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Gaudin shuts down opposition again as A's defeat Rangers

May 29, 2007 - 6:53 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics knew someone would have to step up this season to fill the void of Barry Zito. So far, that someone has been Chad Gaudin.

Gaudin pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer as the Athletics posted a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Gaudin (5-1), who entered the contest with the third-lowest ERA (2.58) in the American League, was very effective once again, yielding one unearned run and four hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

"Early in the game, I had a lot of pitches," Gaudin said. "After that, I just tried to minimize my pitches, throw strikes, go after guys and not be too careful. I just wanted them to put the ball in play and let my defense do the work.

"I'm going go out there and battle. That's the mentality that I have to have. I just want to go out there with each start and give my team a chance to win the game."

It was the third straight win in as many outings for the righthander, who has surrendered three runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts. Chavez took advantage of two of the four walks handed out by Rangers starter Robinson Tejeda (4-5) in the third.

"We have a makeshift bullpen, staff (and) team right now," Chavez said. "We're just trying to hold it together until we can get everyone back healthy. Chad has really stabilized our staff and is the one guy whose really helped to keep us alive."

With Oakland leading, 2-0, Shannon Stewart and rookie Travis Buck were both given free passes, allowing Chavez to come up three batters later and blast a three-run shot to right to push the A's advantage to 5-0.

"That was a blast," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "Eric's been feeling better physically and he showed tremendous bat speed tonight. Especially on the home run."

Buck homered and Bobby Crosby had two hits for Oakland, which snapped a two-game skid.

"I'm not trying to go up there and hit home runs," Buck said. "My approach is too try to hit the ball up the middle or go the other way. Home runs, I have no explanation for. I guess it's just a matter of the bat finding the barrel. That's what happened tonight."

Tejeda allowed five runs and four hits with four walks for Texas, which saw its record drop to 7-26 in contests in which the opponent scores first and have dropped six straight contests.

"Today was not my day," Tejeda said. "I wanted to go out there and be aggressive but it just wasn't my day. Maybe I was trying too hard, I don't know."

"I don't see him pounding the strike zone," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He's pitching away from guys and he's out of the strike zone. That's the difference."

It was not all smooth sailing for the A's, however, as the Rangers mounted a major threat in the eighth after trailing, 5-1. Ramon Vazquez led the frame off with a double off reliever Jay Marshall, the first of four consecutive Texas hitters to reach base.

Michael Young greeted reliever Kiko Calero, who took over for Marshall, with an run-scoring single to cut it to 5-2. Mark Teixeira walked and Frank Catalanotto singled to load the bases.

Colby Lewis then relieved Calero, allowing Marlon Byrd's sacrifice fly to narrow the deficit to 5-3. Lewis then hit Ian Kinsler with a pitch before retiring striking out pinch hitter Sammy Sosa and forcing Gerald Laird to pop out to first to end the comeback attempt.

"It was huge," Lewis said. "After I got the strikeout, I could hear the crowd but I just tried to stay composed and not overthrow because I knew that I had one more out to get. It was great to get the strikeout, though, especially with the bases loaded."

With regular closer Huston Street and setup man Justin Duchscherer on the disabled list, interim closer Alan Embree - the fifth A's pitcher of the contest - pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in as many chances.

"At this point in my career, I'm grateful for the opportunity," Embree said. "It's unfortunate that I got it, because of the injuries. I'm thankful that my manager has the confidence to (give it) to me."

"I wish we could have gotten a hit in that ninth inning," Washington said. "We would still be playing or we would have brought in (Eric) Gagne to close it out. We just couldn't pull this one out though."

Byrd had two RBI and Young tallied three hits for the Rangers, whose 18 wins and .353 winning percentage are the worst in the majors.

The game marked the first time Washington, a former A's coach, faced his former team in Oakland.