The Angels' starter pitched two-hit ball over 6 1/3 scoreless innings for his first win since June 9, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 Monday night.
Gaudin (10-10) allowed seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in five innings. He is 2-7 with a 6.58 ERA in 11 starts since the All-Star break, becoming the first Oakland pitcher to lose seven or more decisions after the break since Dave Telgheder in 1996. The A's are 14 games out of first, matching their largest deficit of the season.
Gary Matthews Jr., Jeff Mathis and Garret Anderson homered for the Angels, who maintained a 6½-game lead over second-place Seattle in the AL West.
Santana (6-12) struck out four and walked five before he was replaced by rookie Rich Thompson with a 7-0 lead and a runner at first base. Santana, 0-6 with an 8.28 ERA in his prior nine starts, left the field to a thunderous standing ovation and doffed his cap to the crowd of 39,164.
He was demoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on July 18 and remained there for a month.
Shannon Stewart homered leading off the eighth, and Mike Piazza added a two-run shot later in the inning. Stewart's 11th of the season and Piazza's seventh both came off Thompson, who was pitching in his second big league game.
