Athletics 6, Angels 4
Jed Lowrie and Stephen Vogt each homered and Bartolo Colon earned his 14th victory as host Oakland evened the four-game series at one win apiece.
Colon (14-3) yielded two runs on seven hits over six innings to match Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore and Detroit's Max Scherzer for the major-league lead in wins, and Oakland won for the 12th time in his last 13 starts. Grant Balfour allowed Albert Pujols' two-run single in the ninth before striking out Josh Hamilton for his 27th save.
Mike Trout launched a two-run homer in the first to give Los Angeles an early lead before Lowrie answered with a solo shot in the bottom half off Jerome Williams (5-7), who surrendered four runs while throwing 103 pitches over five frames.
The Athletics added three runs with two outs in the second when Eric Sogard singled in a run and Lowrie ripped a two-run single past a diving Mark Trumbo and down the first-base line. Lowrie went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for Oakland, which moved four games ahead of Texas in the American League West.
Michael Kohn replaced Williams in the sixth and allowed a leadoff single to Josh Reddick before the Athletics extended their lead on Vogt’s two-run blast into the right-field seats with one out. The win improved Oakland’s record to 60-43, its best mark through 103 games since 1992.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Trout went 3-for-5 for Los Angeles, which has lost five of its last seven road games. … The Athletics improved to 24-1 against the Angels over the last three years when scoring four or more runs. … Vogt, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday when catcher John Jaso was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion, has two homers among his four major league hits this season.