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ANAHEIM – Garret Anderson’s game-winning hit was nothing to brag about – an opposite-field blooper to left. 

The Anaheim Angels’ cleanup hitter was able to chuckle about it afterward because it gave his team an important victory. 

Anderson’s two-out single off Oakland closer Billy Koch drove in Darin Erstad with the go-ahead run Thursday as the Angels beat the Athletics 5-4. 

“He’s a tough pitcher, he can make the ball move a couple different directions. I don’t ever remember getting a good part of the bat on the ball,” Anderson said, smiling. “I just got lucky. The ball dropped where nobody was playing. He got me to pop up, he got his job done. 

“When you face a guy like that with overpowering stuff, I’m just trying to put the ball in play. I’ll take it. I know there’s a lot of them I’ve hit that have been caught.” 

David Eckstein singled with one out for his fourth hit of the game, equaling a career high. Erstad forced Eckstein and took second on a wild pitch before Jim Mecir (3-3) walked Tim Salmon. 

Koch relieved and Anderson came through on a 1-0 pitch with his third hit of the game and 77th RBI of the year. 

“He’s always tough on us,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Koch, who’s 6-1 with 25 saves in 30 chances. “Even though Garret didn’t hit it very hard, he found a hole.” 

The Angels rallied from a 3-0 deficit and scored all their runs with two outs. 

Scot Shields (3-1) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings to earn the victory and Ben Weber worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save in seven chances. 

The Angels, contending with Oakland and Seattle in the AL West, have played their last eight games against the A’s and Mariners, winning six. They open a three-game series in Seattle on Friday night. 

The A’s, who lost for just the fifth time in 15 games, fell two games behind the Angels. 

The A’s took a 3-0 lead off Ramon Ortiz in the fifth on an RBI single by Miguel Tejada and a two-run single by Eric Chavez. 

The Angels drew within one run off Cory Lidle in their half when Salmon snapped an 0-for-11 drought by hitting a two-out, two-run single. 

The A’s made it 4-2 in the sixth when Shields threw a two-out, bases-loaded wild pitch, enabling Olmedo Saenz to score. 

But the Angels tied it in the bottom half on two-out, RBI singles by pinch-hitter Jorge Fabregas and Eckstein off Chad Bradford. Mecir fanned Salmon with the bases loaded to end the inning. 

Ortiz, who has given up a big league-leading 28 homers, allowed eight hits — all singles — and four runs in 5 1-3 innings. 

Lidle, who pitched a one-hit shutout against Texas last Saturday, gave up seven hits and four runs in 5 2-3 innings. 

“It’s always frustrating when you have the lead and give it up, but they’re a good team,” Lidle said. “They know how to win and they’re playing good ball right now.” 

The A’s ran themselves out of a potential rally in the first. Terrence Long hit a one-out single but was thrown out stealing. Tejada singled and Chavez walked before Angels catcher Jose Molina picked Tejada off second. 

Notes: There were 22 hits in the game — all singles. ... Anaheim’s Troy Glaus, mired in a 4-for-31 slump, wasn’t in the starting lineup. He entered the game in the eighth and struck out in his only at bat. ... Tejeda has hit in 14 straight games. He hit in a career-high 15 straight earlier this season,