By TOM WITHERS

The Associated Press

CLEVELAND — The replays showed the Oakland Athletics may have gotten a bad call.

That’s they way it’s gone this season.

Pinch-runner Cord Phelps was called safe on a close play at the plate in the 16th inning, sliding under Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki’s tag as the Cleveland Indians beat the Athletics 4-3 on Wednesday night, ending an August of losses for the A’s, who dropped their fifth straight and went 11-17 in the month.

“Very disappointing,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “We had our opportunities and didn’t capitalize. We had more than they did.”

In the 16th, Jim Thome singled with one out off Josh Outman (3-4), the A’s eighth pitcher. Phelps came in to run for the slow-footed Thome and Carlos Santana lined a single to center. Jack Hannahan, who hit two solo homers off Rich Harden, then grounded a sharp single to right.

Phelps was waved around by third-base coach Steve Smith and was able to reach past Suzuki, who had to jump to catch right fielder David DeJesus’ strong throw.

“It was a close play, one of those things where you can’t tell if he was safe,” Suzuki said. “I tagged him. I know that. It’s too bad to lose after we battled so hard. The bullpen basically pitched a perfect game, but we just couldn’t get a key hit, either.”

Oakland’s relievers combined for eight perfect innings, retiring 24 in a row from the seventh until the 15th.

“Our bullpen was magnificent,” Melvin said.

Frank Herrmann (4-0), Cleveland’s sixth pitcher, worked four perfect innings as the Indians jumped Chicago into second place in the AL Central, 5½ games behind Detroit.

The marathon featured a Progressive Field record 34 strikeouts — 19 by Oakland pitchers — and the two teams combined for 509 pitches.

The A’s threatened in the 10th, 11th and 12th, but couldn’t push the go-ahead run across. They stranded six runners in the three innings, leaving the bases loaded in the 12th against Chad Durbin, who got out of the one-out jam by striking out Ryan Sweeney and retiring DeJesus on a pop to short.

Suzuki homered for Oakland, which went 1 of 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13. The A’s have dropped five straight and are 33-49 since May 30.

August was rough enough, and the A’s will start September in a hurry. Oakland will have to avoid being swept in the four-game series, which will conclude with a noon game Thursday.

“It isn’t easy, that’s for sure,” Suzuki said. “But we have to do it. That’s our job. We should have scored more runs earlier tonight.”

Hannahan’s second homer off Harden, a towering shot off the foul pole in right, tied it 3-3 in the sixth.

He turned on an 0-1 pitch and drove it three-quarters of the way up the pole for the 3,000th homer at Progressive Field, which was also hosting its 1,400th game since opening in 1994.

Cleveland’s Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, and the right-hander got stronger as the game went on. He struck out six of the last seven A’s he faced, freezing Suzuki on an outside pitch to end the sixth. It wasn’t a dominant performance — he needed 114 pitches to get through six — but he kept the Indians close enough to pull out another one.

Harden, who was frequently mentioned in trade rumors involving the Indians before the July 31 deadline, posted an almost identical line to Jimenez — three runs and six hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Suzuki connected for his 13th homer in the fourth, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead. The A’s had tied it 2-2 in the third on Brandon Allen’s two-out RBI single.

Notes: Following the game, the A’s announced they traded 1B/OF Conor Jackson to Boston for minor league RHP Jason Rice. … Of Suzuki’s 13 homers, 12 have been solo shots. … Harden made his 100th start for the A’s, the 21st Oakland player to have that many. He’s made 156 starts overall. … It was Oakland’s longest game since going 17 on June 17, 2006. … A’s bench coach Joel Skinner has been bumming a ride to the ballpark with Indians first-base coach Sandy Alomar. Skinner, who played, coached and managed the Indians, has maintained a home in the Cleveland area. … A’s OF Coco Crisp didn’t start but came in as a pinch-runner in the 10th. Crisp went 0 for 2. … The A’s recalled LHP Jerry Blevins from Triple-A Sacramento for the sixth time this year. … Oakland LHP Gio Gonzalez (11-11) will face RHP Fausto Carmona (6-12) in a noon start Thursday. Gonzalez is 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in five career starts against Cleveland.

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September 01, 2011 01:36 AM EDT

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Pinch-runner Cord Phelps was called safe on a close play at the plate in the 16th inning, sliding under Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki’s tag as the Cleveland Indians beat the Athletics 4-3 on Wednesday night, ending an August of losses for the A’s, who dropped their fifth straight and went 11-17 in the month.

“Very disappointing,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “We had our opportunities and didn’t capitalize. We had more than they did.”

In the 16th, Jim Thome singled with one out off Josh Outman (3-4), the A’s eighth pitcher. Phelps came in to run for the slow-footed Thome and Carlos Santana lined a single to center. Jack Hannahan, who hit two solo homers off Rich Harden, then grounded a sharp single to right.

Phelps was waved around by third-base coach Steve Smith and was able to reach past Suzuki, who had to jump to catch right fielder David DeJesus’ strong throw.

“It was a close play, one of those things where you can’t tell if he was safe,” Suzuki said. “I tagged him. I know that. It’s too bad to lose after we battled so hard. The bullpen basically pitched a perfect game, but we just couldn’t get a key hit, either.”

Oakland’s relievers combined for eight perfect innings, retiring 24 in a row from the seventh until the 15th.

“Our bullpen was magnificent,” Melvin said.

