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Mark Mulder took an early seat, with a long time to ponder what went wrong. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

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Mark Mulder's mystifying second half reached a new low when he was yanked after allowing four runs on six hits over two innings, and the visiting Angels took the upper hand in this win-or-go-home weekend series by rolling to a 10-0 laugher in front of a sellout crowd of 47,081.

"Not a very pleasant evening," A's manager Ken Macha said glumly.

Oakland was down four runs by the time Mulder got the hook, and rookie reliever Joe Blanton gave up a grand slam to .155-hitting Alfredo Amezega in the sixth inning to ease Anaheim into a one-game lead in the American League West.

"They got the momentum and ran with it," outfielder Mark Kotsay offered.

But while Saturday and Sunday are now must-win games for the A's, Kotsay didn't see any reason to think that Friday's disappointment would carry over into the weekend.

"I don't think it tips momentum in their favor at all," he said.

Barry Zito will get the start Saturday for Oakland opposite Kelvim Escobar with the season on the line.

"I don't look at it as having the weight of the world on my shoulders," Zito said. "I look at it as I have to go out and win a baseball game, and that's something I know how to do."

Should Zito pull it off, Tim Hudson will have to beat Jarrod Washburn on Sunday to extend the season into the playoffs.

"I know it doesn't look good right now," Mulder said, "but we've got two games left, and we've got two great pitchers going."

If Friday night is any kind of indicator, the odds against the A's are long. Bartolo Colon (18-12), pitching on three days of rest instead of four for the first time this season, allowed three hits over seven innings.

Brendan Donnelly and Ramon Ortiz teamed up on two innings of one-hit relief for the Angels. Over the past three games, the A's have a total of five runs on 12 hits.

"We were able to get the first one out of the way," Colon said through an interpreter. "But nothing is won. We can't start celebrating."

Mulder (17-8) gave up a single to Vladimir Guerrero during an otherwise uneventful first inning, and the second was far more eventful than anyone associated with A's would have liked.

It started with Mulder making a good pitch to Garret Anderson, who bounced one into no-man's land between the mound and first base for an infield hit. Adam Riggs followed with a ringing double to push Anderson to third, and from there everything unraveled.

When David Eckstein grounded to the right side of the infield, second baseman Marco Scutaro threw home in an attempt to nail Anderson, who is playing with a tendinitis in his left knee. Home-plate umpire Brian Runge called Anderson safe after a high tag from catcher Adam Melhuse, but television replays showed that the tag was applied before Anderson's foot found the plate.

"I haven't seen the replay," Mulder said, "but I've had people tell me he was out. It was a big play in the game."

Jose Molina followed with an RBI single and, after another run scored on a double-play ball hit by Amezega, Chone Figgins tripled and scored on a perfectly placed bunt single by Darin Erstad.

Mulder retired Guerrero on a ground ball to end the inning, but that was the end of his evening. Blanton took over to start the third.

"Of course I was surprised" to come out so early, said Mulder, who was informed of the decision by pitching coach Curt Young. "But you have to look at it both ways. I don't have so big an ego that I want to stay in when I'm not helping the team."

Part of Mulder's problem in recent weeks has been a dip in velocity from the low- to mid-90s into the high 80s, but Hudson said he'd heard that Mulder was being clocked at 90-91 mph on Friday. Melhuse confirmed that Mulder's velocity was better than it's been in a while and noted that the sinking two-seam fastball on which the lanky lefty relies showed signs of life.

All of that just made the night more frustrating for Mulder, who again insisted that health has not been an issue.

"There's no physical problems whatsoever," he said. "If there was, that'd be a good excuse. ... It's not mental anymore, either. I felt great out there, and I made some really good pitches. But I made at least three pretty bad ones, too, and they hit every one of them hard. I'm just not getting away with any mistakes right now."

Only once before in his career had Mulder exited so early, and it came during the struggle that was his rookie campaign of 2000, when he left an August start against the Yankees after two innings.

In his final seven starts of the season, after picking up his 17th win at home against Baltimore on Aug. 24, Mulder went 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA, allowing 28 earned runs while giving up 16 doubles, seven homers and a triple over 34 2/3 innings.

"It's tough," he said. "These are the situations I love. I want to be that person to go out there and win the big game. ... I feel like I'm letting everyone down."

In a three-start stretch in May, Mulder went 3-0 with three complete games and a composite ERA of 1.33. In his last three starts of the regular season, his longest outing was four innings, and he went 0-3 with an 11.17 ERA.

"It [stinks]," he said. "Barry's been pitching better lately. Huddy's gotten a win here and there. Rich [Harden] has been great, and [Mark] Redman came up big [Thursday]. ... I haven't done anything. If I win just two of my past seven starts, we're in the playoffs already."

Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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