Indians end skid against A's

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Mark Grudzielanek hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning and Fausto Carmona had another stellar outing for the Cleveland Indians in a 6-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

Austin Kearns had three hits and three RBIs while Mike Redmond doubled and scored twice for Cleveland, which snapped a six-game losing streak to Oakland. It is only the Indians' fourth win in their last 26 road games dating back to last season.

Carmona (3-0) scattered seven hits over 7 1-3 innings and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 2.96.

Matt LaPorta led off the eighth with a single off Oakland reliever Chad Gaudin (0-2). Redmond then sacrificed pinch-runner Grady Sizemore to second, and after Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out, Grudzielanek hit a line drive to center to drive in Sizemore and break a 1-1 tie.

Craig Breslow replaced Gaudin and gave up two more hits, including Kearns' RBI single that made it 3-1. Cleveland then scored three times in the ninth to break the game open.

Carmona, whose only other wins this season came against the Chicago White Sox, was solid all afternoon but ran into trouble in the bottom of the eighth after giving up back-to-back one-out singles to Rajai Davis and Daric Barton. Reliever Tony Sipp got Ryan Sweeney to ground into an inning-ending double play, though, and Chris Perez worked a scoreless ninth for Cleveland.

Before breaking out of their scoring slump, the Indians had been starved for offense. They were shut out Friday night by three Oakland pitchers and had been held to one run or less in three of their previous four games.

Cleveland didn't get much going against A's starter Brett Anderson, either.

Anderson retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced and was cruising along until the sixth when Redmond opened the inning with a double that glanced off center fielder Davis' glove. After being sacrificed to third, Redmond scored on Shin-Soo Choo's groundball single to left.

Anderson, the A's left-hander who signed a $12.5 million four-year contract on April 16, gave up only three hits with five strikeouts and one walk but left after the sixth with tightness in his left elbow.

Once he was gone, Cleveland's offense came to life.

The Indians, who improved to 2-3 on their current nine-game road trip, scored three runs in the ninth. Redmond had an RBI single and Kearns added a two-run double.

NOTES: Cleveland closer Kerry Wood (back) will throw a bullpen session Sunday and then be reevaluated to determine where he goes next. Wood, who hasn't pitched in a game since March 10, threw a one-inning simulated game Friday and afterward said he was sore. ... Oakland 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff was given the day off after fouling a ball off his right foot. Kouzmanoff also has soreness in his right calf. ... With an off day Monday, manager Bob Geren is considering resting Kouzmanoff on Sunday also. ... A's catcher Kurt Suzuki was a late scratch due to soreness in his left side. ... Cabrera's eight-game hitting streak ended.