.

“I think we did a good job of staying in attack mode,” Kaprielian said. “I believe in the guys who are behind me, I believe in the guy who’s behind the dish and I believe in my stuff. So, for me, it’s about executing pitches.”

Added A's manager Bob Melvin: “He seems to be finding another gear. In a year when he gets an opportunity to seize a starting job, not only has he pitched well, he’s gotten better as we’ve gone along and seems to come up big in big situations.”

Olson put Oakland on the board with a homer in the fourth inning, his 25th of the season to tie Kyle Schwarber for fourth most in the majors. He later added an RBI single.

A day after two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani blanked the A’s for six innings — only to see the bullpen allow a three-run homer following his departure — he was shut out at the plate, going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts and a walk. The Angels left 10 runners on base, finishing the game 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

The Athletics scored three runs in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Jed Lowrie and a two-run double from Ramón Laureano. Elvis Andrus and Olson tacked on RBI singles in the seventh.

Los Angeles starter José Suárez retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Suárez (4-3) surrendered three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Los Angeles manager Joe Maddon was ejected before the bottom of the eighth for arguing with home plate umpire...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Olson-homers-Kaprielian-dominates-as-A-s-blank-16327918.php