A's nearly ruin Harden's solid outing, but finally quiet Braves in 9th

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Oakland Athletics finally got some much-needed offense.

Jack Cust hit a solo home run and Ryan Sweeney added a three-run shot, and the Oakland Athletics held on to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Saturday night to end a season-worst four-game losing streak.

The A's had only three extra-base hits -- all doubles -- during their losing streak and had scored only four runs. They entered the game with 22 home runs, third fewest in the majors.

Oakland broke out unexpectedly with Sweeney hitting his first homer. It came off Tim Hudson, who had allowed only one all season prior to Saturday night.

"I didn't know that. That makes it even better," Sweeney said.

"The three-run homer was kind of the backbreaker right there," Hudson said.

Rich Harden (2-0) pitched seven strong innings in ending Atlanta's eight-game home winning streak. The right-hander allowed four hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out eight.

The Braves rallied from a 5-1 deficit with three runs in the ninth off Huston Street.

Jeff Francoeur had a run-scoring groundout, Kelly Johnson an RBI triple and Gregor Blanco a sacrifice fly before Street struck out Greg Norton to end the rally.

Cust hit his fifth homer in the opening inning and Sweeney hit his just inside the right field pole off Hudson (6-3). The right-hander had been 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA at home entering the game.

"I thought it might go foul," Sweeney said. "I wasn't trying to hit a home run in that situation, but it was good to put some runs on the board early. It's a big plus."

Harden, making only his fourth start of the season and second since spending five weeks on the DL with a strained right shoulder, threw 102 pitches, 72 strikes and was ahead in the count on most hitters with a fastball clocked between 93 and 96 mph.

"Great," he said when asked about the shoulder. "I felt pretty good. My first game back [Sunday at Texas, he gave up eight hits and five runs in 3 2/3 innings] it felt good. I got ahead of a lot of their hitters but threw too many pitches they could hit. Tonight, I focused on making them chase pitches when I got ahead and it worked better."

He pitched in only seven games last season because of his shoulder problem and was 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA. He's been on the DL six times in the past four years, pitching in only 42 games with a 17-7 record.

"It was really kind of a normal game for him. He had a mid 90s fastball and compliments that with a great change. He's tough to hit," A's manager Bob Geren said. "We didn't want him to throw much more than 100 pitches. We're kind of taking it one game at a time."

A healthy Harden is usually difficult to hit.

Just the Braves.

"He was vintage Rich Harden, throwing his fastball in and out, 94-95. A good changeup and split," said Mark Teixeira, who had one of the four hits off Harden.

"Harden is as advertised. He's really a master on the mound out there with his stuff," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.

Atlanta's only run off Harden came in the fifth, when he issued a two-out walk to Blanco. Pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay singled and Yunel Escobar ended an 0-for-12 slump with an RBI single.

The A's took a 4-0 lead in the second. Daric Barton led off with a walk and Kurt Suzuki reached first when Atlanta second baseman Johnson fielded his grounder and tried to tag Barton but missed. Sweeney followed with his home run.

Oakland added a run in the third when Barton walked with the bases loaded, the third consecutive walk after Bobby Crosby led off with a single.

Hudson went five innings. He gave up five hits, five earned runs, walked five and struck out three.

Game notes
Hudson faced his former teammates for the first time. He came to Atlanta in a trade from Oakland in November 2004. ... Teixeira broke an 0-for-15 drought with a second-inning single. ... Harden got his first major league hit, a single in the fourth. He had been 0-for-6. ... Atlanta's Chipper Jones, who leads the majors in hitting at .412, went 0-for-4, striking out twice against Harden. In his previous five games, Jones was 11-for-19 (.574).