Athletics 1 - 2 Guardians
Final
  for this game

Indians edge A's in series opener

Aug 30, 2011 - 3:44 AM

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Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Carlos Santana hit a home run and Kosuke Fukudome slapped an RBI double to back six scoreless innings from David Huff, as the Cleveland Indians downed the Oakland Athletics, 2-1, in the opener of a four-game series.

Huff (2-2) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four to earn the win.

"He was aggressive in the zone with his fastball and his cutter, especially against the right-handers," said Indians manager Manny Acta.

Chris Perez tossed a perfect ninth to record his 30th save of the season.

Santana and Fukudome both had a pair of hits for the Indians, who have won three of four. They now sit in third place in the AL Central, a half game behind the second-place White Sox and 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Tigers.

Brandon McCarthy (7-7) gave up two runs on five hits over eight innings to suffer just his second loss since July 4. He walked one and registered a career-high 10 strikeouts.

"He pitched great," A's manager Bob Melvin said of McCarthy. "He gave up really, the one pitch, which was the home run."

Jemile Weeks had an RBI double for the A's, losers of three in a row and four of their last five.

McCarthy retired 11 straight Indians following a one-out Fukudome single in the first. In the fifth, Santana broke McCarthy's streak with a leadoff single, but Shelley Duncan grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and center fielder Coco Crisp made an over-the-shoulder grab on a Lonnie Chisenhall fly ball to end the inning.

The Indians finally got to McCarthy in the sixth. Ezequiel Carrera singled with two outs and Fukudome followed with a double into the right field corner. Carrera narrowly slid in ahead of Weeks' relay to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, Santana ripped his 20th home run of the season, making it a 2-0 game.

Joe Smith tossed a 1-2-3 seventh, but allowed a leadoff double to Scott Sizemore in the eighth. Tony Sipp entered and Sizemore stole third before coming home on Weeks' double down the left field line, cutting the Indians' lead in half.

Sipp retired the next two batters before Vinnie Pestano struck out Josh Willingham to strand Weeks, who had advanced to third on a Hideki Matsui fly out.

Game Notes

Indians infielder Jason Donald was scratched from the lineup due to a bruised right index finger. Rookie Cord Phelps replaced him...Prior to the eighth, Smith had not allowed a run in his previous 11 innings pitched...The A's are 17-23 in one-run games this season, which marks the worst record in the AL.






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