The Oakland Athletics ended a three game skid courtesy of strong pitching from Trevor Cahill as they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. Cahill had lost five straight decisions before bouncing back with a strong performance last weekend against the San Francisco Giants. He showed that start was no fluke as he held the Phillies to one run on three hits and three walks over 7 2/3 innings. Childhood Phillies fan Andrew Bailey pitched 1 1/3 inning for the save.
Cahill matched up with Cole Hamels in a solid pitchers’ duel with Cahill grabbing the slight edge. The Phillies took an early lead on a Carlos Ruiz RBI single in the second. However, the A’s bounced back quickly in the third inning as Adam Rosales hit an opposite field home run that cleared the fence by only a couple feet. The A’s followed that up with a Scott Sizemore RBI single in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead.
Trevor Cahill carried that lead into the eighth inning as he kept the Phillies from threatening for much of the game. However, Philly put men on first and third after a double, wild pitch and a walk with two outs. Andrew Bailey came on to get the final out in the eighth inning as he forced Chase Utley to ground out to first.
The ninth was anti-climactic as the A’s grabbed a pair of runs in the top of the ninth on a Mark Ellis RBI single and Coco Crisp sacrifice fly. The Phillies put men on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Bailey induced the 4-6-3 double play from Domonic Brown to get the victory.
The A’s and Phillies play the rubber match on Sunday at 10:35am pacific. Josh Outman will face Roy Halladay in the series finale on CSN California.