OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Barry Zito finally got a little good fortune, and the Oakland Athletics finally pushed ahead of Boston in the AL wild card race.
Zito pitched into the sixth inning for his first win since July 3, and Eric Chavez and Terrence Long homered during Oakland’s five-run first as the A’s beat the Red Sox 5-3 Tuesday night.
Zito (9-10) ended his five-game losing streak and six weeks of frustration with a strong beginning and a shaky finish against baseball’s most prolific lineup.
But Oakland relievers Chad Bradford and Keith Foulke both escaped tough jams as the A’s hung on for their 11th win in 13 games at the Coliseum. Foulke, in one of the best performances of his outstanding season, pitched the final two innings for his 29th save in 33 chances.
With their second straight win in a key four-game series, the A’s (69-50) pulled one game ahead of the Red Sox (68-51) atop the wild card, though both second-place clubs are focused on their tight division races.
Jason Varitek drove home Boston’s first runs of the series with a three-run double in the fifth, and Johnny Damon had three hits as the Red Sox lost for the fifth time in six games.
Boston outfielder Trot Nixon and manager Grady Little were ejected in the seventh inning. Nixon was tossed for arguing a called third strike, and plate umpire Dan Iassogna ejected Little after the manager argued Nixon’s dismissal.
Zito faced the minimum 13 batters through the first 4 1-3 innings before Boston’s rally in the fifth. Six of Boston’s final nine hitters against Zito reached base, but Bradford induced an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Zito wasn’t nearly as sharp as Tim Hudson, who faced just 28 batters in a two-hit, 4-0 victory in the series opener – but after being victimized by blown leads and meager support all season, Zito got some breaks.
Boston had two runners in scoring position and nobody out when Foulke entered in the eighth, but Oakland’s closer got three quick outs.
John Burkett (9-6) had just one rocky inning, but still got just his third loss since in more than two months. Burkett allowed seven hits – five in the first – and struck out three.
Jose Guillen started Oakland’s first-inning rally with a one-out single, and Chavez hit his 23rd homer of the season to right. After Erubiel Durazo doubled and scored on Ramon Hernandez’s single, Long hit his second homer in two days.
Burkett immediately settled down, retiring Oakland’s next 12 hitters.
Damon had two infield singles for Boston in the first four innings, but he was caught stealing in the first and erased on a double play in the fourth.
After Kevin Millar walked in the fifth, Gabe Kapler lined a two-out double off the top of the left-field wall – Boston’s first hit out of the infield in the series. Todd Walker drew a walk, and Varitek cleared the bases with a drive off the left-field wall.
Notes: 1B David McCarty, picked up by Boston last week after the A’s designated him for assignment, got his first start with the Red Sox. … While tracking down Guillen’s double in the fifth, Damon slipped and fell on the brown patches of the Coliseum outfield caused by the bleachers placed on the field for Oakland Raiders games. … The Red Sox made two outstanding defensive plays in the sixth. SS Nomar Garciaparra started a double play with an acrobatic stop of Durazo’s grounder; moments later, 2B Todd Walker made a leaping stab on Hernandez’s liner.
AP-ES-08-13-03 0043EDT
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