It was another loss for the Angels, who dropped three out of four at the Oakland Coliseum with a 3-0 defeat in the series finale on Monday, but Griffin Canning showed some positive signs in his return from a right elbow injury sustained in Spring Training.

• Box score

Canning’s stuff was better than his line score indicated, as the right-hander struck out seven over 4 2/3 innings, but he gave up three runs on four hits and two walks. It was his first time pitching in a Major League game since Aug. 18, after which he was shut down with elbow troubles during his rookie season, only to see them flare up again in Spring Training.

Angels manager Joe Maddon was pleased by what he saw from Canning but noted his 24-year-old righty can learn from the two-run third inning, as Canning looked rushed and lost his command for a bit.

“I thought for that one inning, he lost some of his sharpness and he got a little quick,” Maddon said. “I use that term a lot, but I watch from the side, just the mental skills 101. I'm always aware. He got a little quick, we talked about it. Then he righted himself through about 80 pitches, which is good going to his next start.”

• Simmons (ankle) undergoing further tests

The better news is Canning's health, after he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow in early March and rehabbed at Angel Stadium during the shutdown. He’s also utilizing a vibrating heat sleeve on his elbow in between innings to keep his arm loose.

His velocity is down a tick from last season -- his four-seamer averaged 92.3 mph Monday, compared to 93.9 mph in 2019 -- but Canning made up for it with good command of his offspeed pitches. Of his 82 pitches, 25 were fastballs, 25 were sliders, 24 were curves and eight were changeups. He registered 15 swinging strikes, including seven with the curve, six with the slider and two with the fastball. Canning came away pleased with his command.

"I thought it was pretty good,” he said. "My changeup was the one pitch I didn't command very well, but I didn't throw too many of those anyway."

Canning ran into trouble in the third, when he walked Tony Kemp with a full count and one out. Marcus Semien followed with a shift-beating single into right that set up a sacrifice fly from Ramón Laureano, giving the A’s the lead. Matt Chapman followed with an RBI double on a 3-2 fastball a batter later.

“They have a deep lineup,” Canning said. “Kemp had a pretty good at-bat there. Laid off I think a 2-2 curveball and then a 3-2 changeup. So yeah, when you walk a guy, they usually come around to score. So I'm not happy about those, but there's some other stuff I can take and move forward.”

The other run Canning surrendered came in the fourth, after the Angels had runners on second and third with nobody out as well as the bases loaded with one out, before failing to score in the top of the inning. The momentum stayed with Oakland, and Canning promptly served up a leadoff homer to Mark Canha on a 2-2 fastball to give the A’s a three-run lead they never looked back from.

“The home run, Canha just got inside that pitch,” Maddon said. “The double by Chapman, I think you'd like to have that back, because overall he's had good success against him.”