For more than five months, the Angels stayed within four games of .500 every single day. Late Tuesday night, they emerged from the margin for the first time with a 10-inning victory over Oakland. On Wednesday afternoon, they went right back into familiar territory.
A 3-1 loss to the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum dropped the Angels back out of playoff position. At 72-68 this season, they trail Minnesota by a half-game in the American League wild-card chase.
Angels starter Tyler Skaggs struck out the side on 11 pitches in the first inning, demonstrating better command than he has in recent weeks.