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Thursday, Aug. 24 7:05pm ET
A's beat Indians, avoid sweep | |||||
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Terrence Long finally gave the Oakland Athletics the long ball they desperately needed. Afterward, the rookie was just waiting for his teammates to give it back. Long's first grand slam and career-high six RBI Thursday night helped the Oakland Athletics avoid a sweep and salvage the final game of a rough road trip with an 11-7 win over the Cleveland Indians. Long, who has tormented the Indians the past week, went 3-for-6 and rookie Barry Zito (2-2) pitched 6 2/3 innings for his first win in six starts as the A's went 2-5 on a swing through Detroit and Cleveland. As he dressed after the game, Long wondered what had happened to the ball he hit into Oakland's bullpen. "I hope somebody's got it," he said. "I think they're messing with me. I want to send it to my grandmother." Despite winning for just the sixth time in 18 games, Oakland moved within 2½ games of first-place Seattle in the AL West. The Mariners lost in Detroit 10-3. The A's, who had Jason Giambi and Randy Velarde back in the lineup, are also just one game back of Boston in the AL wild-card race. "We needed that win pretty bad," said manager Art Howe. "It was a tough road trip. After the kind of road trip we had, we're right in the middle of things." Oakland hadn't been able to get the clutch hit in losing the first two games in the series. The A's stranded 28 runners and had gone 50 innings without a homer when Long connected in the second. The Indians completed a six-game homestand at 5-1, but missed a chance to gain ground on Chicago in the AL Central. Cleveland, which trails in the wild card by one-half game, remained seven behind the White Sox, who have led the division by at least 6½ games since June 16. "Anytime we can win five out of six, that's good," said Indians manager Charlie Manuel. "Tonight, we just got off bad and it wasn't a good game for us. We just never got into it." When the A's swept the Indians last week at Oakland, Long went 5-for-7, made two diving catches in center and hit a game-winning, two-run double in the ninth in the series finale. He got two hits in each of the first two games of this series before hitting his slam and a two-run single in his first three at-bats against Steve Woodard (0-2). Long went 12-for-24 (.500) with nine RBI against the Indians this year. "They were trying to find a way to get me out I guess," said Long. "But I was patient." Long thinks patience is the key right now for the A's as they try to reel in the Mariners. "We're concentrating on the division," Long said. "we're not thinking about the wild card. I've got a funny feeling we're about to turn it up a notch." Zito, a first-round draft pick in '99, allowed three runs and five hits. He walked six -- four in one inning -- and struck out eight. Matt Stairs, who entered the game with the AL's worst batting average (.214), had three hits, and Jason Giambi returned after missing five games to drive in two runs. David Segui had two RBI for the Indians, who went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Long's first career slam capped Oakland's five-run second inning off Woodard, who forced in the A's first run by walking No. 9 hitter Sal Fasano on four pitches with the bases loaded. Woodard fell behind 3-1 ad then grooved fastball to Long, who lined it into the Oakland bullpen to make it 5-2. Stairs helped set up the inning by surprising the Indians with a bunt down the third-base line. "That surprised me, too," Howe said. "He did that on his own. It set the whole inning up." Long added a two-run single in the third and the A's added another run to go up 8-2 in the inning when catcher Sandy Alomar dropped Segui's throw home. Giambi, who sat out five games with a strained left shoulder, put the A's up 10-2 by doubling in two runs in the fifth. Zito hadn't won since beating Anaheim in his major league debut on July 22. The lefty was lucky to get out of the first inning down just 2-0 after walking four -- one intentionally. Game notesOakland's 11 grand slams this season are a franchise record and one shy of the major league mark shared by Atlanta (1997) and Cleveland ('99). ... Oakland had lost 10 of its last 11 road games. ... Segui has hit safely in 13 straight games. ... The Indians tied a club record when John McDonald entered at short in the seventh. Injuries have forced Cleveland to use 53 players this season, matching the mark set by the 1991 club. ... Indians catcher Einar Diaz, a converted third baseman, played third for the first time in his major league career. He last played third for Triple-A Buffalo in 1997. ... Oakland committed three errors, giving the A's a major league-leading 116. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Oakland Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS NY Yankees 8 Texas 7
Oakland 11
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