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Gonzalez, A's shut down Indians

Sep 1, 2011 - 9:11 PM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Cliff Pennington went 4-for-5 with three RBI and Gio Gonzalez tossed seven scoreless innings, as the Oakland Athletics handled the Cleveland Indians, 7-0, to avoid a four-game sweep.

Coco Crisp went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in for the A's, who snapped a five-game skid and went 4-6 on a 10-game road trip.

Gonzalez (12-11) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked four in the victory. He improved to 5-0 in six career starts against the Tribe and has allowed just three earned runs in 37 1/3 innings.

"That was big for us today," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Gonzalez. "It looked like he was tiring a bit at the end, but we really needed him to give us seven. The last outs of the seventh were big."

Fausto Carmona (6-13) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over six-plus innings for the Indians, who went 6-5 on an 11-game homestand. He struck out six and walked two.

The Indians remained 5 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. Detroit lost to Kansas City on Thursday.

Cleveland was trying to pull off a four-game sweep of the A's for the first time since April 26-29, 1999 in Oakland.

"I can't sit here and complain about these guys taking three out of four and winning back-to-back series," Indians manager Manny Acta said.

It took until the top of the fifth for a runner to reach third base. Eric Sogard reached base when he grounded into a fielder's choice and Jemile Weeks followed with a single to put men on first and second with two outs. Pennington knocked in the first run of the game with a single to left and a double steal put men on second and third for Crisp, who hit an RBI single to right for a 2-0 lead.

Oakland added two more runs in the seventh. Anthony Recker led off with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on Sogard's bunt single. Weeks followed with a routine fly ball to left fielder Jerad Head, who dropped the ball, allowing Recker to score. Pennington loaded the bases with an infield single, chasing Carmona from the game.

Nick Hagadone was called upon to make his MLB debut. The bases remained loaded after Crisp grounded into a fielder's choice, but Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly made it a 4-0 game. Brandon Allen struck out swinging to end the inning.

The A's broke the game open with a three-run eighth. Corey Kluber made his MLB debut with the bases loaded and two outs, and Pennington greeted him with a two-run single. Crisp followed with an RBI base hit for a 7-0 lead.

Cleveland had plenty of baserunners, stranding 10. The Tribe left men on first and second in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Game Notes

The Indians took five of seven from the A's this season...Carmona fell to 4-6 lifetime against Oakland...Cleveland placed outfielder Shin-Soo Choo on the 15-day disabled list Thursday. The Indians recalled Hagadone and Kluber from Triple-A Columbus. Hagadone gave up three runs on two hits over 1 2/3 innings, while Kluber tossed 1 1/3 frames and was not charged with a run...Oakland selected the contract of pitcher Jason Rice from Triple-A Sacramento, as teams were able to begin expanding rosters.