Fausto Carmona’s pitching and some timely eighth-inning hitting lifted the Cleveland Indians to a 6-1 victory over the host Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon.
Carmona (3-0) allowed one run and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings and Mark Grudzielanek and Austin Kearns had run-scoring singles in the eighth as Cleveland had more hits in the decisive inning (four) than the first seven innings combined (three).
Oakland had runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the eighth but left-handed reliever Tony Sipp got Ryan Sweeney to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Cleveland added three ninth-inning runs as Mike Redmond singled in one and Kearns singled in a pair. Kearns was 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
Carmona, a 19-game winner in 2007 who often battles wildness, didn’t walk a single hitter and owns a 2.96 ERA in four starts this season.
Oakland took a 1-0 lead on Cliff Pennington’s RBI single in the third. Cleveland tied the score in the sixth on Shin-Soo Choo’s run-scoring single.
Athletics starter Brett Anderson gave up one run and three hits in six innings. Chad Gaudin (0-2) took the loss.
Cleveland | Oakland | |
Fausto Carmona | Player | Brett Anderson |
Win | W/L | No Decision |
7.1 | IP | 6.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 5 |
7 | Hits | 3 |
1.23 | ERA | 1.50 |
Cleveland | Oakland | |
Austin Kearns | Player | Eric Patterson |
3 | Hits | 1 |
3 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 1 |
.600 | Avg | .333 |