TORONTO (CBS/AP) — Conor Jackson drove in three runs, Hideki Matsui had four hits and the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3 on Thursday.

Oakland failed to hit a home run for the first time in nine games but still finished with its most runs since scoring 13 against Tampa Bay on July 27. Oakland’s season-high is 14 runs, set May 17 against the Angels.

Matsui had a 15-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday and was hitless in 10 at bats before hitting an RBI single in the third. He grounded out in the fourth but singled again in the sixth, seventh and ninth to finish 4 for 6. Matsui, who was hitting .209 at the All Star break, has raised his average to .268.

Oakland right-hander Guillermo Moscoso (5-6) allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings to earn the win. He walked two and struck out six.

Fautino De Los Santos and Brian Fuentes each worked one inning before Craig Breslow finished for the A’s.

J.P. Arencibia hit his 19th home run for Toronto, a solo drive to center in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough for the Blue Jays.

Oakland chased Toronto starter Brad Mills with a six-run third. Cliff Pennington hit a two-run double, Matsui followed with an RBI single and, after Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch, Jackson hit a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Mills (1-2) allowed six runs and five hits in three innings, his shortest career start. The left-hander walked two and struck out five.

Moscoso was perfect through the first three innings before walking Yunel Escobar to begin the fourth. One out later, Jose Bautista walked to put runners at first and second for Adam Lind, who grounded to shortstop. Trying for the double play, Pennington’s relay to second base sailed into right field for an error, allowing Escobar to score and sending Bautista to third. Bautista came home one batter later on Edwin Encarnacion’s infield single.

The Athletics padded their lead with a four-run sixth against reliever Luis Perez. Sizemore reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brett Lawrie, Pennington walked and Matsui lined an RBI single to right, taking second when the relay throw went to the plate. Willingham walked to load the bases and Jackson hit a sacrifice fly.

After David DeJesus struck out looking, Kurt Suzuki walked to load the bases again before Ryan Sweeney hit an infield single, with a second run scoring on Perez’s throwing error.

NOTES: Oakland has won four of its past five series. … Athletics OF Coco Crisp (right calf) missed his fourth straight game and is expected to sit out the upcoming three-game series against Texas. … Oakland RHP Michael Wuertz (right thumb) will not resume throwing until Aug. 15 and is unlikely to return before the end of the month. Wuertz was placed on the 15-day DL July 30. … Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion has started taking fly balls in left field, manager John Farrell said, and could see some time in the outfield before the end of the season.

 

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

TORONTO – Conor Jackson drove in three runs, Hideki Matsui had four hits and the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3 on Thursday.

Oakland failed to hit a home run for the first time in nine games but still finished with its most runs since scoring 13 against Tampa Bay on July 27. Oakland’s season-high is 14 runs, set May 17 against the Angels.

Matsui had a 15-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday and was hitless in 10 at bats before hitting an RBI single in the third. He grounded out in the fourth but singled again in the sixth, seventh and ninth to finish 4 for 6. Matsui, who was hitting .209 at the All Star break, has raised his average to .268.

Oakland right-hander Guillermo Moscoso (5-6) allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings to earn the win. He walked two and struck out six.

Fautino De Los Santos and Brian Fuentes each worked one inning before Craig Breslow finished for the A’s.

J.P. Arencibia hit his 19th home run for Toronto, a solo drive to center in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough for the Blue Jays.

Oakland chased Toronto starter Brad Mills with a six-run third. Cliff Pennington hit a two-run double, Matsui followed with an RBI single and, after Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch, Jackson hit a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Mills (1-2) allowed six runs and five hits in three innings, his shortest career start. The left-hander walked two and struck out five.

Moscoso was perfect through the first three innings before walking Yunel Escobar to begin the fourth. One out later, Jose Bautista walked to put runners at first and second for Adam Lind, who grounded to shortstop. Trying for the double play, Pennington’s relay to second base sailed into right field for an error, allowing Escobar to score and sending Bautista to third. Bautista came home one batter later on Edwin Encarnacion’s infield single.

The Athletics padded their lead with a four-run sixth against reliever Luis Perez. Sizemore reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brett Lawrie, Pennington walked and Matsui lined an RBI single to right, taking second when the relay throw went to the plate. Willingham walked to load the bases and Jackson hit a sacrifice fly.

After David DeJesus struck out looking, Kurt Suzuki walked to load the bases again before Ryan Sweeney hit an infield single, with a second run scoring on Perez’s throwing error.

NOTES: Oakland has won four of its past five series. … Athletics OF Coco Crisp [stats] (right calf) missed his fourth straight game and is expected to sit out the upcoming three-game series against Texas. … Oakland RHP Michael Wuertz (right thumb) will not resume throwing until Aug. 15 and is unlikely to return before the end of the month. Wuertz was placed on the 15-day DL July 30. … Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion has started taking fly balls in left field, manager John Farrell said, and could see some time in the outfield before the end of the season.