Frank Herrmann (4-0), Cleveland’s sixth pitcher, worked four perfect innings as the Indians jumped Chicago into second place in the AL Central, 5½ games behind Detroit.

The marathon featured a Progressive Field record 34 strikeouts — 19 by Oakland pitchers — and the two teams combined for 509 pitches.

The A’s threatened in the 10th, 11th and 12th, but couldn’t push the go-ahead run across. They stranded six runners in the three innings, leaving the bases loaded in the 12th against Chad Durbin, who got out of the one-out jam by striking out Ryan Sweeney and retiring DeJesus on a pop to short.

Suzuki homered for Oakland, which went 1 of 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13. The A’s have dropped five straight and are 33-49 since May 30.

August was rough enough, and the A’s will start September in a hurry. Oakland will have to avoid being swept in the four-game series, which will conclude with a noon game Thursday.

“It isn’t easy, that’s for sure,” Suzuki said. “But we have to do it. That’s our job. We should have scored more runs earlier tonight.”

Hannahan’s second homer off Harden, a towering shot off the foul pole in right, tied it 3-3 in the sixth.

He turned on an 0-1 pitch and drove it three-quarters of the way up the pole for the 3,000th homer at Progressive Field, which was also hosting its 1,400th game since opening in 1994.

Cleveland’s Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, and the right-hander got stronger as the game went on. He struck out six of the last seven A’s he faced, freezing Suzuki on an outside pitch to end the sixth. It wasn’t a dominant performance — he needed 114 pitches to get through six — but he kept the Indians close enough to pull out another one.

Harden, who was frequently mentioned in trade rumors involving the Indians before the July 31 deadline, posted an almost identical line to Jimenez — three runs and six hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Suzuki connected for his 13th homer in the fourth, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead. The A’s had tied it 2-2 in the third on Brandon Allen’s two-out RBI single.

Notes: Following the game, the A’s announced they traded 1B/OF Conor Jackson to Boston for minor league RHP Jason Rice. … Of Suzuki’s 13 homers, 12 have been solo shots. … Harden made his 100th start for the A’s, the 21st Oakland player to have that many. He’s made 156 starts overall. … It was Oakland’s longest game since going 17 on June 17, 2006. … A’s bench coach Joel Skinner has been bumming a ride to the ballpark with Indians first-base coach Sandy Alomar. Skinner, who played, coached and managed the Indians, has maintained a home in the Cleveland area. … A’s OF Coco Crisp didn’t start but came in as a pinch-runner in the 10th. Crisp went 0 for 2. … The A’s recalled LHP Jerry Blevins from Triple-A Sacramento for the sixth time this year. … Oakland LHP Gio Gonzalez (11-11) will face RHP Fausto Carmona (6-12) in a noon start Thursday. Gonzalez is 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in five career starts against Cleveland.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ST. PETERSBURG –

Josh Willingham led off the 10th inning with a home run, helping the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Sunday.

Willingham lined a pitch from Jake McGee (0-1) into the left field stands for his 17th homer this season. Fautino De Los Santos (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first major league win and Andrew Bailey allowed two singles in the 10th before getting his 13th save.

Hideki Matsui also homered for Oakland, which stopped a stretch of 12 consecutive non-winning road series by taking two of three from the Rays.

Tampa Bay got homers from Casey Kotchman and Evan Longoria.

Matsui extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a two-run homer off AL All-Star David Price during a three-run fifth that gave Oakland a 4-3 advantage. The designated hitter has 23 homers and 99 RBIs in 129 games against the Rays, his most against many team.

David DeJesus scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on J.P. Howell’s wild pitch.

Tampa Bay pulled even at 4 on Longoria’s solo shot off Grant Balfour during the seventh.

Price, coming off three straight losses, allowed four runs and seven hits over 4 2-3 innings. Oakland’s Trevor Cahill gave up three runs and six hits over six innings.

Kotchman had a solo homer and Desmond Jennings hit an RBI single as Tampa Bay went up 3-1 in the fourth. Johnny Damon put the Rays ahead 1-0 on a third-inning RBI grounder.

Ryan Sweeney was hitless in 19 at-bats against left-hander’s this season before getting Oakland even at 1 on a run-scoring single off Price in the fourth. The Rays lefty entered holding left-handed batters to a .154 average this year, lowest among major league starters.

Tampa Bay’s Ben Zobrist lost a double with two outs in the seventh after a reversal call. First base umpire Tim Welke, while attempting to get out of the way of a liner down the line, called the ball fair. Welke, after talking with Oakland manager Bob Melvin, checked with plate umpire Mike DiMuro and the call was changed to foul.

Zobrist then popped out to end the inning.

Oakland center fielder Coco Crisp (strained right calf) and first baseman Conor Jackson (back spasms) were both out of the starting lineup, but will likely return for the start of a three-game series at Toronto on Tuesday night.

NOTES: Tampa Bay placed rookie RHP Alex Cobb on the 15-day disabled list with a hand injury and recalled LHP Cesar Ramos from Triple-A Durham. … Oakland SS Cliff Pennington, who missed games last Tuesday and Wednesday because of Bell’s palsy, was rested. Melvin said Pennington would likely get another off day during the Toronto series. … Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson (10-7) will face Kansas City RHP Luke Hochevar (8-8) in the opener of a four-game series Monday night. … Oakland will have RHP Rich Harden (2-2) take the hill Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, who are scheduled to have LHP Brett Cecil (4-4) pitch. … Athletics LHP Craig Breslow was unavailable due to soreness in the left upper back.