Second and Short for Angels

After coming out on the losing end of shutouts in each of his last two starts, Aaron Sele of the Angels flirted with one of his own.

The veteran right-hander gave up a seventh-inning home run in his final inning but was otherwise solid as the Angels defeated the Oakland Athletics, 5-1, before 25,240 Wednesday night at Edison Field.

The victory, Sele’s first since he shut out the Dodgers on June 29, moved the Angels into first place in the American League wild-card race and moved them to within one game of the first-place Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

David Eckstein had a run-scoring triple in the third inning and Orlando Palmeiro hit a bases-loaded double in the sixth as the Angels beat the A’s for only the fourth time in 11 games this season and fourth time in the last 21 games between the teams.

Sele (8-7) was 15-5 for the Mariners last season and signed a three-year $24-million contract with the Angels in December.

“He’s definitely looking more like the pitcher we saw last year and in previous years,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Sele gave up six hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter before giving way to Brendan Donnelly, a 31-year-old rookie who pitched two scoreless innings and continued to impress since his recall from triple-A Salt Lake on July 13.

That was the day Sele gave up four runs in six innings at Kansas City and Paul Byrd pitched a three-hitter for the Royals in a 4-0 victory.

Last Thursday at Oakland, Sele gave up two early runs in seven innings, but Barry Zito and two relievers combined to beat the Angels, 2-0.

On Wednesday, the Angels scored twice in the third inning against Tim Hudson to give Sele a rare cushion. The five runs scored by the Angels in the game qualified as an onslaught after producing only one run in their previous 18 innings against the A’s.

“[Two runs] doesn’t give you much breathing room, especially the way he’s been pitching and they have been playing,” Sele said. “But it’s enough room where you can relax just a little bit and get after it a little bit more.”

Sele did not allow a runner to reach second base in the first five innings.

In the sixth, Greg Myers reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on Mark Ellis’ single up the middle. Sele then got Scott Hatteberg to ground out to third baseman Troy Glaus to end the inning.

The A’s were trailing, 5-0, when Miguel Tejada hit a lead-off home run against Sele to start the seventh.

It was Hudson’s second consecutive loss against the Angels after winning seven consecutive decisions against them. Nine of his 56 wins have come against the Angels.

Palmeiro, who made an outstanding catch in right field on a ball hit by David Justice in the second inning, is one player who hits Hudson well. He began the game 10 for 25 against Hudson and extended that success in the sixth.

The Angels were leading, 2-0, in the sixth when Garret Anderson hit a hard ground ball up the middle that glanced off Tejada’s glove at shortstop for a single. Hudson hit Troy Glaus with a pitch and Brad Fullmer hit a flare single to center field to load the bases.

Palmeiro then hit a 3-and-1 pitch into the right-field gap for a double that gave the Angels a 5-0 lead.

“I didn’t want to walk in a run, so I was just hoping he would hit it at someone,” Hudson said. “He did something big league hitters do nine out of 10 times in that situation--he hit it hard.”

The Angels scored twice in the third inning with Adam Kennedy’s hustle setting up the first run.

Kennedy had heard from Scioscia on Tuesday night after he hit a high pop fly to shallow left field in the ninth inning that Tejada dropped for an error. Kennedy was slow out of the batter’s box and did not advance to second on the play despite plenty of time to do so.

Eckstein’s sacrifice bunt moved him to second, but he was left stranded and the Angels lost, 2-1.

“That was uncharacteristic of Adam,” Scioscia said before Wednesday’s game. “I talked to him about it and we’re moving on.”

On Wednesday, Kennedy dropped a bunt toward third base and slid head-first to beat Eric Chavez’s throw for a single to start the third inning. He scored the Angels’ first run when Eckstein ripped a line drive into the right-field gap.