Michaels' late blast lifts Indians past Athletics <h3>CLEVELAND 4, OAKLAND 3</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jason Michaels picked an opportune timeto extend his hitting streak. Michaels' three-run homer in the seventh inning extended hishitting streak to 11 games and propelled the Cleveland Indiansto a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Cleveland (46-32) took three out of four games from the A's andmoved back into a virtual first-place tie with Detroit (45-31)in the American League Central Division. The Tigers host theTexas Rangers on Thursday afternoon. Trailing, 3-1, entering the seventh, the Indians started to putan inning together against Oakland starter Joe Blanton. Kelly Shoppach led off the seventh with a single to left. JoshBarfield followed with what looked like a single to short right,but Shoppach was running back to first, thinking the ball wouldbe caught. Right fielder Nick Swisher calmly picked up the ball and threwto second for the force. Pinch-hitter Casey Blake singled tocenter, ending Blanton's afternoon. Oakland looked like it might get out of the inning when Swisherrobbed Grady Sizemore of a potential game-tying double as hemade a diving catch on the warning track in right-center field. With righthander Ruddy Lugo warming in the bullpen, A's managerBob Geren elected to keep lefthander Ron Flores (0-2) to facethe righthanded Michaels. It would turn out to be a costly decision, as Michaels crushedFlores' 2-1 pitch in the left-center field bleachers for hissixth home run. Michaels, who went 1-for-4, is batting .395 (15-for-38) duringhis 11-game hitting streak. Paul Byrd (7-3) picked up his first win since May 30 as heallowed three runs while scattering 10 hits in seven innings.Byrd settled down after allowing three runs in the first twoinnings. Rafael Betancourt pitched a scoreless eighth and close JoeBorowski worked around a pair of singles in the ninth to pick uphis 22nd save in 24 opportunities. Blanton took a tough no-decision. The A's righthander, who hadwon four of his last five decisions, allowed three runs and sixhits in 6 1/3 innings. Cleveland scored its first run in the fifth on Sizemore's RBIdouble. Barfield hit a one-out single and one batter later,Sizemore doubled him home. Dan Johnson had three hits - including a homer - and Eric Chavezhad an RBI single for the A's, who fell to 1-6 on their 10-gameroad trip.
Michaels' late blast lifts Indians past Athletics <h3>CLEVELAND 4, OAKLAND 3</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jason Michaels picked an opportune timeto extend his hitting streak. Michaels' three-run homer in the seventh inning extended hishitting streak to 11 games and propelled the Cleveland Indiansto a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Cleveland (46-32) took three out of four games from the A's andmoved back into a virtual first-place tie with Detroit (45-31)in the American League Central Division. The Tigers host theTexas Rangers on Thursday afternoon. "It's tough to win a four-game series against anybody," Indiansmanager Eric Wedge said. "I am really pleased with the waythese guys were able to dig it out." Trailing, 3-1, entering the seventh, the Indians started to putan inning together against Oakland starter Joe Blanton. Kelly Shoppach led off the seventh with a single to left. JoshBarfield followed with what looked like a single to short right,but Shoppach was running back to first, thinking the ball wouldbe caught. Right fielder Nick Swisher calmly picked up the ball and threwto second for the force. Pinch-hitter Casey Blake singled tocenter, ending Blanton's afternoon. Oakland looked like it might get out of the inning when Swisherrobbed Grady Sizemore of a potential game-tying double as hemade a diving catch on the warning track in right-center field. "It looked like it one of be one of those days," Michaels said."We hit some balls hard, but they seemed to be making all theplays." With righthander Ruddy Lugo warming in the bullpen, A's managerBob Geren elected to keep lefthander Ron Flores (0-2) to facethe righthanded Michaels. It would turn out to be a costly decision, as Michaels crushedFlores' 2-1 pitch in the left-center field bleachers for hissixth home run. "I'm not a home run hitter," Michaels said. "I wasn't trying tohit a home run. I was looking for something over the middle ofthe plate to take to center field." Michaels, who went 1-for-4, is batting .395 (15-for-38) duringhis 11-game hitting streak. "I just hope to do something to stay in the lineup," Michaelssaid. "I'm just going out there battling and trying to get onbase." "It was supposed to be a fastball inside that humped over theplate," Flores said. "I'm still fairly new in pitching in bigsituations and I have to take it as a learning experience." Paul Byrd (7-3) picked up his first win since May 30 as heallowed three runs while scattering 10 hits in seven innings.Byrd settled down after allowing three runs in the first twoinnings. "It's been too long (since I won)," Byrd said. "I had to battlethrough the first two innings. I thought I got into a grooveafter that and started pitching better." Rafael Betancourt pitched a scoreless eighth and close JoeBorowski worked around a pair of singles in the ninth to pick uphis 22nd save in 24 opportunities. The A's had runners on second and third with only one out, butBorowski got Shannon Stewart to pop out to Barfield at secondbase before retiring Mark Kotsay on a line drive to Sizemore incenter field. "I was feeling good with Kotsay up there," Geren said. "He'sbeen one of our hottest hitters, but we just didn't get it donetoday." Blanton took a tough no-decision. The A's righthander, who hadwon four of his last five decisions, allowed three runs and sixhits in 6 1/3 innings. "(Cleveland) made me throw a lot of pitches," Blanton said."They did a nice job of getting into our bullpen early today." It was the second start in a row that Blanton pitched wellenough to win but walked away with nothing to show for it. Inhis last start against the New York Mets, Blanton pitched eightscoreless innings, but the A's ended up losing a 1-0 decision. "The only frustration is the team hasn't won," Blanton said. "Idon't care about my wins personally, I just want to see theteam win." Cleveland scored its first run in the fifth on Sizemore's RBIdouble. Barfield hit a one-out single and one batter later,Sizemore doubled him home. Dan Johnson had three hits - including a homer - and Eric Chavezhad an RBI single for the A's, who fell to 1-6 on their 10-gameroad trip. "I'm not happy with the (record)," Geren said. "But I am happywith the way we played."
