ANAHEIM, Calif — Joe Maddon has repeated the phrase time and again this year, especially when the Angels have faced the Oakland Athletics.
“You have to pitch better than good pitching,” the manager would say.
And on Saturday, his team finally followed through.
As usual, the Angels struggled to do much at the plate against the A’s staff, scoring just one run on five hits. But this time, their pitchers were better, with Jaime Barria, Steve Cishek, José Quijada and Raisel Iglesias combining to throw just the team’s second shutout of the season in a 1-0 win.
Now the Angels (52-52) can now try to salvage a four-game series split against the A’s (59-47) on Sunday and get back within five games of the second American League wild-card spot currently in the A’s possession.
Barria was the catalyst Sunday, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his second start of the season. Using a mix of fastballs and sliders, the right-hander gave up only four hits and one walk and hit one batter while striking out three. He further strengthened his case to stay in the Angels’ rotation too.
Shohei Ohtani gave the Angels the lead in the third inning with an RBI double — the first run the Angels had scored in the series. Then the bullpen managed to hold on late.
Cishek inherited a bases-loaded jam in the seventh but got Mark Canha to fly out and end the inning.
Quijada served as the setup man in the eighth and erased a leadoff single by inducing a double-play grounder.
Quijada was lifted after giving up a two-out double to Ramón Laureano that barely clipped the top of the wall, with Iglesias entering the game to convert a four-out save — his 22nd of the season.
