Athletics open series with win over Orioles
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kendall Graveman pitched seven strong innings, Stephen Vogt hit his ninth home run of the season, and the Oakland A's defeated the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
Graveman (8-7) allowed one run on six hits, struck out four and walked none. He beat the Orioles for the first time in four career starts. He also atoned for a disastrous outing on May 8 at Camden Yards when he gave up a career-high four home runs and lasted a season-low 2 2/3 innings in an 11-3 loss.
Graveman made his career-high 22nd start and set a career highs for wins. He won for the sixth time in his past nine starts, going 6-1 in that stretch.
Vogt went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the fourth, drove in two and scored twice. Billy Butler had two hits and an RBI.
Ryan Madson pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his 23rd save.
Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, who had three home runs in the first three innings Sunday against the White Sox, hit a solo home run in the seventh inning Monday, his 26th blast of the season.
Adam Jones went 3-for-4 for the Orioles, who fell to 63-48 and into a tie for first in the American League East with Toronto.
Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-9) gave up two runs on six hits over six innings in his second straight quality start. He struck out six, walked two and threw 100 pitches.
The A's ended their three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in their past 10 games.
The A's snapped a 1-1 tie with a run in the sixth inning. Vogt worked a leadoff walk, moved to second on Yonder Alonso's two-out single and scored when Butler lined a single to right field.
They extended their lead to 3-1 with a run in the seventh when Vogt lined an RBI single with two outs.
Baltimore cut the A's lead to 3-2 on Machado's home run off reliever Ryan Dull with two outs in the eighth. Machado, who had two RBIs, launched Dull's 3-2 pitch deep to left-center.
The Orioles struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
J.J. Hardy blooped a one-out single to right and moved to second on Jones' single. The Orioles loaded the bases when Hyun-Soon Kim's catchable fly ball to right-center dropped between center fielder Coco Crisp and right fielder Danny Valencia.
Machado brought Hardy home with a sacrifice fly that Alonso caught in foul territory after a long run down the right-field line.
The A's pulled even in the fourth when Vogt led off with a home run into the right field seats, ending a 16-game homerless streak.
NOTES: Orioles OF Steve Pearce (right elbow strain), who came out of Sunday's game against the White Sox and had a cortisone injection, remained day-to-day but showed "a lot" of improvement Monday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "So hopefully that's a good sign that he can stay off the DL." ... Baltimore LHP T.J. McFarland (left knee inflammation) will pitch two or three innings for the rookie league Gulf Coast Orioles on Tuesday, Showalter said. McFarland hasn't pitched in a game since June 28 against San Diego. ... A's RHP Sonny Gray (strained right forearm), who went on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, had an MRI on Monday. Manager Bob Melvin said he was waiting for team doctors to examine the scan. Gray left his start on Saturday after five innings because of forearm soreness. ... LHP Ross Detwiler will be recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday and start against Baltimore. The A's acquired Detwiler, 30, from Cleveland for cash on July 17. He's 21-37 with a 4.21 ERA in 180 major league games, including 76 starts, over nine seasons. ... A's RHP Andrew Triggs will start on Thursday against the Orioles. He has 18 relief appearances and one start this season for Oakland.