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Duchscherer powers Athletics past Indians

Apr 5, 2008 - 6:17 AM By Al Barba PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Justin Duchscherer made the most of his first major league start in five years, but he may have to wait a while for his next one.

Duchscherer returned to the rotation in impressive fashion Friday night to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a three-game series.

The righthander allowed just one run, four hits and two walks while striking out six in five strong innings.

"His performance was outstanding," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "He had pinpoint control and he was throwing the way we thought he would as a starter."

Duchscherer (1-0), who was used exclusively out of the bullpen the previous four seasons, got off to a strong start, retiring the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a double by Jhonny Peralta with two outs in the fourth.

After retiring Franklin Gutierrez on a grounder to shortstop in the fifth inning, Duchscherer felt discomfort after throwing a 1-1 pitch to David Dellucci. Geren and trainer Steve Sayles came out to check on Duchscherer, who remained in the game after throwing one warmup pitch.

Duchscherer finished the inning and opened the sixth by allowing consecutive singles by Kelly Shoppach and Grady Sizemore. But he again felt discomfort after falling behind 2-0 to Asdrubal Cabrera and, after another visit from Geren and Sayles, was taken out of the game.

"Duke (Duchscherer) has a strained right bicep and officially he is day-to-day," Geren said. "We'll know more, obviously, in the next day or two."

"It could take a little bit of time, Duchscherer said. "It's one of those freak things that seems to happen to me quite frequently. ... More than anything I felt good through the first four innings. I felt like I was cruising and that was the last thing I wanted to have happen."

Paul Byrd (0-1) and Duchscherer were locked in a 1-0 pitchers' duel until the fifth, when Oakland scored four runs to end the Cleveland starter's night.

"It was just one of those things where I couldn't figure out how to fix it and get the ball down," Byrd said. "Probably a little bit mechanical. The bottom line is I'm in the big leagues and I have to get the ball down."

The Athletics loaded the bases with none out before Bobby Crosby hit a grounder to second base that Cabrera fielded and threw late to the plate, allowing Daric Barton to score.

Jack Hannahan followed with a sacrifice fly and Kurt Suzuki and Ryan Sweeney added run-scoring singles for a 5-0 bulge.

Ryan Garko and Travis Hafner each belted solo home runs for the Indians.

Sweeney, who came to Oakland in an offseason deal that sent Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox and has less than a full year in the majors, had a career night, going 4-for-4 while driving in one run.

"It's great ... hitting is contagious," Sweeney said. "Tonight we showed that when one guy gets hits, everyone gets hits. Barton started getting hits and everyone followed."