SEATTLE — Newly acquired Charlie Furbush retired the first 13 batters in five strong innings and the Seattle Mariners swept past the Oakland Athletics 7-4 on Wednesday. Furbush (2-3), acquired Saturday in a four-player deal with Detroit, kept the damage minimal within his pitch-count framework. He had a perfect game through 4 1-3 innings before Conor Jackson ended it with a fifth-inning double off the left-field wall that was inches away from being a home run and needed a video review.Furbush matched his longest career outing and allowed one run and two hits with three strikeouts and no walks. It was his second big-league win, his first as a starter. Brandon League got the last two outs for his 26th save. Josh Bard had the biggest of the Mariners 14 hits, a 2-run single in the fourth off Gio Gonzalez (9-9), who is 1-4 with a 6.26 ERA in his last five starts. It was the third series sweep for the Mariners this season, the first since taking three from San Diego May 20-22. It also was their first sweep over Oakland since Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2009. Trailing 7-1, the A’s rallied with Josh Willingham’s 3-run home run off Jeff Gray. Dan Cortes came in to get one out, but walked Scott Sizemore and League came in to get Adam Rosales on a pop up and Ryan Sweeney to ground out.Ichiro Suzuki had three singles, giving him 274 career hits against Oakland, second most ever by an opponent. He trails only Rod Carew (282). Suzuki is a .333 career hitter against the A’s.Casper Wells, who came along with Furbush from the Tigers, had a pair of hits and two RBI. Mike Carp had three hits and a pair of RBI. He’s now hitting .367 with six extra-base hits and 14 RBI in 14 games since being recalled on July 19. It was scoreless until Bard lashed his RBI single to center. The line shot barely averted Gonzalez’ glove wave. He punched the air after missing it. The Mariners added a couple more in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Carp and Wells’ single to score Dustin Ackley.Wells added a RBI single in the seventh and Carp drove in the final run in the eighth with a RBI single.A’s DH Hideki Matsui had a single in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

OAKLAND, Calif. —
Rays 10, Athletics 8

Desmond Jennings hit his first career home run and later added a two-run double in a seven-run seventh inning and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from five runs down to stun the Oakland Athletics 10-8 Thursday.

B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria also homered, helping make a winner out of right-hander Wade Davis (8-7), who struggled early before settling down to retire 17 straight batters. Upton, the subject of ongoing trade rumors, hit his team-leading 16th home run after sitting out one game.

Conor Jackson had a two-run home run in the first inning when the A’s hit for the cycle with four consecutive batters, but Oakland’s bullpen imploded and wasted a solid outing by starter Rich Harden.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

OAKLAND, Calif. — Hideki Matsui and Ryan Sweeney both homered as part of a nine-run fourth inning and the suddenly resurgent Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 13-4 on Wednesday night. Matsui was 3 for 5 with five RBIs, Jemile Weeks had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, and Scott Sizemore added two hits and two RBIs to lead the A’s to their third straight win over the Rays. Trevor Cahill went 7 1-3 innings with six strikeouts for his first win in more than a month, benefiting from Oakland’s best offensive output of the season. The Rays, who broke one of baseball’s oldest records when they played their 705th consecutive game with a starting pitcher younger than 30 years old, lost for the 11th time in 15 games and dropped a season-high 11 1/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Every Oakland starter had at least one hit while seven scored.The A’s had a season-high 17 hits. Sweeney had three hits and scored twice — both times in the fourth when Oakland broke the game open. Conor Jackson also scored twice in the inning when the A’s, who lead the majors in batting since the All-Star break, sent 12 men to the plate in the inning to chase starter James Shields (9-9). Matsui, who went 5 for 5 in a 7-5 loss to the Yankees on Sunday, hit an RBI double in the third, homered in the fourth and had a run-scoring single in the fifth.Matsui’s ninth homer of the season highlighted the A’s highest-scoring inning of the season. The five RBIs are the most by Matsui since he had five against Baltimore on Sept. 13, 2009.Sweeney had two hits in the fourth, including his first home run since May 4, 2010 that gave the A’s a 10-0 lead. Cahill (9-9) gave up four hits and walked four but stayed out of trouble all game. The right-hander, 0-4 in his previous five starts, only allowed one runner past second while earning his first win since beating Philadelphia on June 25. Oakland, which has won seven of its last eight games at home, improved to 8-4 since the All-Star break after beating the Rays’ top three pitchers — rookie Jeremy Hellickson, David Price and Shields. It could have been worse for Tampa Bay. The A’s made it 13-0 on Weeks’ bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth but missed a chance for more when Cliff Pennington was doubled off second base on the play. It was the only mistake Oakland made.Outside of breaking the Washington Senators’ 94-year-old record for young pitchers, not much went right for Tampa Bay. Shields, the All-Star right-hander who pitched the first game of the Rays’ record-breaking streak when it began on May 25, 2007, allowed 12 hits and 10 earned runs — the third time in his career he has given up 10 runs in a game. Tampa Bay, which has been outscored 26-10 through the first three games of this four-game series, scored four times in the ninth to avoid its 11th shutout of the season. Matt Joyce hit his 15th home run of the season, while Desmond Jennings and Johnny Damon also drove in runs.The Rays played without slugging outfielder B.J. Upton, who has been the subject of trade rumors. Manager Joe Maddon said the decision to sit Upton had more to do with his 3-for-38 slump than the trade talk.”I’ve just been looking for moments to give B.J. a rest,” Maddon said before the game. “I know all these different things that are being swirled about has got to have some kind of an impact on him, too. I wouldn’t think it would be easy to read that stuff all the time.”