A's sweep struggling Indians
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Oakland Athletics used a home run barrage to complete a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians and maintain sole possession of the American League's top wild card spot.
Josh Reddick, Cliff Pennington, Coco Crisp and Josh Donaldson each homered to power the surging A's to a 12-7 win Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.
George Kottaras added a three-run double for Oakland, which has won 12 of its last 14 games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The A's have beaten the Indians eight straight times this year after dropping the first two meetings.
"It was a huge win against a team we really needed to take a series from," Reddick said. "We had a great opportunity to move up in the standings with a team we played well against all year. We did just that. It's one big confidence boost."
Jarrod Parker (9-7) earned the win despite allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks in five-plus innings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shin-Soo Choo knocked in three runs for the Indians, who have lost five straight and 14 of 15. Justin Masterson (10-12) was tagged for eight runs on eight hits and two walks in four-plus frames.
"I thought I was making some decent pitches today at times," Masterson said. "Then you look up and realize it's not where it's supposed to be. It's definitely perplexing to say the least."
Cleveland scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to trim its deficit to 10-6.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Evan Scribner replaced Parker after the latter gave up back-to-back hits to begin the inning. Jack Hannahan then walked to load the bases and Scribner issued another free pass to Jason Kipnis, who homered to lead off the first, to force in a run.
After Asdrubal Cabrera was retired on a pop up for the second out, Choo, who contributed a run-scoring groundout an inning earlier, plated a pair with a single to left field. Jerry Blevins entered from the bullpen and recorded the final out.
The A's went up by five on pinch-hitter Chris Carter's sacrifice fly in the seventh, but Cleveland countered in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Lou Marson.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Donaldson went deep in the ninth for Oakland.
Crisp tied the game at 1-1 with a two-out blast in the third, and Oakland created some separation by putting up a five-spot in the fourth. Kottaras hit a two-out double to right-center, clearing the bases after the A's had loaded them up on a single and two walks. Pennington followed with a home run to right to score two more runs.
The Indians got a run back when Ezequiel Carrera scored on a Hannahan single in the home fourth, but Reddick clubbed a two-run shot in the next frame to put Oakland up 8-2. The visitors tacked on two more runs in the sixth on a Stephen Drew sac fly and RBI single by Reddick.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
A's starters had walked two or fewer batters in 25 straight games, the longest streak in Oakland history ... Masterson has allowed seven-plus runs in a game seven times this season.