Oakland took the first two games of the series against the Angels, and then had Vin Mazzaro on the mound for the finale, looking to sweep the Angels for the first time in six years.

Mazzaro, though, is in a definite slump when it comes to the win column. He entered the game Sunday having lost his five previous decisions, and he then allowed the Angels six hits, three walks and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

The A's missed a chance to pick up yet another game on Texas; with the wins over the Angels on Friday and Saturday, Oakland cut the deficit to eight.

They also missed the chance to get back to the .500 mark for what would have been the 27th time this season. The 26 times the team has been even for the season is already a franchise record, topping the 23 times at .500 by the 1947 Philadelphia team.

Can a team that has hovered right around .500 to such an extent really win the West? It would be a tough task, but with Texas suddenly struggling and the A's on a long homestand, then heading to Kansas City, this would be the team's last chance, really, to make a real move. Oakland is 40-28 this year at home.

ANGELS 7, A'S 4: Vin Mazzaro's biggest problem of late is giving up home runs. In his previous time out, he'd allowed a career-high three at Yankee Stadium, and on Sunday at the Coliseum, he gave up two -- both two-run shots (Bobby Abreu, Mike Napoli) in what turned out to be a three-run loss by Oakland. For just the second time in his career (37 appearances), Mazzaro didn't strike out a batter.

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