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A's pull away late to beat Phillies

Jun 26, 2011 - 3:08 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Trevor Cahill was just a little better than Cole Hamels, and the Oakland Athletics pulled away late for a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Adam Rosales homered while Scott Sizemore drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning, helping the A's snap their three-game slide. Oakland scored a total of three runs during the losing streak.

The A's scored two of their runs Saturday while Cahill (8-5) was in the game, but it was enough support for the right-hander. He allowed one run, three hits and three walks in 7 2/3 innings.

Philadelphia-area native Andrew Bailey recorded the final four outs, navigating his way out of a jam in the ninth, to pick up the save.

Hamels (9-4) pitched well, giving up just two runs in eight innings. He allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out five.

"It's nice to go eight innings, but I wish I could be more precise," Hamels said.

But the Phillies gave him a slim margin to work with. Carlos Ruiz's single in the second inning plated their only run, as they lost for the fourth time in eight games.

One run was enough for Philadelphia to win the opener of this series on Friday. Ben Francisco's pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Phillies a 1-0 victory.

But Hamels couldn't keep the A's totally off the scoreboard. In the third inning, he delivered a 1-0 fastball down the middle to Rosales, who sent it the opposite way. The ball barely got over the right field fence, and Rosales sprinted around the bases to tie the game.

Hamels opened the fourth by hitting Mark Ellis, who was then caught trying to steal second.

However, Hamels deepened the inning by issuing a walk to Coco Crisp. Hideki Matsui followed with a base hit, and Crisp moved to third on Conor Jackson's fly out to center. Sizemore then pushed the ball through the hole on the right side of the infield, giving Oakland a 2-1 edge.

The A's threatened to tack on more runs in the eighth, when they had runners on the corners with one out. But Hamels induced a grounder back to the mound before getting Kurt Suzuki to ground out to short.

The Phillies rallied in the home half. After Ruiz flied out to deep left field, pinch-hitter Ross Gload doubled to the gap in left-center. Pinch-runner Michael Martinez moved to third when Cahill uncorked a wild pitch with two away, and Cahill walked Placido Polanco to prompt the change after 104 pitches.

"It seemed like right when he hit 100 pitches, he lost his control a little bit," said A's interim manager Bob Melvin.

Bailey came in and got Chase Utley to ground out to first, and Oakland added a few insurance runs in the ninth.

Michael Stutes entered for Hamels and walked Cliff Pennington, who moved to third on Jemile Weeks' double. Ellis then blooped an RBI single into center field, and Crisp hit a sacrifice fly to right.

The Phillies put two on with one away in the home half, but Bailey got Domonic Brown to ground into a game-ending double play.

Game Notes

Weeks recorded three hits for the third time this season...The A's improved to 2-3 on their road trip, which concludes with Sunday's series finale...Cahill has allowed only two runs in 15 2/3 innings over his last two starts, both wins. He picked up his first road victory since May 9...Rosales' homer was only the 41st for Oakland this season...Phillies starter Roy Oswalt has a mild bulging disc and will seek a second opinion next week on the back injury that landed him on the disabled list for the second time in two months...Hamels has given up two runs or fewer in six consecutive starts...The loss snapped the Phillies' season-high eight-game home winning streak.