A'S PUT HURT ON ANGELS FRANK THOMAS' WALK-OFF HOMER KNOCKS OUT L.A. OAKLAND 7, ANGELS 5.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- There was a spring in the Angels' step before Thursday's series opener against the Oakland Athletics and a noticeable chip on their collective shoulder.

There was also a hitch in their game as well, as a five-game win streak was snapped by a 7-5 A's victory in a contest that featured seven home runs.

Oakland's Frank Thomas, whose nickname is The Big Hurt, left the Angels in pain as he hit a two-out, two-run walk-off home run against reliever Scot Shields (4-6). It was the fourth walk-off home run of Thomas' career and first since Aug. 13, 2003, when he did it off the Angels' Jarrod Washburn.

With two outs and Nick Swisher at first base, Thomas crushed a 3-0 pitch from Shields into the seats in left-center. The veteran, who is tied for 43rd on the all-time RBI list with Mickey Mantle at 1,509, was mobbed at home plate and slammed his helmet to the turf near the on-deck circle before retreating to the clubhouse.

``It's 3-0 and I don't want to walk him and put the winning run at second base where just a base hit beats me,'' Shields said. ``(On-deck hitter Jay) Payton has been pretty hot lately. I just didn't place it in the spot I wanted.''

The Angels were playing the A's for the first time since May 2, when John Lackey barked at Jason Kendall for leaning out over the plate and Kendall charged the mound.

That wasn't what bothered the Angels the most that day, though. Most members of the Angels were not pleased Robb Quinlan was hit by a Chad Gaudin pitch near the end of Oakland's 10-3 victory, even though Oakland's Mark Ellis twice was hit by pitches.

While the A's were downplaying the matchup, Lackey said the Angels were not about to forgive or forget.

``I think it's helped this whole road trip and the last couple of games knowing that this was coming,'' Lackey said.

Quinlan wasn't in the lineup Thursday, but the mild-mannered reserve still seemed pumped up.

``I think it's in the back of everybody's mind what happened,'' Quinlan said.

The Angels definitely brought their power game but their situational approach was lacking. They had four home runs off A's starter Esteban Loaiza, but they all were solo shots. In the seventh inning, after Vladimir Guerrero tied the score 5-5 on a double, the Angels had the bases loaded and nobody out.

But Gaudin struck out Mike Napoli and got Juan Rivera to ground into a double play to end the threat. The Angels couldn't have had a better guy at the plate. Rivera already delivered two home runs earlier in the game, his second two-homer game in three days.

Angels starter Kelvim Escobar gave up two home runs and fiveruns in six innings, but just three of the runs were earned. What hurt most was a two-run first inning that was aided by a Kendry Morales error at first base.

After Escobar loaded the bases with one out, he appeared to get the popup he needed with Payton at the plate. Morales drifted back on the ball just behind first base and in foul territory. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Morales heard umpire Brian Gorman call out the infield-fly rule, in case the ball was in fair territory. Morales thought second baseman Adam Kennedy was calling him off and let the ball drop.

On the next pitch, Payton ripped a two-run single into left field.

Orlando Cabrera extended his on-base streak to 63 consecutive games with a fifth-inning single.

Lackey will get to bring his own intensity onto the field today when he matches up against Oakland's Barry Zito. The pairing of top pitchers would be highly anticipated even without the subplot.

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Oakland's Frank Thomas hits a walk-off two-run home run off the Angels' Scot Shields in the ninth inning.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

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ANGELS at OAKLAND

- Doug Padilla