Athletics complete sweep of Pirates
PITTSBURGH – Jermaine Dye drove in four runs with a homer and a bases-loaded double to support Tim Hudson’s effective pitching, and Oakland finished a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh, winning 5-3 Thursday night. Hudson (5-6) won his second in a row after losing four straight, shaking off Jason Kendall’s first career leadoff homer to limit the Pirates to two runs and five hits over eight innings.
It was yet another strong outing by an Oakland starting staff that is 14-3 since May 25, the major reason why the Athletics have won 12 of 13, 16 of 19 and 20 of 25 to climb back into the AL West race.
The Athletics hadn’t played a series in Pennsylvania since abandoning Philadelphia after the 1954 season – two franchise shifts and 48 years ago – only to extend the majors’ best interleague record to 11-1 this season and 61-37 since AL vs. NL play began in 1997.
The Pirates lost their sixth in seven games and seventh in nine and are seven games under .500 for the first time this season. They have lost 34 of 54 since a 12-5 start.
Dye was largely responsible for the Athletics’ fourth sweep in six series, jumping them out to a multirun lead in the first inning for the third straight night.
Pirates right-hander Kris Benson (0-4), winless in eight starts since sitting out 18 months for reconstructive elbow surgery, quickly got into trouble by allowing singles to Mark Ellis and Scott Hatteberg. Miguel Tejada walked to load the bases.
Dye then emptied the bases with his 14th double, a hard shot down the third base line that Aramis Ramirez couldn’t knock down with a diving stop. Eric Chavez followed with another run-scoring double.
The first inning was Oakland’s best inning in the first regular-season series between two franchises with a combined 216 years of existence. Oakland scored eight of its 12 runs in the first, taking 2-0 leads while winning 5-2 Tuesday and 3-2 in 10 innings Wednesday.
Kendall, shifted to leadoff the night before, got a run back for Pittsburgh by hitting his second homer of the season to start the Pirates’ first. Hudson was in control after that while allowing four more hits, including Brian Giles’ double and Ramirez’s run-scoring single in the sixth.
Hudson, who has yielded only three runs in 15 innings in his last two starts since ending his losing streak, struck out four and walked none before being lifted after eight innings.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the ninth off closer Billy Koch, and Adrian Brown, in a 2-for-26 slump, hit an infield single to third to drive in a run and make the score 5-3.
But Koch struck out Kendall to earn his third save in as many games and 18th in 22 opportunities.
NOTES: Pirates LHP Scott Sauerbeck began warming up to pitch the eighth, but never made it into the game for precautionary reasons because of a sore arch. He did not throw a pitch. … The Pirates are 4-15 when allowing a first-inning run. … Few Pirates pitchers have regular season experience against weekend opponent Texas, but Friday night starter Kip Wells is 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA in seven starts against the Rangers. … Oakland’s 15-3 record this month is the best in the majors.