Angels beat A’s to drop Oakland into wild-card tie

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Erick Aybar hops over Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick after completing a double play in the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland's Geovany Soto was out at first base. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) Los Angeles Angels shortstop Erick Aybar hops over Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick after completing a double play in the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland's Geovany Soto was out at first base. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Associated Press September 24, 2014 1 min read

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Gordon Beckham homered and the Los Angeles Angels dropped the Oakland Athletics into a tie for the top AL wild card with a 2-0 win Tuesday night.

Sonny Gray whiffed Mike Trout three times among his career-best 12 strikeouts, one month to the day after Jon Lester fanned the Angels slugger three times at the Coliseum. But Gray had nothing to show for it as the Athletics were shut out for the seventh time since Aug. 1.

Oakland and Kansas City are tied for the two wild-card spots at 86-71, three games ahead of Seattle with five to play. The Royals beat Cleveland 7-1 earlier in the night and won the season series with Oakland 5-2, giving Kansas City the tiebreaker.

That means if the Royals and A’s win the wild cards and finish with identical records, Kansas City would host their one-game playoff next Tuesday.