ANAHEIM — In the one-step-forward, two-steps-back world that’s been the A’s season, they’ve never really been able to springboard off a good stretch of play and parlay it into something bigger.
Coming off a three-game sweep of Texas, the A’s hit the road and have gone flat against another Wild Card contender. They lost their second in a row to the Angels on Tuesday, an 8-2 decision in which the ending was given away before the opening credits had even finished rolling.
The Angels jumped on Oakland starter Chris Smith for five runs in the first, and that was a deficit the A’s hit-and-miss offense couldn’t battle back from.