Major League Baseball

Angels 5, Athletics 0

Published Apr. 26, 2011 3:12 a.m. ET

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The way Jered Weaver has been pitching this season for the Los Angeles Angels, his mound opponents have had to pitch shutouts to win.

Gio Gonzalez wasn't even close.

Gonzalez was charged with five runs - four earned - and eight hits over five innings on Monday night in a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. It was only the second time in the Oakland left-hander's last 20 starts that he didn't pitch at least six innings. The A's have totaled just four runs in his last four outings, including a 1-0 win at Minnesota.

''Our whole pitching staff as a whole, they don't worry about who they're going up against,'' catcher Kurt Suzuki said. ''Maybe it comes into play, but when they go out there, their mindset is to keep the team in the ballgame and give us a chance to win. Gio got his ground balls, but they hit some balls hard and strung some hits together. Gio's tough to hit against, so when a team scores runs off him, it's a credit to them.''

The Angels, coming off a four-game sweep by Boston in which they were beaten 5-0 and 7-0 in the last two games, took the lead against Gonzalez (2-2) in the second inning on a two-run single by Howie Kendrick that ended Los Angeles' string of 24 consecutive scoreless innings against opposing starters.

''Gio's been a guy who doesn't really give up a lot of runs, like Weaver,'' Kendrick said. ''He was trying to attack the zone tonight and we just came out aggressive as a team. The last series against Boston we weren't as aggressive as we could be, but tonight we were against a good pitcher and it worked out for us.''

Weaver scattered seven hits, but won for his sixth straight start and finished his second straight complete game.

''Obviously, we didn't do what we wanted to do against Boston, but our boys came to play tonight and were able to get me a couple of runs early off a great pitcher,'' Weaver said. ''It wasn't just me. The guys played great defense behind me.''

Weaver, last year's major league strikeout leader, threw first-pitch strikes to each of his first 15 batters and finished with 10 Ks. He walked one and allowed only one runner as far as third base, lowering his ERA to a major league-best 0.99.

''Coming into the game, you know that Oakland's hitters are kind of patient, for the most part,'' Weaver said. ''But they came in and took some early hacks - which was kind of surprising. So I had to throw some off-speed stuff early. What you want to do is get ahead with first-pitch strikes. My location is a lot better and I'm feeling real good out there mechanically.''

Weaver threw 114 pitches while sending Oakland to its third shutout loss in five games. It was the his third shutout and fourth complete game in 150 career starts.

The right-hander, who had won only one of his previous 11 starts against the A's, beat Texas 4-1 with a six-hitter last Wednesday. He didn't get his sixth victory last season until June 13, and it took him 14 starts to do it.

''He did a good job of keeping us off-balance,'' Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki said. ''We got our hits, but when he needed to make a pitch, he made a pitch. And he mixes it up. When you're sitting on an off-speed pitch, he throws a fastball. He throws everything, and he throws it for strikes.''

Weaver began his big league career in 2006 by going 9-0 in his first 12 starts after he was promoted from the minors two months into the season. He is the first pitcher in the majors with six victories in his team's first 23 games since Randy Johnson did it with the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks.

''Obviously, the run support really wasn't there too much last year, but I still wanted to compete and give us a chance to win,'' Weaver said. ''But those guys have been helping me out a lot so far, and that's definitely contributed to my success. Anytime you get five runs midway through the game, it takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders and you can go out there and attack the hitters.''

Notes: Oakland LF Josh Willingham left the game in the sixth because of tightness in the left side of his upper back. ... Oakland LHP Brian Fuentes returned to Anaheim for the first time since the Angels traded their former closer to Minnesota last August. The four-time All-Star, who led the majors with a career-best 48 saves for the Halos in 2009, has six saves in seven chances with Oakland while filling in for injured closer Andrew Bailey.

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