ANAHEIM, Calif._It's been a month, but one decision the Angels made could not possibly have produced better results.
At August's start, the Angels told their struggling starting pitcher Jesse Chavez he had to move to the bullpen. The veteran right-hander owned a 5.43 earned-run average, and the team hadn't won one of his starts since the summer solstice.
After a game-saving four-inning stint in the Angels' 8-2 victory over Oakland on Tuesday at Angel Stadium, Chavez will finish the month with a 0.60 ERA in seven relief appearances. In 15 innings, he has struck out 20 men and walked just two.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Chavez will remain in the bullpen. He attributed the success to Chavez's improved breaking ball and wasn't sure why it coincided just right with the change.
"What came first, the chicken or egg?" Scioscia asked. "I don't know."
Chavez's presence in the bullpen allowed Scioscia to pull rookie starter Troy Scribner in a precarious third-inning situation Tuesday, the bases loaded and two outs for the left-handed Matt Joyce. Scribner never found a steady release point in his abbreviated start.
"He was just giving away a lot of counts," Scioscia said.
Quickly, Scioscia brought in his lone left-hander, Jose Alvarez, who retired Joyce. When Alvarez encountered trouble in the fourth, Scioscia called in Chavez, and he rode him until there were two outs in the eighth.
The Angels jumped ahead before they made an out, as Cameron Maybin doubled and Ben Revere singled against Athletics right-hander Chris Smith, a 36-year-old who made his first major league start this year. Albert Pujols walked to keep the rally alive. After Kole Calhoun grounded out, Andrelton Simmons notched a sacrifice fly, and Luis Valbuena walked, C.J. Cron slammed a three-run home run to left-center.
Like that, the Angels had a five-run lead, as many runs as they've scored in the first inning all season. They scored twice more in the fourth, on a massive Martin Maldonado solo shot and a subsequent rally, and once in the eighth because of Cron's second home run.
Oakland had a reliever warming in the first inning, but Smith did not depart until there were two outs in the fourth. Similarly, the game's pace dragged early, then finished in an orderly fashion, in fact faster than the Angels' average this season.
In thrashing the lowly Athletics, the Angels kept pace with Minnesota, the team they're chasing for the second American League wild-card slot. The Twins are one game ahead.
