Joel Pineiro, Angels look for better results in Oakland

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Manager Mike Scioscia said Monday afternoon that Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro ‘is like night and day from what we saw the last time we were here.’ Pineiro better be, or it could be a rough night for him and the Angels in the Oakland Coliseum.

The last time Pineiro faced the Athletics here, on July 17, he walked the first three batters in a first inning in which he gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- and four hits and retired just one batter before being pulled from an eventual 9-1 loss. Pineiro said afterward that he couldn’t find his normal grip on the ball, which kept slipping out of his hand.

A rough four-start stretch in which he went 0-3 and gave up 22 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings got Pineiro bumped from the rotation. But he regained his starting spot on Aug. 20 and has gone 1-0 with a 3.79 earned-run average in three games.

The Angels enter Monday night’s game trailing the Texas Rangers by 2 1/2 games in the American League West. The Rangers are idle.

The A’s got a scare before the game when Andrew Bailey was hit above the right eye by a Kurt Suzuki-hit ball while shagging in the outfield during batting practice. Bailey was on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field under his own power.

The right-hander has been ruled out for Monday night’s game, but doctors have also ruled out a concussion.

The Angels lineup: 3B Maicer Izturis, CF Peter Bourjos, 2B Howie Kendrick, RF Torii Hunter, 1B Mark Trumbo, DH Vernon Wells, LF Mike Trout, SS Erick Aybar, C Jeff Mathis, P Joel Pineiro.

The A’s lineup: 2B Jemile Weeks, SS Cliff Pennington, DH Hideki Matsui, LF Josh Willingham, RF David DeJesus, CF Ryan Sweeney, C Kurt Suzuki, 1B Brandon Allen, 3B Scott Sizemore, P Gio Gonzalez.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna