Byrd keeps Oakland off balance

CLEVELAND -- Highlight-reel defensive plays are all the rage these days at Progressive Field. For that matter, so is fantastic starting pitching from the Cleveland Indians.

The combination of the two yielded predictable results for the A's in a 4-0 loss Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series in front of 16,974 fans.

Cleveland right-hander Paul Byrd blanked the A's for 7« innings, allowing five hits with a season-high seven strikeouts and no walks.

That effort made it 34 innings in a row that Cleveland's starting pitchers have not allowed a run. The Indians also have thrown four shutouts in their past seven games.

If you're detecting a trend here, so are A's hitters.

They started this nine-game road trip in Texas and encountered a Rangers pitching staff that had a scoreless streak of 33 consecutive innings before the A's managed to snap that Saturday.

Byrd, who entered Tuesday with a 5.77 ERA in his career against Oakland, used his excellent command to get the A's chasing pitches, according to designated hitter Frank Thomas.

"We chased a lot of bad pitches," Thomas said. "That's his game.

If he doesn't have to throw strikes he won't. He was painting the outside (corner)."

Byrd had a worthy adversary in A's starter Justin Duchscherer, who turned in his second consecutive impressive outing. Duchscherer gave up his only run in the first inning and went on to allow just four hits in 6» innings.

Duchscherer left trailing 1-0, before Ryan Garko sealed the A's fate with a three-run home run off Andrew Brown in the eighth.

Brown hadn't appeared out of the bullpen since last Wednesday, when he allowed three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning against Baltimore. After a strong start to the season, he's allowed five earned runs and eight hits in his past four outings.

The A's hit the road riding a four-game winning streak but have dropped three of the first four away from Oakland.

Cleveland pitchers set the A's down in order in six innings, and when the A's did have runners on base, they didn't take advantage of it.

They trailed 1-0 with two outs in the second when Thomas tried to score from second base on a shallow hit to center by Ryan Sweeney.

Thomas looked as if he would beat Grady Sizemore's throw home, but he appeared to slow up a bit, perhaps thinking the play wouldn't be close. He slid awkwardly into home as catcher Victor Martinez applied the tag.

In the fifth, the A's had runners on first and second with one out.

With a full count on Donnie Murphy, A's manager Bob Geren started his runners. Murphy struck out and Bobby Crosby was nailed at third base for a double play.

The A's couldn't get much else going, thanks in large part to Cleveland's defense.

Murphy was robbed when David Dellucci made a leaping catch at the left-field wall in the third inning. Sizemore made a diving grab of Kurt Suzuki's shallow fly in the sixth.

The topper was turned in by second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who just a night earlier dazzled the home crowd with the 14th unassisted triple play in major-league history.

In the eighth, Cabrera--with his back to the infield--made a diving catch of Crosby's soft fly. That effort drew a standing ovation and a demonstrative reaction from Byrd, who pointed to his teammate as he left the game moments later.

"It happens," Crosby said. "That's part of it. I'll go and take one away from a guy tomorrow."

------ (c) 2008, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

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