ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Paul Blackburn is not what you'd call a hardened veteran, not at the age of 23 and in his first season in the major leagues. But he certainly pitches like it and has already learned about the U-turns that exist in baseball.

The Oakland Athletics' rookie right-hander turned in another quality effort in his seventh major league start, throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings and allowing just five hits and no walks as the A's beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-0.

It was his fifth quality start in the seven he's made, and he's gone six innings or more in six of the seven. It was the fourth time he's held the opponent to a run or less.

"He's had multiple good games, and now he put this one on top of it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's been as consistent as anyone we've had this season. You sort of looking forward to him being in the mound."

Rajai Davis had two hits and three steals and new A's catcher Dustin Garneau had a two-run single in his second at-bat with Oakland after being picked up off waivers from Colorado. The win snapped the Angels' four-game winning streak and pushed them 2 1/2 games behind Kansas City in the AL race for the second wild-card playoff spot.

"My mindset was to put the team in the best situation to win," Blackburn said. "I don't try to do anything I can't do. I don't want to do too much, just stay within myself."

Blackburn was a 2012 first-round draft pick by the Cubs who was traded to Seattle at the trade deadline last season in exchange for veteran left-hander Mike Montgomery, who helped the Cubs win the World Series. The A's acquired him in November from Seattle in exchange for veteran utilityman Danny Valencia.

That seemed odd, considering Blackburn (3-1) has a career minor league record of 34-23 in five-plus seasons with a 3.21 ERA and has massive upside. "Yeah, I'd have to admit that phone call caught me off guard," he said. "But this is a great situation for me."

The A's were aggressive against Angels starter Tyler Skaggs, who was making his first start since late April after spending several months on the DL rehabbing a strained oblique muscle.

Davis singled on the first pitch, stole second on the third, and eventually stole third and scored on a Skaggs (1-2) wild pitch. "That's Rajai," Melvin said. "He can cause havoc and make a pitcher lose his focus."

Skaggs created his own jam in the fourth. With two outs, he gave up a ground-rule double to Chad Pinder and issued a full count walk to Matt Chapman. Mark Canha hit a cue shot off the end of his bat that found the dead spot between Skaggs and first baseman Luis Valbuena to load the bases.

Garneau, acquired Friday off waivers from Colorado, lined a 2-2 pitch to left to score Pinder and Chapman and make it a 3-0 A's lead.

Skaggs left after four, allowing six hits, three earned runs, two walks and a pair of wild pitches. He struck out three.

"I thought Tyler settled in after the first and made some good pitches," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Then he kind of lost his curveball, got behind and had to make a lot of pitches. He'll be better next time."

The A's added two in the sixth on an infield single, two walks, an error by third baseman Yunel Escobar and a Davis-Canha double steal.

NOTES: A's OF Matt Joyce received a two-game suspension without pay for directing a gay slur at a fan during Friday's game against the Angels. He will be required to take part in an outreach group, and the A's are donating Joyce's salary (around $54,000) to the same group. "I sincerely apologize to the fans, the Oakland A's, MLB and most importantly the LGBTQ community for my comments and actions," Joyce said in a statement. ... C Dustin Garneau, claimed off waivers from Colorado, started Saturday against the Angels and had a two-run single in his second at-bat with the A's. ... A's C Ryan Lavarnway was designated for assignment. He was 2-for-9 in five games for the A's. ... Angels RHP Daniel Wright was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room on the roster for the return of LHP Tyler Skaggs. Wright did not pitch during his brief recall. ... CF Mike Trout has a hit in 16 of 18 games since returning from the DL. He's hitting .361 with 13 runs scored, five home runs and 14 RBI. He needs two hits for 1,000 in his career.