Late rally not enough in Indians' 8-5 loss to A's

OAKLAND, Calif. – Asdrubal Cabrera wasn't in any mood to discuss the error charged to him in the third inning that led to four unearned runs against the Cleveland Indians.

"What do you mean?" Cabrera said when asked what happened on the play. "I picked the ball up and threw it to first so he could catch it."

The throw short-hopped Casey Kotchman, who was unable to hang on, allowing Cliff Pennington to reach safely leading off the inning. The Indians ended up losing 8-5 to the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night, Cleveland's fourth straight loss.

Carlos Santana's two-out home run in the seventh inning ended Bartolo Colon's shutout bid, and Shin-soo Choo and Brent Lillibridge both hit two-run homers in the ninth against the Oakland bullpen to make things interesting before Grant Balfour recorded the final out.

"We're going to battle no matter what," Cabrera said. "It was pretty tough trying to come back from so far down."

Corey Kluber (0-2) gave up four runs — all unearned due to Cabrera's error — and four hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three.

Indians pitchers walked six batters, and four scored.

"I didn't attack the zone enough," Kluber said. "I threw too many balls. I threw too many pitches."

Colon (10-9) struck out three and scattered five hits over eight innings to beat his former club for the sixth time in 10 starts. The burly right-hander didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning, and allowed only two runners past first base.

Cabrera, Choo and Michael Brantley each had two hits for Cleveland, which has dropped four of five on its road trip.

Balfour earned his 11th save after the A's bullpen nearly let the game get away in the ninth.

Evan Scribner replaced Colon and gave up Choo's two-run home run, and Lillibridge hit a pinch-hit, two-run shot off Jerry Blevins to cut the deficit to 8-5.

Jason Donald followed with a pinch-hit single before Balfour replaced Blevins and struck out Ezequiel Carrera to end it.

NOTES: Indians leadoff hitter Jason Kipnis is 6 for 55 since July 27. ... The A's honored their 2002 team in a pregame ceremony, celebrating the franchise's AL-record, 20-game winning streak from that season. Several ex-players attended, as did former manager Art Howe. The winning streak was the subject of the Brad Pitt movie "Moneyball." ... RHP Jarrod Parker (7-7), who pitches the series finale for Oakland, is still looking for his first win in August. ... RHP Justin Masterson (9-10) will be seeking his third consecutive win for the Indians.