Angels’ Joe is just a little sloppier

Joe Saunders threw 102 pitches Wednesday afternoon. Take away two of them, and maybe the Angels left-hander throws six or seven shutout innings.

Baseball can be an unforgiving game, though, and Oakland made Saunders pay dearly for those mistakes, a fastball that Mark Ellis cranked over the left-center field wall for a three-run home run in the fourth inning and a changeup that Donnie Murphy lined over the short left-field wall for a solo shot in the seventh.

Ellis’ 17th homer, which set a franchise season record for an Oakland second baseman, turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead, and Murphy’s drive provided an insurance run, as the Athletics pulled away for a 6-2 victory at Angel Stadium.

Oakland right-hander Joe Blanton gave up two runs and three hits in the first inning but blanked the Angels on three hits, all singles, over the next seven innings to improve to 12-9.

Saunders retired nine of 10 batters through three innings but walked Marco Scutaro to lead off the fourth and gave up a one-out single to Jack Cust. Saunders tried to hit the outside corner with a 2-and-2 fastball to Ellis, but Ellis, as Saunders said, “dropped the barrel on it,” and a 2-0 Angels lead turned into a 3-2 deficit.

“I was cruising along and made one bad pitch, and Ellis hurt me on it,” said Saunders, who fell to 7-3. “That was the story.”

There was a subplot. Ellis, not known for his prodigious power, now has three hits in 11 at-bats against Saunders, and two of them are home runs, the first coming Aug. 2 in Oakland.

Murphy led off the seventh with his fifth homer, giving the A’s a 4-2 lead and knocking out Saunders. Ellis had an RBI single off reliever Chris Bootcheck in the seventh, and Nick Swisher’s double and Murphy’s RBI single in the eighth made it 6-2.

“It’s a shame,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, assessing Saunders’ six-inning, seven-hit, four-run outing. “He had one rough inning, with the walk, the hit, and he wasn’t able to put Ellis away. He pitched a better game than the line score showed.”

If there was one bright spot for the Angels, who maintained their 7 1/2 -game lead over Seattle in the AL West and had their magic number cut to 17, it was the play of Garret Anderson, who had two singles, a walk and blistered a line drive that went right to Cust in right field for an out in the ninth inning.

Reggie Willits and Orlando Cabrera opened the first inning with singles, and Anderson lined an RBI single to right, giving the left fielder RBIs in 10 consecutive games, tying a franchise record set by Wally Joyner (1986) and Fred Lynn (1984).

Anderson, who also singled sharply to right in the third, has 27 RBIs in his last 15 games and a major league-leading 53 RBIs in 50 games since the All-Star break.

“I’m surprised Garret hadn’t done that before, with all those seasons [2000 to 2003] he averaged 120 RBIs,” Scioscia said of Anderson’s record-tying feat. “I figured he’d have RBIs in 20 games in a row. It’s a great streak, to knock in runs on such a consistent basis. It’s great to see him regain his form in the box.”

Maicer Izturis followed Anderson’s RBI single with a sacrifice fly to right, giving the Angels a 2-0 lead, but that was all the Angels could muster against Blanton and closer Huston Street, who struck out Gary Matthews Jr. with two on to end the ninth.

Blanton gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings, striking out three and walking one, and the Angels did not advance a runner past first base against him from the second through the eighth innings.

“He threw strikes and got ahead of hitters,” Anderson said of Blanton. “Generally, when that happens, you’re going to be successful.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com