A's win again (Big Green machine rolls on)

[bluestateguy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=250730111



OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- When the Oakland Athletics play well, it's usually their pitching that gets the credit. During this two-month stretch of dominance, the A's are winning even when their top pitchers struggle.

Jay Payton hit a grand slam and drove in five runs to help Barry Zito win his seventh straight start and the Oakland Athletics win for the 10th time in 11 games, 9-5 over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Payton and Scott Hatteberg homered against Nate Robertson (5-9) in a six-run fourth inning that also featured the ejection of Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

Oakland won the first two games of the series despite getting subpar performances from its aces. One night after Rich Harden allowed a career-high 12 hits in 5 1-3 innings of an 8-4 win, Zito (10-8) fell behind 2-0 after two batters and allowed five runs and 10 hits in seven innings.

mo.