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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- It's still August, and Bob Wickman can already
feel October's heat.
"I know I'm feeling a lot of pressure," Wickman said. "I
haven't been in many of these situations before."
Fortunately for Wickman, most of his Cleveland teammates have.
David Segui's go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning Wednesday
night sent the Indians to their fifth straight win, a 7-5 victory
over the Oakland Athletics that included more bad blood between the
teams.
Jim Thome homered as Cleveland won for the 14th time in 19 games
to open a one-game lead over Boston in the AL wild-card race.
"We earned it," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said after his
team overcame an early deficit. "We stayed right there with
them."
The A's, who have lost five of six and 12 of 17, are 1½ back.
"We're putting ourselves in the position of having to win,"
Oakland's Eric Chavez said. "Every game is big now. You can feel
it. I know I do."
For the second night in a row the teams exchanged brushback
pitches and trash talk.
The starting pitchers for both teams were warned after head-high
pitches emptied the dugouts and bullpens for some heated
finger-pointing and animated conversation.
"I don't think it's bad blood," Manuel said. "We're a veteran
team and we still think we're better than they are, and they want
to show us they can play with us."
Segui and Travis Fryman each hit RBI doubles in the sixth after
Cleveland starter Bartolo Colon left with tendinitis in his left
knee. He is day-to-day.
"It's a little sore," Manuel said. "I don't know how bad it
is."
Segui, sent sprawling earlier by an inside pitch from Tim Hudson
(13-6), got revenge against the right-hander in the sixth with his
double that put the Indians up 6-5 and chased Hudson, who allowed
seven runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Segui had words with Hudson after getting knocked down and
grounding out in the second.
"When he ran past me, I said I didn't do that on purpose,"
Hudson said. "I was trying to clear the air. He said a lot of
stuff back that I didn't understand. The pitch was high, yeah, but
not at his head."
After scoring twice off Paul Shuey (4-1) to tie it in the sixth,
the A's got a one-out double from Adam Piatt in the seventh before
Ricky Rincon, activated from the DL earlier in the day, replaced
Shuey.
Rincon hadn't pitched since May 16 after undergoing elbow
surgery, but retired pinch-hitter Eric Byrnes on one pitch. Steve
Karsay got the final out in the seventh and got out of a
bases-loaded mess in the eighth.
Wickman, acquired in a trade from Milwaukee, pitched the ninth
for his sixth save. His last 15 pitches were strikes.
Colon gave up a one-out double in the sixth to Ramon Hernandez
and threw two balls to Frank Menechino before looking to the
Indians' dugout for help.
Shuey replaced Colon, who has chronic knee problems, and walked
Menechino. One out later, Miguel Tejada's double tied it 5-5.
Roberto Alomar's diving stop to end the top of the fifth sparked
the Indians, who scored four runs in the bottom half to open a 5-3
lead.
Ranging into shallow right, Alomar dived to grab Piatt's hard
grounder, popped to his feet and threw to first for the out, saving
a run and keeping the Indians within 3-1.
Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton -- both swinging at Hudson's first
pitch -- each hit two-run singles in the Indians' four-run fifth.
Maybe the wild-card race is to blame for the Indians and A's
recent dislike for each other.
On Tuesday, Indians reliever Steve Reed incensed the A's by
hitting rookie Byrnes. Oakland's bench screamed at Reed, and
Jeff Tam sent a nasty message to Cleveland via two fastballs behind
catcher Sandy Alomar's back.
Wednesday's festivities began when Hudson knocked down Segui in
the second. In the bottom half, Colon fired two pitches over Ben
Grieve's head.
"That was uncalled for," A's manager Art Howe said. "We're
all thankful he didn't hit him."
Some of the A's were still fuming about Colon's tactics.
"I hope for his sake he was not throwing at our head," Chavez
said. "I understand sticking up for your teammates, but you are
flirting with danger and could kill somebody."
Game notes
Thome's 31st homer moved him past Earl Averill for second
on the team's career list. His 227th homer was also Thome's 999th
career hit. He picked up his 1,000th with a single in the sixth.
... Cleveland is 6-1 vs. Oakland at home this season. ... The A's
have lost 10 of 11 on the road. ... Hudson is 0-2 with a 10.89 ERA
in four career starts vs. Cleveland. Against the rest of the
league, he's 24-6 with a 3.80 ERA.
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Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
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