ANAHEIM, Calif. (Interstat) — Josh Lowe launched a second-inning grand slam and Sam Aldegheri pitched five effective innings as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Athletics 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium.

The Angels snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 36-49, while the Athletics fell to 40-44. The game lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes before an announced crowd of 32,557.

After a scoreless first inning, the Angels broke the game open in the bottom of the second. Vaughn Grissom led off with a single to center field, and Wade Meckler walked. Oswald Peraza then singled to load the bases. Lowe followed by crushing a 1-0 pitch from Athletics starter Aaron Civale over the right-field fence for his sixth home run of the season. The grand slam gave the Angels a 4-0 lead and proved to be all the offense they would need.

The Athletics scored their only run in the top of the fifth. Jeff McNeil singled and Alika Williams singled, putting runners on first and second. Henry Bolte grounded out to first base, moving both runners into scoring position. Joey Meneses then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring McNeil and cutting the deficit to 4-1.

That was the only damage Off Athletics starter Civale, who took the loss. Civale allowed seven hits and four earned runs over five innings, striking out two and walking one. He fell to 5-5 on the season.

Aldegheri, who entered the game with a 2-3 record and had struggled in his previous two starts, delivered a much-needed quality outing. He allowed five hits and one earned run over five innings while striking out four. Aldegheri improved to 3-3.

The Angels bullpen locked down the Athletics from the sixth inning onward. José Fermin threw two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. Ryan Zeferjahn pitched two-thirds of an inning with two strikeouts. Samy Natera Jr. worked the final one and one-third innings, allowing one hit and striking out two to earn his first save of the season.

For the Athletics, relievers José Suarez tossed two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, and Elvis Alvarado added a scoreless inning with one strikeout.

The Athletics managed six hits in the game, with Lawrence Butler leading the way with two singles. Shea Langeliers, Max Muncy, McNeil and Williams each had a hit. But the Athletics could not string together enough baserunners against Aldegheri and the Angels bullpen. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

The Angels finished with seven hits. Grissom went 1 for 3 with a single and a run scored. Peraza had a single, and Tyler Heineman also singled. Lowe’s grand slam was the only extra-base hit of the game for either team.

The game was the third of a four-game series between the two teams. The Athletics had won the series opener 9-3 on Friday, but the Angels bounced back with a 5-2 victory Saturday. The series concludes Monday.

The Athletics, who have split their last six games, now head home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series beginning Monday. The Angels travel to Seattle for a three-game set against the Mariners starting Monday.

Both teams have struggled in the first half of the season. The Athletics entered Sunday with a 40-43 record and were looking to build momentum after a rough stretch that included losses in three of four games against San Francisco and a series split against the Colorado Rockies. The Angels, meanwhile, have been near the bottom of the American League West and have lost seven of their last 10 games heading into Sunday.

The key moment of the game was clearly the second-inning grand slam by Lowe. After the Angels had managed only a single and a walk against Civale in the first inning, the second inning began with Grissom’s single. Civale then walked Meckler on four pitches, putting two on with no outs. Peraza followed with a sharp ground ball that was just out of reach of second baseman McNeil, loading the bases. Lowe worked the count to 1-0 before driving a fastball deep to right field. The ball cleared the wall with ease, giving the Angels a four-run cushion.

Lowe’s grand slam was his sixth home run of the season and his fourth RBI of the game. He finished 1 for 2 with a walk. The home run was the only extra-base hit in a game that featured mostly singles and groundouts.

Aldegheri’s performance was a welcome sign for an Angels rotation that has struggled with consistency. He had allowed five earned runs in each of his previous two starts, lasting only 4 2/3 innings against Baltimore on June 22 and three innings at Arizona on June 17. On Sunday, he kept the Athletics off balance, mixing a low-90s fastball with a curveball and changeup. He retired the side in order in the first and third innings and worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth.

The Athletics threatened in the top of the eighth when Henry Bolte and Joey Meneses drew consecutive walks to start the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs. But Angels reliever Zeferjahn struck out Shea Langeliers, and then Natera entered to strike out Jonah Heim and retire Nick Kurtz on a fly ball to center field. Natera then worked a perfect ninth, striking out Max Muncy and Alika Williams around a single by Lawrence Butler to secure the save.

Civale, who had won his previous two decisions, struggled with his command early. He needed 23 pitches to get through a scoreless first inning. In the second, he left a fastball over the plate to Lowe, who did not miss. Civale settled down after that, allowing only two hits over his final three innings, but the damage was done.

The game featured no errors and only one walk issued by each starter. The Athletics had chances in the fifth and eighth innings but could not deliver the big hit. Meneses’ sacrifice fly in the fifth brought in one run, but the Angels bullpen shut the door from there.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Los Angeles Angels 5, Athletics 4. The ELO system gave the Athletics a 51.90 percent probability to win prior to the game. The Athletics had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total of five runs scored went over the over/under line of 9.5.