Athletics win 11th of 13 by beating Indians 8-4 to take AL wild-card lead

8/29/2012
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick beats the throw to Cleveland Indians first baseman Matt LaPorta (7) for an infield single in the sixth inning Wednesday in Cleveland.
Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick beats the throw to Cleveland Indians first baseman Matt LaPorta (7) for an infield single in the sixth inning Wednesday in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND — Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer and five Oakland Athletics pitchers combined to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 on Wednesday night.

Oakland took over the AL wild-card lead by one game over Baltimore with its 11th win in 13 games as Travis Blackley (5-3) gave up two runs over 5 2-3 innings. Ryan Cook got four outs for his 13th save.

Donaldson connected off rookie Corey Kluber (0-3) in the fourth inning for a 3-2 lead. Shoddy fielding by the Indians, losers of 13 of 14, helped the Athletics later extend the lead.

Jason Donald's homer in the third broke the Indians' 24-inning scoreless streak, but they fell to 5-26 since July 27.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was ejected in the first inning by plate umpire Gary Darling, who took exception to the All-Star arguing a called third strike. The whiff made Cabrera 4 for 36 (.111) in his last 10 games.

Cleveland, scoreless in 52 of its last 57 innings, scored more than three runs for the first time in 10 games.

Yoenis Cespedis and Josh Reddick each had three of Oakland's 15 hits as the Athletics moved to 7-0 against the Indians since April 22, outscoring them 44-14.

Donald's homer was the Indians' first run against the Athletics in 29 innings. They hadn't scored against them since the ninth inning of an 8-5 loss in Oakland on Aug. 18.

Ezequiel Carrera then tripled and scored on a groundout by Jason Kipnis.

Donaldson made it 3-2 in the fourth, hitting a two-out, 3-2 pitch from Kluber for his third homer.

Kluber's defense deserted him in the sixth. With Reddick on first with a one-out infield single, he got Donaldson to ground to third. Jack Hannahan fielded the bouncer and threw to second to start a possible double play, but the ball went through second baseman Donald's legs, putting runners on first and third. Donald was charged with the error for failing to get the low but accurate throw.

Derek Norris followed with an RBI grounder to first baseman Matt LaPorta, who stepped on first for the out. LaPorta turned to throw to second for an inning-ending double play, but instead held the ball before throwing home, too high and too late to get Reddick sliding in from third.

Seth Smith doubled home a run and scored on Carter's single in the seventh to make it 6-2.

Cleveland scored two unearned runs in the eighth following an error by Donaldson at third.

Kluber struck out a career-high seven without issuing a walk over six innings.

NOTES: Indians RHP Jeanmar Gomez worked one scoreless inning after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus when OF Shelley Duncan was designated for assignment. Duncan had exactly 11 homers and 29 runs in each of his three years in Cleveland. ... Indians 3B Lonnie Chisenhall, out since June 30 (broken right forearm), could begin a minor-league rehab assignment this weekend. ... Oakland 3B Brandon Inge, out since Aug. 12 (sprained right shoulder), may not be recalled from his rehab until rosters are expanded Saturday. ... Indians RHP Roberto Hernandez threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session and is set to start Saturday against Texas. He left Monday's start with a sprained right ankle. ... Athletics manager Bob Melvin said he'll likely load his lineup with lefties against RHP Justin Masterson on Thursday. RHP Jarrod Parker starts for Oakland. He beat the Indians 7-0 in Oakland on Aug. 19. ... There were 366 dogs in the stands on tickets bought by fans for a "Puppypalooza" promotion.