Macha’s Intention Is Clear

OAKLAND —  A’s Manager Ken Macha turned to his bench in the top of the ninth inning Thursday and took an informal poll. With two outs and no one on base in a 4-4 game, should the A’s pitch to Angel slugger Vladimir Guerrero?

“There was only one vote that really counted,” Macha said of his decision to intentionally walk Guerrero for the third time. “It was 100%. Everyone agreed. ... That particular situation was similar to Barry Bonds. You ask, what can his impact be on the game? I don’t think I’d enjoy my dinner if he hit a home run.”

Guerrero hit his 23rd home run of the season in the second inning Thursday, a solo shot off Oakland starter Joe Blanton, but he had only one more swing the rest of the day, a first-pitch fly ball to left in the fifth inning.

With Garret Anderson, who bats behind Guerrero, missing his second straight game because of tendinitis in his left knee, the Angels couldn’t provide much protection for Guerrero, who was also walked in the third and seventh innings, the first time in his career he was walked intentionally three times in a game.

The move backfired in the seventh when Bengie Molina, pinch-hitting for No. 5 batter Casey Kotchman, drew a walk behind Guerrero to load the bases and Steve Finley lined a two-run double to right to give the Angels a 4-0 lead. But after Molina walked again in the ninth, Finley popped to second to end the inning.

“Whoever is hitting behind Vladdy, we need production from those guys,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The offense is not going to flow like it should if Vladdy is going to be treated like Barry Bonds.”

It’s hard to imagine the free-swinging and aggressive Guerrero getting the Bonds treatment -- the San Francisco Giant slugger set a major league record with 120 intentional walks last season -- but until Anderson returns, Guerrero might not see many prime pitches to hit.

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Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman wouldn’t pay the price for a left-handed reliever before the July 31 trade deadline. The Angels may have paid the price Thursday.

Reliever Brendan Donnelly had limited left-handers to a .200 average before Thursday, but Oakland cleanup batter Eric Chavez is not your typical left-handed batter. He has power, usually makes solid contact and can hit the ball as hard to left field as he does to right.

A tough situational left-handed reliever would have come in handy for the Angels in the seventh inning, when Chavez came up with runners on second and third, two outs, and the Angels leading, 4-1.

With the left-handed Dan Johnson, who singled in each of his first three at-bats, on deck, Scioscia chose to have the right-handed Donnelly pitch to Chavez instead of walking him to load the bases.

Chavez crushed Donnelly’s 0-and-1 fastball into the right-center-field seats, tying the game with his 20th home run of the season. Donnelly also gave up a leadoff homer to Jay Payton in the seventh and singles to Mark Ellis and Jason Kendall before Chavez’s homer.

“I threw some good pitches and bad pitches today,” Donnelly said. “The good pitches got hit; the bad pitches got crushed.”

A usually reliable Angel bullpen has gone 0-2 with an 11.42 earned-run average in the last four games.

“I told Donnelly, ‘You picked me up all year long, don’t feel bad because of one game,’ ” said Angel starter Paul Byrd, who pitched six shutout innings. “We win as a team and we lose as a team.”