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Tuesday, Apr. 18 7:05pm ET
Mulder goes 6; Christenson drives in 3 | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The kid handled the heat like a seasoned pro. Rookie Mark Mulder, forced to face the Cleveland Indians in his major-league debut, pitched six innings for the win Tuesday night as the Oakland Athletics beat the Indians 8-5. "He pitched a great ballgame for us," A's manager Art Howe said. "It's like taking a kid and teaching him to swim. Sometimes you throw them in the wading pool and sometimes you throw them in the deep end. That's what we did." Mulder, a 6-foot-6 left-hander recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Sacramento, allowed four runs and five hits in six innings for the A's, who were swept at home by Cleveland last week. Oakland is just 3-13 against the Indians over the past two seasons. "It feels good, really, really good," said Mulder, whose parents and two brothers came in from Chicago to see him pitch. "Especially coming and beating these guys makes it even more special." Standing outside the A's clubhouse, Ross and Kathy Mulder were beaming after seeing their son tame of one baseball's most potent offenses. "Threw him into the fire, they did," Ross Mulder said. Ryan Christenson drove in three runs and Jason Giambi added a two-run homer, his sixth, in the ninth off Steve Reed. The 22-year-old Mulder (1-0), the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 draft, looked like he might be in trouble early when he gave up a two-run homer to Manny Ramirez in the first. But despite facing one of baseball's toughest lineups, Mulder recovered and showed good poise in a couple of sticky spots. He walked three and struck out six. "I thought he just pounded the strike zone with all four of his pitches," Howe said. "He worked the ball in and out. He pitched. That's a well-pitched game for a kid so young. That's what we like about him. He doesn't get rattled." Jason Isringhausen allowed David Justice's RBI single and loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before getting Omar Vizquel and Travis Fryman to fly out. Isringhausen earned his third save. Christenson hit an 0-2 pitch for a two-run single in Oakland's three-run sixth off Charles Nagy (1-2), who entered the game 12-5 in his career against the A's. Miguel Tejada went 3-for-4 for Oakland. Fryman also hit a two-run homer for the slump-ridden Indians, who are hitting just .183 since returning from a nine-game road trip. "These guys are going to hit," Vizquel said. "It's too early to start thinking that it's mental. Right now we're not hitting. We're not getting things going. But it's better to do it early in the season than at the end." Fryman was in a 1-for-14 slump before ripping an 0-2 pitch from Mulder for his second homer, a two-run shot, to give the Indians a 4-3 lead in the fifth. But Oakland came back and scored three runs with two outs in the sixth when Indians manager Charlie Manuel pressed his luck and decided to stick with Nagy, who walked Matt Stairs to open the inning. With two outs, Nagy walked Eric Chavez intentionally and Manuel figured to bring in left-hander Tom Martin, but stayed with Nagy, who then walked pinch-hitter John Jaha. Christenson fell behind 0-2 before slapping a two-run single to put the A's up 5-4. Tejada followed with a single to make it 6-4. "I thought about going and getting him a couple of times," Manuel said of Nagy. Oakland took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Christenson's RBI single. Ramirez, who homered in the ninth inning Sunday when he and Jim Thome hit back-to-back shots off John Wetteland to beat Texas, connected for his fourth homer in the first. The A's, who won 1-0 in Boston on Monday, tied it in the fourth on Olmedo Saenz's RBI triple and Giambi's run-scoring groundout. Tejada doubled to open the inning, Saenz hit a high drive to center that turned around Alex Ramirez, who was making his first start of the year in center. Giambi followed with a tapper to first to score Saenz. Game notes=The A's improved to 10-22 at Jacobs Field. ... Indians catcher Sandy Alomar left the game in the fourth inning with tightness in his right hamstring. He'll have an MRI on Wednesday. ... Chuck Finley's complete game for the Indians on Sunday was the first by a Cleveland left-hander since Greg Swindell in 1991. ... The A's are in a stretch where they'll play 19 of 25 games on the road. ... Cuban Danys Baez, who signed a three-year, $14.5 million contract with the Indians in November, allowed six runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings in a start Monday night for Class-A Kinston. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Oakland Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 0
Oakland 8
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