Brown singles home winning run as A's beat O's in 10th

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Emil Brown has nearly as many hits in 28 at-bats with runners in scoring position as he has in 68 at-bats with the bases empty. No wonder Oakland manager Bob Geren was confident in the 10th inning Monday night.

Brown singled home the winning run in the 10th to give the Athletics a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

With two outs, Daric Barton singled against Jim Johnson (0-1), and Frank Thomas walked to set up Brown's third hit of the game.

"When Frank walked I knew we had a good chance," Geren said. "He has an elevated concentration in those situations. He tries to keep the ball in the middle of the field and when you talk about RBI situations, that gives you a better chance."

Brown is 13-for-28 (.464) with runners in scoring position as opposed to 14-for-68 (.206) with the bases empty.

"People say different things about how I hit in those situations," he said. "I just want to drive the guy in. Maybe that gives me that edge. I want to be selectively aggressive and look for something in the strike zone I can get my bat on."

Brown hit Johnson's first pitch into right-center field, snapping his scoreless streak at 17 innings.

Joey Devine (3-0) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win, handing Baltimore its third consecutive loss.

Ramon Hernandez of the Orioles tied the score in the ninth with a slow RBI groundout to shortstop. Melvin Mora doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on Kevin Millar's long flyout.

Oakland closer Huston Street blew his second save in 11 chances. He had converted his previous nine straight.

Rajai Davis' infield single with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh gave the Athletics a 1-0 lead in a game dominated by the starting pitchers.

Dana Eveland gave up three hits in seven innings, matching the longest outing of his career. He walked four, struck out four and allowed one baserunner as far as second.

"I wasn't locating my fastball that great so I really was reaching back," Eveland said. "For the most part I got it by them. It was working."

Orioles starter Garrett Olson was just as unhittable, giving up one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

"His approach is much more business like out there," Orioles manager Dave Trembly said. "His focus has improved and his body language is a lot better. He pitched a great ballgame. Scoring opportunities were limited on both sides."

After getting the first out of the seventh, Olson gave up a hit to Brown and walked Jack Cust. Matt Albers took over for Olson and got Bobby Crosby to fly out before pinch-hitter Jack Hannahan beat out an infield single against Jamie Walker to load the bases.

"I was just trying to get strike out and get ahead," Olson said. "I wanted to pound the zone with fastballs. I wanted to establish the tone early."

The speedy Davis hit a slow roller into the hole between first and second and easily beat Walker to the bag, allowing Brown to score.

Adam Jones and Jay Payton opened the eighth with singles. After Luis Hernandez sacrificed both runners against Andrew Brown, Alan Embree came on to retire Brian Roberts on a short fly to right field and Nick Markakis on an infield grounder.

The A's hit .234 against left-handed pitching in their previous 12 games against them. Olson, in his second start of the season, was as tough as any of those lefties.

Eveland was coming off his worst start of the season, when he gave up six runs in 5 1/3 innings at Los Angeles last Wednesday. Against the Orioles he looked like the guy who opened the season allowing one run in his first 16 innings.

Game notes
A's RHP Keith Foulke (neck stiffness) threw two innings in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento and will make a second start with Class A Stockton on Wednesday. ... Jones snapped an 0-for-14 streak with a single to lead off the eighth for the O's. ... Cust was named the AL Player of the Week. ... OF Travis Buck (shin splints) continued his rehab assignment in Sacramento and is expected to join the A's in Texas on Friday. ... The A's drew a season-low crowd of 10,128 one day after drawing 31,673, their second-highest total of the year. ... Orioles LHP Brian Burres has a 6.94 ERA in three appearances against Tampa Bay and a 0.46 ERA against the rest of the AL.