OAKLAND, Calif. _ Hours after telling the media he felt good about his club's chances this year, general manager Billy Eppler watched his Angels lose, 4-0, to the Oakland Athletics on opening day at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Angels were held hitless through 41/3 innings and stranded five runners in scoring position.
Starting pitcher Trevor Cahill, who was drafted by the A's in 2006, took the loss. The last time he pitched here, Cahill wore an uniform trimmed in green as he surrendered five runs over 31/3 innings in an Athletics loss last Sept. 23.
Things were a little different Thursday. He wore Angels red. He lasted six innings. However, the results were similarly unfavorable. He gave up two home runs, allowed four runs and yielded six hits.
Cahill cruised through his first inning back at the Coliseum. He threw all 10 of his pitches in that scoreless inning for strikes as he worked around a leadoff single.
He wasn't as fortunate in the second inning. Jurickson Profar roped a leadoff triple into the right-field wall and came around to score on Chad Pinder's sacrifice fly.
The bad luck continued. The A's scored again when Stephen Piscotty looped the first pitch for a hit to left-center field. He scored on an RBI double, barely beating a tag despite the throw from Peter Bourjos coming in on time.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien hit a home run to straightaway center field on a Cahill sinker that didn't sink.
Another mistake to Khris Davis, who had hit 15 home runs against the Angels in his career, resulted in a fly ball launched down the left-field line and into the second deck.
Meanwhile, the Angels' offense struggled to put together any semblance of a threat. A's starter Mike Fiers didn't allow a hit until Tommy La Stella sent a double over the head of center fielder Ramon Laureano in the fifth inning. Manager Brad Ausmus said La Stella will share time at second base with Anaheim native David Fletcher.
Mike Trout went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk. Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch and was otherwise kept off base.
