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Wednesday, Jun. 21 10:05pm ET
Chavez gets first cycle in Coliseum history | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Eric Chavez made Oakland Coliseum history, and Ariel Prieto made a remarkable comeback. Chavez hit for the cycle, the first at home since the A's moved to Oakland in 1968, and Prieto earned his first win in nearly three years as the Athletics beat Mike Mussina and the Baltimore Orioles 10-3 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.
"I came into the dugout and just wanted to take my helmet off and sit down," Chavez said after his home run off Jose Mercedes. "The guys were telling me the fans wanted me to take a bow. I don't know how to deal with that situation. The first time for anything makes it that much more impressive." Prieto (1-1), called up from the minors earlier in the day, pitched five strong innings to earn his first win in the majors since June 26, 1997, against Texas. "It was exciting," said Prieto, who made his major league debut with the A's in 1995, but spent most of the past two seasons on the disabled list after having "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow. "Maybe I was too excited and trying to do better than I can do," Prieto said. "I'm just excited with this team." Terrence Long, who was a triple away from his own cycle, and Ben Grieve each had three hits and drove in two runs as the A's extended their winning streak to a season-high eight games. Chavez's feat was the third in Oakland history -- Tony Phillips did it on May 19, 1996 in Baltimore, and Mike Blowers did it in Chicago on May 18, 1998. Chavez doubled in the second, singled in fourth and tripled in the fifth -- all against Mussina. He then hit a 1-1 pitch from Mercedes over the center-field fence in the seventh for his 12th homer. "I had it in the back of my mind, but I wasn't trying to hit that ball out," Chavez said. "I was just trying to get a good swing on it. (Hitting coach) Thad Bosley told me to try and get a pitch I could drive. He never said to get a pitch to hit out." Mussina, who allowed eight runs in his last four starts combined, gave up a season-high eight runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. It was the most runs Mussina (5-7) allowed since giving up 10 last April 21 at Tampa Bay. "He didn't have his command early on and he got into trouble," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. "We kept waiting for Mike to find himself but it never happened. He usually puts hitters away when he gets ahead in the count. He just didn't have it tonight." Mussina struck out six and walked one and had his personal four-game winning streak -- in five starts -- snapped. The Orioles lost their fifth straight. The Orioles scored twice against Prieto in the first. With one out, Mike Bordick was safe on a fielding error by right fielder Jeremy Giambi and scored on Delino DeShields' single. B.J. Surhoff drove in DeShields with a single. Prieto allowed two hits over the next four innings as Oakland rallied. Grieve's single in the first scored Long, and Ramon Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to score Giambi with the tying run. Consecutive doubles by Long and Randy Velarde produced two more runs in the fourth, then the A's broke it open with four runs in the fifth. Miguel Tejada hit an 0-2 pitch from Mussina over the 388-foot sign in left center for a two-run shot. After Hernandez drove in a run with his second sacrifice fly, Long hit his ninth homer of the season, ending Mussina's night. Grieve added an RBI double in the eighth for Oakland's final run. Charles Johnson drove in a run in the ninth with an RBI single for Baltimore.
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Baltimore Clubhouse Oakland Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 9 NY Yankees 7
Oakland 10
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