A's chase Pineiro early again, beat Angels 6-3

Josh Willingham hit his 25th home run and drove in four runs to help the Oakland Athletics chase starter Joel Pineiro early again in a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Willingham's three-run shot in the first inning off Pineiro (6-7) started a second straight brief outing for the Angels right-hander at the Coliseum. Los Angeles fell three games behind first-place Texas in the AL West. Pineiro allowed four runs on five hits in three-plus innings. His short start still lasted longer than his previous performance in Oakland on July 17, when he gave up eight runs in one-third of an inning. Gio Gonzalez (13-12) struck out six and gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings.