OAKLAND, Calif. -- As early as the bottom of the first inning, the Oakland A's must have sensed something strange was brewing Wednesday.

The A's amassed five hits, including designated hitter Billy Butler's three-run homer, and took a 4-0 lead against the San Diego Padres

The outburst was a surprise considering right-hander Jesse Chavez was pitching for Oakland, and he came into the game with a 2.64 ERA but a 2-6 record, thanks in large part to getting an average of 1.94 runs of support in his first 10 starts.

This time, the hits and runs kept coming for Chavez, and the A's rolled to a 16-2 victory. They pounded out a season-high 20 hits and set a new high for runs, surpassing the 12 they scored against the Seattle Mariners on April 10.

"It was awesome, especially for Chavez," said A's center fielder Billy Burns, who went 3-for-5 and scored three runs. "He pitches so well every time, and we just haven't put up the runs for him. It was really nice to pay him back a little bit."

Chavez (3-6) pitched another gem. He gave up one run over seven innings and struck out a career-high 11, doing most of his damage with his changeup and low-90s fastball. Chavez, who allowed only three hits, spent much of the night watching A's hitters circle the bases.

"We've been so close this whole time," Chavez said. "Now it's all finally coming together. That's the fun thing. As a pitcher, you just want to come in, sit down and watch them do their thing."

Left fielder Ben Zobrist had a single, a double and a triple, drove in three runs and scored three times for the A's, who won their season-high-matching fourth consecutive game. Every A's starter had at least one hit, and every starter except Burns had at least one RBI.

The Padres lost their fourth straight game overall and their third straight to the A's. They are 0-3 since firing manager Bud Black and 0-2 under interim manager Pat Murphy.

San Diego right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne (3-5) allowed six runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out two and walking one.

"Despy knows how to pitch and has been good as of late," Murphy said. "In the opening inning, he give up a four-spot, and it really came down to a couple pitches, maybe two pitches. You give up a four-spot and now you're looking to get back on track. He did and gave us some innings, and that was helpful, but we couldn't figure out their guy. Their guy was tremendous. Tremendous. He had the bottom of the zone. He was very good tonight, and we didn't have very good at-bats.

"Let's face it, we're trying to get back in the game, and we pressed a little bit. This team has been through a lot in the last week. Not making excuses for them. I've been here a short time, but there's things to really believe in."

San Diego shortstop Alexi Amarista hit a leadoff home run in the sixth inning, his second of the season, and third baseman Will Middlebrooks crushed a leadoff homer in the eighth, his ninth. Center fielder Will Venable went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

The A's scored four runs in the first inning, one in the third, four in the seventh and seven in the eighth. Padres reliever Cory Mazzoni gave up eight hits and seven runs while recording two outs in the eighth. Amarista got the final out, retiring Burns on a fly ball.

"Bud Black was always telling me that the opportunity would come, but the opportunity didn't come," Amarista said of his major league pitching debut. "Now with the new manager, it came, so I'm really happy about it."

Burns stayed red hot, leading off the game with a first-pitch double down the right field line. He moved to third on shortstop Marcus Semien's single and scored on Zobrist's sharp single to right with one out.

Despaigne struck out catcher Stephen Vogt for the second out, but Butler hammered a 1-1 pitch high and deep into the left field seats for a t