Photo credit: sfexaminer.com

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — The potential All-Stars were great for the Oakland Athletics Friday night, but it was Antioch’s own Paul Blackburn that stood out the most in the A’s 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Blackburn (2-2, 6.46 ERA) fired 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball to give the A’s the edge over the Central Division leaders at home.

Darkhorse MVP candidate Jed Lowrie continued to be the best player in baseball no-one is talking about, mashing his 14th homer of the season. Blake Treinen nailed down his 18th straight save and the A’s won their fifth-straight game. Marcus Semien and potential American League All-Star Khris Davis knocked in a run each. Francisco Lindor knocked in the Tribe’s lone run.

Matt Olson scored the first run after doubling with one out in the second inning. Semien then came up to the plate against Indians starter Trevor Bauer and, after taking a knuckle curve for a ball, slapped the next one into left field for a 1-0 lead.

Davis, who has openly mulled his participation in the Home Run Derby, jumped on Bauer early in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs and Matt Joyce on second, Davis took the first pitch he saw to left field for a run-scoring double. Bauer would finish off the inning and pitch two thirds of the seventh before coming out of the game after compiling eight strikeouts.

While Bauer (7-6, 2.45) was strong, he wound up the loser, thanks to Blackburn’s bounce back. In his previous outing, the righty went five innings while giving up six runs to the woeful Chiacgo White Sox. He was diealed in Friday, scattering three hits with five punch-outs in an outing that surely saved him from a trip to Nashville.

After Blackburn departed after 6 1/3 innings, Ryan Butcher took over. The Indians touched him up for one earned run on a double in the eighth by Lindor, but Lowrie tagged Zach McAllister in the bottom of the inning to preserve the two-run lead.

Treinen walked the tight rope in the ninth, opening the inning with a single to another MVP candidate, Jose Ramirez. Edwin Encarnacion mashed a ball to center field that looked like a game-tying shot, but his fly ran out of room and Mark Canha made the catch. Former Athletic Yonder Alonso struck out Rajai Davis walked. Jason Kipnis flew out to end the game and move the A’s seven games over .500.

Oakland sends Edwin Jackson to the hill Saturday in what already has been a historic season for the righty. By donning the Green and Gold, he tied Octavio Dotel for most teams played for with 13. He pitched well in his previous outing, holding the Detroit Tigers to one run over six innings. He’ll be opposed by Adam Plutko, who has gone 4-1 stepping into the rotation due to injuries to Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco.