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CLEVELAND — Seth Brown hit a grand slam to end a five-run seventh inning and the Oakland Athletics halted a 10-game losing streak — their longest in 11 years — by beating the Cleveland Indians 10-5 on Saturday defeated.
Oakland right fielder Ramón Laureano appeared to deliver an emotional speech ahead of the rally. screaming in the shelter. He was ejected in the middle of the seventh by first base umpire Paul Emmel.
Steven Vogt, Christian Bethancourt and Sean Murphy also scored for Oakland, and Vogt had three hits and was hit by a throw.
Oakland was outscored 60-20 during their longest slide since the A’s lost 10 straight from May 30 to June 9, 2011. Oakland lost nine straight runs from April 29 to May 8 that year, giving the A’s a pair of losing streaks of nine or more games in the same season for the first time since 1978.
Frankie Montas (3-6) allowed five carries and eight hits in six innings to win against Baltimore for the first time since April 18. He’d been 0-5 in his previous nine starts despite a 2.87 ERA in that span.
Brown’s homer came on a full-count fastball from Eli Morgan with two outs as Oakland recovered from a 5-2 deficit. Brown took a tight 2-2 pitch that saw Morgan bounce off the mound, thinking it was a third shot. Brown sent the next pitch to the correct field pitches for his first career slam.
The Athletics went into fourth with a 2-0 lead, but that quickly evaporated, thanks in part to another key goal from José Ramírez, who followed with a shot around the bases. Cleveland had four goals on a throwing error, an RBI groundout, a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring bunt hit.
Vogt and Matt Davidson freed Zach Plesac for the seventh start. Morgan (2-2) scored a strikeout, but first baseman Josh Naylor threw a miss on Tony Kemp’s groundball that scored a run and cost the Guardians an out.
Bethancourt’s infield hit with two outs kept the inning going before Brown delivered, silencing the crowd and causing Oakland’s players to jump off the dugout in jubilation.
Plesac turned the game of the day when he initially kicked out Cristian Pache. Plesac grabbed the slow roller hit right off the hill with his bare hand.
TRAINING ROOM
Athletics: 2B Jed Lowrie (wrist, shoulder pain) was absent from the lineup for the second game in a row.
Guard: RHP James Karinchak (strained upper back) hit one in a scoreless inning on a rehab call at Triple-A Columbus on Friday.
NEXT
Athletics: LHP Cole Irvin (2-2, 3.00 ERA) allowed a six-inning run against the Guardians on April 30 in Oakland.
Guard: RHP Cal Quantrill (3-3, 3.56 ERA) has won his last two starts, playing against Kansas City and Texas in the seventh inning.
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