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Athletics head to Cleveland to take on Indians

Tue 13th, May 2008

(Sports Network) - The Oakland Athletics hope to continue their early-season success against the Cleveland Indians when the teams square off again tonight at Progressive Field in the opener of a three-game series.

The Athletics and Indians met six times during April, with Oakland winning the first two tests of a three-game set on both occasions. The A's have also swung the bats well against Cleveland pitching this year, as the club has scored six or more runs in each of its four wins over the Tribe.

Oakland also presently owns the best record in the American League West at 23-16 and has posted victories in five of its last seven contests. The team was last in action on Sunday, when the Athletics cruised to a 12-6 triumph at Texas to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rangers.

Emil Brown belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI for Oakland, which also received a two-run blast from Daric Barton. Frank Thomas also knocked in two runs on the afternoon, while Mark Ellis contributed three hits to the winning effort.

The A's offensive eruption helped offset a shaky outing from Rich Harden, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his first start since early April. The oft- injured righty allowed five runs on eight hits and walked four before exiting.

Oakland's pitching finally settled down in the latter stages, getting 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Santiago Casilla, Alan Embree and Huston Street to close out the game. Casilla (2-0) was credited with the victory after keeping Texas off the board during his 1 1/3-inning stint.

Cleveland was forced to play a doubleheader on Monday after rain postponed a scheduled game with Toronto the previous day. The Indians split the twinbill with the Blue Jays, taking the opener by a 3-0 count and falling by the same score in the nightcap.

Fausto Carmona (4-1) was brilliant for Cleveland in game one, as the talented young righty went the distance on a five-hitter for his second career shutout. Asdrubal Cabrera gave his pitcher some breathing room with a two-run homer in the seventh inning that extended the Tribe's lead to 3-0.

Cabrera also produced an unassisted triple play in the second game, which was scoreless through the standard nine innings before the Blue Jays scored three times off Rafael Betancourt (1-2) in the 10th. Cleveland mustered just three hits against Shawn Marcum and two Toronto relievers and had a three-game win streak halted.

Cliff Lee delivered another outstanding pitching performance, however. The Indians left-hander threw nine shutout innings in which he scattered seven hits and struck out five. That lowered his season earned run average to a astounding 0.67.

Paul Byrd will attempt to continue Cleveland's string of strong starting pitching in tonight's tilt. The veteran righty has posted a respectable 4.28 ERA over seven starts this season, although he's got only a 1-3 record to show for it.

In his most recent mound trip, Byrd served up three home runs to the New York Yankees last Thursday and allowed five runs through 6 1/3 innings to receive the loss in a 6-3 Cleveland setback. That start came one week after Byrd fired 7 2/3 shutout innings in a no-decision against Seattle at Progressive Field.

The 37-year-old is just 3-6 with a 5.77 ERA in 12 lifetime starts against Oakland and lost to the A's at McAfee Coliseum back on April 4. Byrd was touched for five runs (3 earned) and eight hits over just 4 1/3 innings in that game.

Justin Duchscherer opposed Byrd in that April 4 contest and limited the Indians to one run and four hits over five innings to pick up the win. The right-hander, who will take the mound for Oakland tonight, then missed three weeks of action due to a strained biceps.

Duchscherer has been quite good since returning from the injury, having compiled a 2-1 record and a 2.65 ERA in three starts since coming off the disabled list. He worked a season-high seven innings against Baltimore this past Tuesday and held the Orioles to two runs and just four hits to improve to 3-1 on the campaign.

In 10 career appearances, including that one start, against Cleveland, Duchscherer is 1-2 with a 4.72 ERA.

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