Bourjos steals HR from Powell, then loses one to replay reversal, but Angels beat A’s 4-2

Hunter homers in Angels’ 4-2 win over A’s

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Torii Hunter opened the scoring with a home run and his center field replacement, rookie Peter Bourjos, robbed Landon Powell of a homer to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.

Dan Haren (4-4) allowed two runs and six hits over six innings, struck out five and walked one. The right-hander threw 96 pitches and was lifted after the Angels took a 3-2 lead on Mike Napoli’s RBI single and Hideki Matsui’s run-scoring groundout in the sixth.

Bourjos also lost a home run — to a replay reversal after third base umpire CB Bucknor incorrectly ruled that his towering drive toward the left field pole on a 2-2 pitch from Dallas Braden was a fair ball. Instead of a three-run homer, Bourjos returned to the plate and flied out before Howie Kendrick’s sacrifice fly gave the Angels a 4-2 lead.

Kevin Jepsen and Jordan Walden each pitched a scoreless inning of one-hit relief and Fernando Rodney got his 14th save in 20 chances after giving up a two-out single to Cliff Pennington and a walk to Rajai Davis.

Braden (10-14) gave up four runs — three earned — and 10 hits over seven innings and struck out three without walking a batter. The left-hander is 1-6 with a 5.36 in his previous seven starts against the Angels, including a 4-0 loss on May 14 in which he threw a complete game and lost to the pitcher the Angels traded away to get Haren — Joe Saunders.

If Braden doesn’t get the win in Oakland’s season finale at Seattle on Sunday, he will make some dubious history. None of the other 16 pitchers who have thrown a perfect game since 1900 have finished with fewer than 11 victories in the season they did it — including Roy Halladay, who is 21-10 this season after getting his perfecto on May 29. Kenny Rogers finished the 1994 campaign 11-8 after no-hitting the Angels, and Don Larsen was 11-5 in 1956 before pitching the only no-hitter in a World Series.

Hunter drove Braden’s first pitch of the second inning into the lower seats in the left field corner for his 22nd home run, matching his total from last season. Kevin Kouzmanoff also hit a first-pitch homer into the same area two innings later for his 15th of the season, tying the score.

Three batters later, Powell sent Haren’s 3-2 pitch to center field and Bourjos timed his leap perfectly at the fence before pulling it back. On Aug. 23 at Angel Stadium, Bourjos did the same thing to Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton — four innings after robbing Sean Rodriguez of a homer and having the ball bounce off his glove and back in play for a double.

Mark Ellis gave Oakland a 2-1 lead with a two-out RBI single in the fifth.

NOTES: Angels LF Bobby Abreu played in his 150th game of the season, the 13th consecutive year he has reached that figure. … Haren, who has a 2.86 ERA in 13 starts since joining the Angels in a trade from Arizona on July 25, is one-third of aninning shy of his career-high total of229 1-3 in 2009, and will get the ball for the season finale on Sunday at Texas. … Hunter is batting a team-high .285 with five games remaining. The last time the Angels finished a season without one of their regulars batting .300 or better was 2001. … Angels relievers have given up 32 home runs, the fewest by any bullpen in the AL and three more than San Francisco’s pen. … Kouzmanoff’s homer was Oakland’s 100th. The only season the A’s failed to reach triple digits since moving from Kansas City to Oakland was 1968, their first season in the Bay Area. … Braden and Haren, who were teammates in 2007, each picked off a runner at first base.