A's drop first game of twin-bill

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Trevor Cahill settled down and the Oakland hitters opened up. The timing was off, though, and it led to another frustrating defeat.

In the majors' first scheduled doubleheader in eight years, Cahill lost his third straight decision and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Athletics 4-2 Saturday in the first game.

Cahill (8-8) lasted seven innings in his initial outing since the All-Star game, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked five, including three in the first, and struck out eight.

"Not being around the field for a while, it was kind of an awkward feeling," Cahill said. "It took a while to get back into things. Maybe that's why I was so erratic in the first inning."

This was the first planned doubleheader in the big leagues since Aug. 2, 2003, when San Diego played at Philadelphia. Since then, twinbills have been part of makeup games.

This was Oakland's first scheduled doubleheader at home since Aug. 10, 1997, against Milwaukee.

Erick Aybar homered and Bobby Abreu drove in two runs as the Angels won for the ninth time in 11 games.

Jered Weaver (12-4), the AL starter in the All-Star game, did not give up a hit until the fifth inning. He allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Weaver issued a leadoff walk in the first and then retired 13 straight batters. He struck out three and walked two.

"He was very good," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's really unpredictable and kept us off balance."

Jemile Weeks had three hits and drove in a run for the A's, who have lost five of six. Kurt Suzuki hit a sacrifice fly.

The umpires reviewed a long drive by Hideki Matsui in the A's eighth and determined it was a double as originally called. He needs one homer to become the 34th player (U.S. and Japan combined) to reach 500. He has 332 in Japan and 167 in the U.S.

Weaver escaped trouble in the fifth when left fielder Vernon Wells threw to Erick Aybar, and the shortstop made a relay home that caught David DeJesus trying to score.

"That was the only opportunity we had at the time," Melvin said. "We had a chance to score a run there. I'm fine with that."

The A's chased Weaver in the seventh. DeJesus doubled, Conor Jackson singled and Suzuki had a sacrifice fly. Cliff Pennington and Weeks followed with singles, ending Weaver's afternoon.

Scott Downs got Crisp to ground out, ending the threat.

Aybar singled in the first, then raced around to third on Torii Hunter's groundout. Abreu singled against a drawn-in infield to put the Angels ahead.

Wells singled and Alberto Callaspo doubled to open the sixth. Wells scored on Howie Kendrick's groundout before Callaspo was caught in a rundown.

Aybar hit his seventh homer of the season, a solo shot in the seventh.

Abreu added an RBI single in the ninth after Pennington's error at shortstop extended the inning.

Cahill lost to the Angels at home for the first time in five starts despite receiving run support for the first time in four starts.

"The first couple of innings it didn't look like his command was there," Melvin said. "But as good pitchers do, he regrouped, came back and shut them down."

NOTES: A's RHP Guillermo Moscoso was announced as Tuesday's starter in Detroit. The A's will make a corresponding move before that game. ... Weaver's major league-leading 1.86 ERA entering play was the lowest after 19 starts in Angels' history. ...Angels RHP Fernando Rodney (upper back strain) was scheduled to start a minor league rehab assignment with Class-A Inland Empire in nearby San Jose on Saturday. ... Walden needs one save to match the Angels rookie record established by Ken Tatum in 1969. ... The A's have been swept in each of their past four doubleheaders. ... The A's and Angels last played a doubleheader on July 30, 1983.