Photo courtesy of David Petkiewicz/cleveland.com

By Morris Phillips

The just-concluded season series between the A’s and Indians was certainly interesting, and it could have worked as an NBA game, filled with scoring runs and 30-second timeouts.

Apparently the A’s called a hypothetical timeout after chasing their collective tails for seven innings on Saturday–and letting the Indians go wild in scoring 28 of the previous 35 runs in the six-game set–dating back to the series finale in Oakland on July 1.

The A’s needed a breath of fresh air, anything to break Cleveland’s momentum. Seemingly, those two minutes between the seventh and eighth innings did the trick. Picture 25 players surrounding manager Bob Melvin as he reminds his guys…

“Be yourselves! We’re home run hitters, so hit home runs! And Brett (Anderson) you go to the scoring table. You’re in at the next media timeout. Let’s go!”

Melvin’s not Steve Kerr, and he didn’t get 25 guys around him and say those words. But the desired effect was the same. The A’s snatched momentum, hit two home runs, wipe out the Indians’ 3-0 lead, then Stephen Piscotty homered in the 11th and the A’s won 6-3.

On Sunday, momentum was starting pitcher Brett Anderson.  In his first appearance since May 18, the resurgent pitcher shut down the AL Central leaders into the sixth inning in the A’s 6-0 shutout. The A’s rebounded to win the series and get to the 50-win mark prior to the All-Star break for the first time since 2014.

Yup, the A’s responded to the Indians’ 28-7 run, with a 12-0 run of their own. You know what they say? In MLB, everybody makes a run.

“We know we have seven games before the break,” said Melvin, of the A’s current streak of seven, consecutive series victories. “We want to finish up strong, so it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”

Anderson had his tipping point early on Sunday. With runners at second and third and no outs, Anderson struck out Rajai Davis and Robert Perez. Then on a 3-0 pitch, Anderson induced No. 8 hitter Erik Gonzalez to pop out to end the inning, preserving the A’s 1-0 lead.

In the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs, Anderson was up to the task again. The veteran pitcher got Gonzalez to ground into an inning-ending force out play in which Brandon Guyer was retired at third base.

“For the first time back in a while to give us a chance to win and get the series win, I’ll take it,” said Anderson, who has owned the Indians with an 0.82 ERA in five career starts.

“I don’t think we made very good adjustments, but I think sometimes you give the pitcher some credit, for sure,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

The A’s improved to 18-6 against AL Central competition, which only partially compensates for the struggles in their own division (12-25 against the AL West). If the A’s somehow manage to overcome the 6 1/2 game gap between themselves and the Mariners occupying the second wild card, they’ll have to do it the hard way: Of their remaining 72 games, 39 are against AL West teams, and only 10 against the AL Central Twins and Tigers.

But don’t count the surprising A’s out: they’ve won 16 of 20 and they have timeouts left.

NOTES: Blake Treinen was named the A’s sole representative for the July 17 All-Star Game in Washington D.C. Treinen has 22 saves and hasn’t blown one since April 18. While Treinen is the unquestioned headliner, the A’s bullpen could be considered the A’s real All-Star. The Oakland bullpen has the best save percentage in baseball, converting 26 of 32. But the stellar numbers don’t stop there: the A’s bullpen is 22-7, the most wins and best win percentage of any MLB club.

After activating Anderson, the A’s still have five starters on the disabled list. To make room for Anderson, Paul Blackburn was placed on the disabled list with forearm strain.

UP NEXT: The A’s will take on the Astros in Houston for a four-game set starting Monday night at 5:10 pm PDT.