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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Four strikeouts into a frustrating night,
Alex Gonzalez finally got a pitch he could hit.
|  | | Brad Fullmer had one of Toronto's four solo home runs. |
Gonzalez homered on the first pitch of the 10th inning as the Toronto Blue Jays extended Oakland's home losing streak to eight games with a 5-4 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays got a game-tying RBI single by Darrin Fletcher in
the ninth to send the A's to another discouraging loss. Toronto got exactly the kind of timely hitting and flawless relief pitching Oakland hasn't received this season.
Baffled by an assortment of breaking pitches, Gonzalez struck
out swinging four times against A's starter Cory Lidle and reliever
Jim Mecir, leaving the shortstop hitless in 14 at-bats. Lidle's forkball flustered many of Toronto's hitters, none more so than Gonzalez.
But in the 10th, Gonzalez put a chest-high fastball from
hard-throwing closer Jason Isringhausen over the Coliseum scoreboard in left for his second homer of the year.
"That forkball was giving me trouble tonight," Gonzalez said. "When Isringhausen came in, I knew he has a good fastball, but the forkball isn't a pitch he has. I was able to put that forkball out of my mind and swing hard."
Fletcher, who entered the game hitting .195 and grounded out three times, also ended a hitless streak of 14 at-bats by poking the tying single over the infield on a good breaking pitch.
Isringhausen (0-1) allowed his first runs of the year and blew
his first save in five chances as Oakland lost its fourth straight
thanks to another miserable bullpen outing.
"(Fletcher) was able to fight it off just enough to get it over (the infield)," Isringhausen said. "I feel bad for Cory and the rest of the guys. We needed a win. I should have been able to do my job, and I wasn't able to do it."
Tony Batista, Brad Fullmer and Raul Mondesi also hit solo homers for the Blue Jays, who kept pace with the Red Sox atop the AL East
with their fifth victory in seven games.
Paul Quantrill (4-0) got the last out of the ninth. Billy Koch
pitched the 10th for his eighth save in nine chances.
"I think they're starting to gain a lot of confidence," Toronto manager Buck Martinez said. "They're finding out it's fun to come back and battle and have outstanding comebacks like this."
In the A's first game after returning from their longest road
trip of the season and one of the worst Aprils in franchise
history, Terrence Long hit a two-run double and Frank Menechino
homered, but the A's extended their worst losing streak at the
Coliseum in nearly seven years.
Lidle, who won the fifth spot in Oakland's rotation during spring training, was denied his first victory since joining the Athletics in the offseason. He pitched six innings and tied his career-high with seven strikeouts, leaving with a 4-3 lead.
"We want to turn it around in May and get it ready for June, July, August and September," Lidle said. "I think we're frustrated, but we also know this is a streaky game."
Mecir pitched two perfect innings of relief, but in the ninth,
Isringhausen allowed a leadoff double by Fullmer and the one-out RBI single by Fletcher.
Menechino, who has prospered as Oakland's starting second
baseman in recent weeks, hit a solo homer in the fourth off Chris
Carpenter, who struck out five. Long, who moved into the A's
troublesome cleanup spot last week, hit a double to left-center in
the first inning, scoring Johnny Damon and Menechino.
The Blue Jays also continued to shuffle their lineup, with Jose
Cruz Jr. and Shannon Stewart switching spots in the batting order again. Cruz, who hit leadoff in Toronto's last two games, went 1-for-5 from the No. 3 spot, while Stewart went 1-for-5 with a triple in the leadoff spot.
Game notes
Gonzalez struck out six times in a 1998 game against
Cleveland. ... The Blue Jays played a makeup game in Toronto
against Kansas City on Monday afternoon before flying to the West
Coast. ... Oakland, which was swept by the Yankees last weekend at
the end of a 13-game trip, fell to 1-9 at the Coliseum _ the worst
home record in baseball _ in front of an announced crowd of just
10,935. ... The A's lost eight straight at the Coliseum from May
3-22, 1994.
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RECAPS
Baltimore 3
Tampa Bay 1
Cleveland 13
Kansas City 2
NY Yankees 4
Minnesota 0
Detroit 6
Texas 3
Anaheim 6
Chi. White Sox 4
Toronto 5
Oakland 4
Boston 2
Seattle 0
Cincinnati 7
Los Angeles 6
Florida 4
St. Louis 3
Arizona 8
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 7
Colorado 1
San Francisco 11
Pittsburgh 6
NY Mets 7
Houston 5
Milwaukee 5
Atlanta 3
San Diego 10
Chicago Cubs 3
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