OAKLAND, Calif. _ The Oakland A's returned from a triumphant road trip showing they hadn't lost their touch, getting a strong performance from right-hander Paul Blackburn in a 3-1 win Friday night over the Cleveland Indians at the Coliseum.
Blackburn out-pitched Indians starter Trevor Bauer, who surrendered two-out runs in the second and sixth innings. Blackburn gave up no runs in 6 1/3 innings before giving way to the bullpen.
Coming off an 8-2 road trip, the A's improved to 45-38 as the Indians fell to 44-35 before a paid crowd of 14,823.
The Indians broke through for a run in the eighth against A's reliever Yusmeiro Petit when Francisco Lindor hit a two-out double off the center field fence to drive in a run.
Jed Lowrie got that run back with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, his 13th of the season. Blake Treinen pitched the ninth to record his 21st save.
The A's scratched out a pair of runs in the second and sixth innings on two-out hits by Marcus Semien and Khris Davis.
In the second, Matt Olson beat the shift by chopping a grounder over the third base bag into left field for a double, went to third on a grounder to second by Stephen Piscotty and scored on Semien's clean single to left.
In the sixth, Matt Joyce stroked a one-out single to right center, and after Jed Lowrie struck out, Davis hit a Bauer breaking pitch into the left field corner for a double to drive in the run.
The A's missed a prime opportunity to add to their lead in the seventh, but failed to score despite having runners at second and third with none out.
Piscotty opened the inning with a bloop double to right, with Semien following with a single to center that held up just long enough to prevent Piscotty from scoring. Semien went to second on a wild pitch, with Bauer striking out Jonathan Lucroy for the first out and then getting Franklin Barreto.
The Indians went to left-hander Oliver Perez to face pinch hitter Mark Canha, who was intentionally walked to load the bases. After Chad Pinder was announced as a pinch hitter, the Indians brought in Zach McAllister to pitch. McAllister struck out Pinder on three pitches.
It was the deepest Blackburn has gone into a game since he came off the disabled list on June 7, surpassing the six innings in his 2018 debut against the Kansas City Royals.
This time, Blackburn did it against a far superior offensive team, giving up just three hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Early on, it didn't appear Blackburn would make it that far, given that he threw 47 pitches in the first two innings.
But the Brentwood product began to pitch more economically and had retired eight straight hitters before A's manager Bob Melvin went and got him with one out in the sixth inning to have the left-handed Ryan Buchter face former A's first baseman Yonder Alonso.
Buchter got Alonso on a pop up and then struck out pinch hitter Rajai Davis to end the seventh inning. Blackburn finished throwing a season-high 98 pitches with 59 strikes.
