Athletics 6, Indians 2
Josh Donaldson had three hits and three RBIs and Dan Otero pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief after starter Scott Kazmir was ejected as visiting Oakland won for the eighth time in nine games.
Otero (4-0) allowed four hits and needed just 32 pitches to get 11 outs after home-plate umpire Jerry Layne tossed Kazmir with one out in the second inning for arguing balls and strikes. Brandon Moss hit a two-run homer and finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Athletics.
Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (2-1) surrendered three runs on five hits in six innings. Asdrubal Cabrera scored a run and drove in a run for the Indians, who dropped to 2-5 in their past seven contests.
The Athletics scored three times in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Coco Crisp doubled with one out to start the Oakland rally, scoring on Donaldson’s single to center before Moss hit Tomlin’s 3-2 pitch over the right-center field fence for his ninth homer.
Cabrera, who scored on Kazmir’s wild pitch in the second, brought home Michael Brantley on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to pull the Indians within 3-2. Oakland took advantage of Jesus Aguilar dropping a throw at first base on a potential inning-ending double play in the seventh, extending the lead to 6-2 on Donaldson’s two-run triple off the top of the wall in left-center and Moss’s RBI single.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kazmir, who gave up one run on one hit with three walks in 1 1/3 innings, voiced his displeasure with Layne’s call on a close pitch to Aguilar in the second, leading to the ejection. … Otero threw 24 of his 32 pitches for strikes and benefited from three double plays. … Brantley extended his home hitting streak to 14 games with a sixth-inning single.