Angels not on their A’s game

The Angels strutted into Angel Stadium on Monday confident, if not cocky, as the second-hottest team in the American League.

Unfortunately for them, waiting in the other dugout were the Oakland Athletics, who have the most wins in baseball over the last 10 days. And while that may have looked like a collision of unstoppable forces, the A’s quickly proved that looks can be deceiving, pounding the Angels early and often en route to a 14-2 win that gave them sole possession of first place in the AL West.

“Nothing much happened on our side,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “A lot of people in the media wrote them off. . . . They present a lot of challenges.”

Challenges the Angels failed to meet Monday.

Six of Oakland’s runs came on home runs and two were driven in by aging designated hitter Frank Thomas, who was three for three and fell a home run short of the cycle.

And the A’s bats -- which knocked out 16 hits -- didn’t even get warm until Thomas came out for a pinch-runner after hitting a double to start the seventh inning.

Twelve men followed him to the plate as Oakland scored eight times and had seven hits in the inning, setting single-season highs for runs and hits in a game, runs and hits in an inning and largest margin of victory. The 14 runs were also the most the Angels have given up at home since September 2004.

Half the Angels’ offense came on an errant pick-off throw and a bloop single. And the most fire they showed at the plate came in the third inning when pitching coach Mike Butcher charged the plate umpire and got thrown out.

By the sixth inning, starter Jon Garland (3-3) had joined him in the clubhouse, having given up seven runs and 10 hits. And the fact that neither total marked a season worse for Garland pretty much sums up how things have gone for the right-hander in April, a month he’ll finish with a 5.94 earned-run average.

“I thought I made some pretty good pitches,” Garland said. “And the ball was put in play and they rolled their way tonight. Not much you can do.”

But he fared better than the man who relieved him. Chris Bootcheck, who spent most of the weekend in bed because of flu, needed only two-thirds of an inning to give up his seven runs, ballooning his ERA to 37.80.

Garland and the Angels were down, 1-0, four batters into the game after Daric Barton grounded a two-out single up the middle and Thomas followed by blooping a fly ball just inside the right-field line. When Vladimir Guerrero overran the ball, Barton dashed home while the massive Thomas lumbered into third with his first triple since 2002 -- and his second in the last 10 seasons.

The Angels tied it in the second inning when Torii Hunter singled, raced to second on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Robb Quinlan’s dunker into center field.

Oakland went ahead to stay in the third inning on Barton’s first home run this season, a three-run shot to right field.

A broken-bat run-scoring single by Thomas in the fifth inning made it 5-1. Then, after the teams exchanged solo homers -- Mike Napoli for the Angels, Jack Hannahan for the A’s -- Oakland put the game away in the seventh inning.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com