CLEVELAND, Ohio — Two tired teams took the field Thursday afternoon. One played like it.

The Athletics, behind a superb start from lefty Gio Gonzalez and timely hitting, stifled the Indians, 7-0, at Progressive Field. It did not matter that Gonzalez had struggled since the All-Star break. He was facing the Tribe, which meant he would dominate.

Gonzalez gave up four hits in seven innings to improve to 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA in 37 1/3 innings of six career starts against the Indians. In his only start against the Tribe this season, he extended his career scoreless streak against them to 27 2/3.

“Even when we have our full deck of cards, he’s tough on us,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “He’s got an overpowering fastball and overpowering breaking ball.”

The Indians had won the first three games of the series, including 4-3 in 16 innings Wednesday night. Cord Phelps scored the game-winner at seven minutes past midnight. First pitch Thursday was 12:06 p.m.

“They played just as many innings as we did,” second baseman Jason Donald said. “That’s a non-excuse for anyone. Taking three out of four is a positive thing, but when you have a chance to sweep somebody, especially after beating them in 16 innings the night before. … They could have been down very easily, but give them credit. They came out and played a goodgame.”

The Indians (68-66) finished 6-5 on a homestand against three sub-.500 clubs. They opened by going 1-3 against Eric Wedge’s Mariners, then went 2-1 against Kansas City.

The Tribe began the homestand 4 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central. The deficit is 5 1/2 as the Indians head to Kansas City and the Tigers and Chicago White Sox meet this weekend in Detroit.

“I want to win them all, but I can’t sit here and complain about taking three out of four, or five out of seven,” Acta said. “If you’re winning five of seven the rest of the way, good things can happen.”

Last-place Kansas City helped the Tribe by splitting a four-game series in Detroit, including an 11-8 victory Thursday afternoon.

“We all know what we’re facing and what we’ve got in front of us,” Acta said. “There’s no time to complain, no time to rest, no time to shut it down. We just have to continue to get after it.”

Gonzalez and former Indian Craig Breslow combined on a five-hitter and struck out 10. All of the hits were singles.

“That guy, Gonzalez, has a good arm,” Tribe catcher Lou Marson said.

Through four innings, Tribe right-hander Fausto Carmona matched Gonzalez zero for zero. Oakland finally broke through with two outs in the fifth, Cliff Pennington and former Indian Coco Crisp delivering RBI singles.

Even with Gonzalez pitching, the Indians still had hope. It all but evaporated in the seventh, when the Athletics made it 4-0. Oakland took advantage of bad decisions by Carmona and second baseman Jason Donald and an error by left fielder Jerad Head.

Anthony Recker led off with a double. Eric Sogard bunted toward third, where Carmona let the ball settle on the infield grass.

“Fausto was thinking the ball might roll out, but the ball had no chance to roll out,” Acta said. “He knew he should have made the play at first.”

Jemile Weeks hit a fly to left that Head dropped, enabling Recker to trot home and Sogard to move to second. Head seemingly was too eager to throw out Recker and took his eye off the ball.

Pennington grounded to Donald, who looked to second and did not throw. By the time he redirected and fired to first, it was too late.

“I should have been more mindful of the base runners,” Donald said. “When I looked over at second, Weeks was sliding in. I should have taken the out at first.”

Acta hooked Carmona for lefty Nick Hagadone, who had been recalled from Class AAA Columbus earlier in the day and made his major-league debut. Hagadone well to limit further damage to one inherited runner scoring.

Carmona gave up the four runs (three earned) on eight hits. He walked two and struck out six. Carmona has worked at least six innings in nine straight starts, but is 6-13 overall with a 4.84 ERA.

“I thought Fausto threw the ball well — very well, actually,” Acta said. “It didn’t matter how well he threw the ball, we weren’t going to win without scoring any runs.”

Hagadone exited with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. On Corey Kluber’s first pitch, Pennington dropped a two-run single into left-center for a 6-0 advantage. Crisp had an RBI single to account for the final margin.

Gonzalez, as good as he was, walked four and gave the Indians several openings. The Indians put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth. Jack Hannahan flied to left and Donald struck out. The Tribe put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth and seventh innings, but Asdrubal Cabrera popped to right both times. Cabrera is 8-for-53 in his last 13 games, dropping his season’s average to .277.

Oakland (61-76) snapped a five-game skid.

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FILE – IN this May 22, 2004, file photo, Reggie Jackson, left, hugs former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams during a ceremony to retire Jackson’s No. 9 with the Athletics in Oakland, Calif. Williams, who won two World Series titles with Oakland and led two other franchises to pennants, has died. He was 82. Williams died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev., the Hall of Fame said Thursday, July 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

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Read More: Tyson Ross (P – OAK), Denard Span (CF – MIN), Kurt Suzuki (C – OAK), Minnesota Twins

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Tyson Ross has departed his Thursday start against the Minnesota Twins with a left oblique strain. Ross suffered the strain two batters into the inning after a passed ball. Ross had given up a game-opening single to Denard Span and then threw a pitch that got past Kurt Suzuki. The team trainer then came out and Ross departed.

David Purcey came on in relief of Ross and put together 3 2/3 inning of solid relief. He allowed Span to score in the first and gave up a run of his own in the second inning, but otherwise made his way through the emergency call. Craig Breslow relieved Purcey in the fourth inning and just gave up a two-run homer to Justin Morneau. The Twins currently lead 4-0 in the fifth inning.

Ross’ injury was has been preliminarily diagnosed as a left oblique strain, which could lead to an extended absence for the young starter. Timing is never good with injuries, but this one is particularly bad given how well Ross was pitching lately. He had given up two runs or less in each of his last four starts and was proving to be an excellent replacement for Dallas Braden.

Although there is not a specific timetable on Ross’ return, one would imagine he’ll end up on the 15-day disabled list. Oblique strains are always tricky and often lead to a decent amount of missed time. The A’s don’t have a day off until Thursday June 2, so they’ll likely need to find a spot starter for the next couple of weeks. Some of the candidates would include Josh Outman, Guillermo Moscoso and Bobby Cramer.

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Read More: San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics host the San Diego Padres in Cactus League action today at 12:05pm in a game as the A’s get close seeing the Spring Training debuts of key players. According to Jane Lee, closer Andrew Bailey is scheduled to make his first appearance of the spring this Thursday. Ryan Sweeney is scheduled to play in the outfield tomorrow as he works back from knee issues. Craig Breslow is day-to-day with a hamstring strain and should be back soon.

Rich Harden is continuing to work his way back a lat injury. According to Lee he threw from 120 feet yesterday and is not feeling any pain. Harden will take today off and continue his long toss tomorrow. It’s a tough call as to where Harden is going to end up by the end of the spring. It sounds like he won’t be seeing any game action until next week at the earliest. There are only three weeks left in spring training, so Harden would need to put together an incredibly strong final two weeks if he wanted to win the fifth starter job. At this point it would seem like he’s destined for the bullpen or some early work at AAA if his recovery is extended.

The A’s send out Trevor Cahill today with this lineup:

1. Coco Crisp CF
2. Cliff Pennington SS
3. Mark Ellis 2B
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Kurt Suzuki C
6. Conor Jackson DH
7. Andy LaRoche 1B
8. Michael Taylor RF
9. Wes Timmons 3B

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