By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Baseball’s supposed to me fun, and it was just that for the A’s on Tuesday, in need of some enjoyable moments in the midst of 17 losses in 23 games.

After beating the AL Central-leading Indians 9-1, even business-like manager Bob Melvin loosened up, recounting some of the memorable moments of a rare laugher for his club.

“Guys getting their first RBIs, playing full games, not subbing guys out, not hitting for guys,” Melvin said. “You think back and remember what your first RBI and so forth was like so it adds a little bit more to it.”

The A’s makeshift lineup featured guys better known in Midland, Texas than in Oakland, but they made themselves at home one hit a time. Eight Athletics had at least one hit, and Chad Pinder and Bruce Maxwell picked up their first big league RBI, as the A’s piled up 13 hits, quite a departure for a team that’s been mostly quiet at the Coliseum, hitting .239 as a team at home.

While Pinder and Maxwell recorded career firsts, Jake Smolinski landed full out in right center with the ball in his club, which in turn landed him on SportsCenter with one of the evening’s top plays. Danny Valencia had spent the week embroiled in his controversial fight with teammate Billy Butler, but on Tuesday he was flashing the leather as well, playing Mike Napoli’s one hopper of the wall cleanly, then throwing out the Cleveland catcher at second base with his one-hop throw.

So good were the A’s, the outcome was never threatened after Indians’ starter Danny Salazar saw himself saddled with a three-run deficit after facing just four batters. The fourth batter, Khris Davis hit his 33^rd home run with two runners aboard. But the A’s didn’t take their foot of the gas, scoring two runs in the third, one in the fifth, and three more in the eighth.

Sean Manaea was the beneficiary of all the offense, winning for the fifth time in his 13 starts at home. Manaea lasted seven innings, allowing three hits and a run, about a nice of a line a young pitcher can achieve against a powerful lineup that’s been limited to two runs in two nights by Oakland pitching.

Salazar had never gotten much fuss from the A’s, winning each of his 2015 starts easily. But 2016 in general has been more challenging for Salazar, trying to regain his form after ending a lengthy stint on the disabled list on August 18. He came in with wins in 11 of his 15 decisions, but left after failing to retire a hitter in the fifth, and the A’s ahead comfortably 6-0.

“I thought he was up with too many fastballs and because of that it didn’t really seem like they had to respect his off-speed pitches. The hope is that he gets some repetition including side days and stuff and gets back to the Danny we saw in the first half,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said.

The A’s have their initial win against Cleveland after dropping the first four meetings this season. They’ll look to capture the series on Wednesday afternoon in the finale when Kendall Graveman faces the Indians’ Trevor Bauer.