OAKLAND, Calif. _ With the level of support he keeps getting from Khris Davis, Oakland A's starter Sean Manaea may be loath to take the mound without first checking to make sure Davis is in the lineup.
Davis homered for the fourth time in Manaea's last six starts, this one a three-run shot in the first inning that enabled Manaea to cruise to a 9-1 win over Cleveland on Tuesday. Davis has 33 homers, the third-highest total in the majors, and his past four in support of Manaea have all come in his first at-bat of the game.
Tuesday's victim was Danny Salazar, who was stung by singles from Jake Smolinski and Danny Valencia before Davis homered, a shot to the opposite field that cleared the Coliseum wall with sufficient majesty to enable Davis to take his time circling the bases.
With three homers in his last five games, Davis has moved into the No. 3 spot in the majors behind Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles (38) and Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays (35).
For the A's, the win broke a three-game losing streak and was just the third in the last 11 games for Oakland, now 54-72 entering Wednesday's series and homestand finale against Cleveland.
Manaea, 5-8, came into this game 1-3 in four August starts, but was at the top of his game from the beginning. He threw seven innings, allowing just three hits. The last of those was a solo shot from Cleveland catcher Chris Gimenez, but by the time it came around, the A's already had a six-run lead.
Tuesday was Manaea's fourth start of at least seven innings, and it was close to his best. He walked two, struck out eight and only once did he face a batter with a runner in scoring position.
After he left just two pitches shy of his career high with 104, Manaea saw John Axford take over to throw a scoreless eighth inning. Chris Smith pitched a quiet ninth to finish up.
After his homer was in the bank, Davis went on to have a huge game. He walked and scored a run as part of a two-run third inning, then doubled and scored on a Ryon Healy double in the fifth. The evening was an abrupt about-face for Davis, who'd gone 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in Monday's 1-0 loss.
For Healy the double that brought home Davis in the fifth was his second hit of the game as he stretched his career-best hitting streak to 10 games.
Chad Pinder singled home Davis in the third, the rookie shortstop's first big league RBI. And Bruce Maxwell, catching with Stephen Vogt getting a day off, delivered a two-run double in the eighth for his first two career RBIs.
_ Billy Butler declined once again to talk about the circumstances surrounding his fight with teammate Danny Valencia on Friday in Chicago. He did take part in the annual team photo before Tuesday's game, but for the most part spent his day following the training team's advice on how to deal with the concussion symptoms he's had since the fracas.
_ Shortstop Marcus Semien, whose first son, Isaiah, was born to his wife, Tarah, on Monday, wasn't at the park Tuesday but was still on the roster. He likely will take Wednesday off, too, so the A's are likely to put him on paternity leave and call up minor league help.
