The A’s came to play on the first day of Player’s Weekend, beating up on the Los Angeles Angels 10-3 to kickstart a fun weekend series against a division rival still gasping for the playoffs.

The starter tonight was right-hander Jack Perkins, who was making just his third career start. Facing an Angels team that is urgently trying to force their way back into contention, Perkins showcased his repertoire and the qualities that made him an interesting prospect. Over five full innings the rookie kept the Angels from mounting any sort of major rally, holding them to one run over the first four frames. It wasn’t until the fifth that the Halos got their first major hit off Perkins, a two-run homer from Zach Neto. He finished the frame but that was it for Perkins in what was a quality outing all around.

-Jack Perkins: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 103 pitches

Well it wasn’t economical as far as the pitch count goes, but it was another solid outing from a rookie starter that has shown major promise. Perkins is settling into the rotation now and we can expect him to make another start next week, which could be either against the Twins or the Mariners.

The offense meanwhile had some business to handle against left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. After getting shut down from the veteran a couple of months ago in a loss, the A’s hitters wanted to even the score a bit. They did just that this evening. Lead off man Shea Langeliers got things started immediately with a home run to start the game:

That gave Perkins an early lead that he’d need. The Athletics didn’t stop there though! Rookie outfielder Colby Thomas followed up that Langeliers homer a couple of innings later when he swatted his second career home run, a three-run blast that extended the A’s lead:

I think we all knew that was gone right off the bat. The A’s padded their lead in the fifth with a sac fly from Darell Hernaiz and an RBI single from Tyler Soderstrom. The A’s added on another four runs in the bottom of the eighth when Nick Kurtz (who else?) came up and swatted another three-run home run, giving some extra insurance for the squad:

The game was more or less over already at that point but it definitely helped Kurtz’s chances at winning the American League ROTY honors. He truly is having one of the most remarkable rookie seasons in Athletics history, and some hardware looks like it’s coming down the pipe for the young stud. Sorry Jacob Wilson.

Perkins was followed out of the bullpen by four relievers, who all had perfect outings (aside from one walk from Michael Kelly). Justin Sterner, Elvis Alvarado, and Ben Bowden finished the Angels off, helping to secure the club’s 56th win.

The club has another game against the Angels tomorrow evening. The club will have yet another rookie on the mound when Luis Morales takes to the bump for his second career start. Expectations are high for the young righty and we’ll get another sneak peak into the future tomorrow evening. The Angels will counter Morales with veteran lefty Tyler Anderson. Should be a good one!