Kirby Yates couldn’t convert his first save chance of the year Wednesday against the A’s, giving up a solo homer to Jeff McNeil in the ninth.

Yates was pitching with a lead for the first time in five appearances since coming off the IL, though that had less to do with his status than the fact that the Angels have done little but trail lately. Up 5-3, they went to Ryan Zerferjahn in the seventh tonight, only to watch him hit back-to-back batters with one out. Sam Bachman came in and, after allowing one inherited runner to score, kept the A’s scoreless through the eighth. That led to Yates taking over in a one-run game, but McNeil sent a ball 364 feet down the right-field line to even things up. The Angels ended up losing in 10. Yates has allowed three runs in five innings since coming off the IL, and his velocity is down a bit more than two mph from last year. He’s probably not going to run away with the closer’s role in Anaheim.