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		Wild Card Race Tightens By Jeremy Kahn September 12, 2005
	Oakland Athletics' Jason Kendall singles off Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia to drive in Marco Scutaro in the third inning Monday, Sept. 12, 2005, in Cleveland. Oakland added one more in the seventh and beat the Indians 2-0. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
	The final few weeks of the regular season are going to be fun for baseball fans everywhere, and fans of the Oakland A’s will be no exception. With their shut out of the Cleveland Indians 2-0 at Jacobs Field, the A’s pulled within 1.5 games of the Indians in the wild card race. With the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim losing to the Seattle Mariners 8-1 at Safeco Field the A’s are within one game of the Angels in the American League West. Despite making three errors, the A’s were able to get enough offense to defeat Vallejo native C.C. Sabathia and tag the 6’7” lefthander with his first loss since July 30. Danny Haren scattered four hits in 6.2 innings, this coming five days after being shelled by the Seattle Mariners in his shortest outing of the year, 2.2 innings at McAfee Coliseum. The A’s would later win the game, 8-7, by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jason Kendall got the A’s on the board when he singled off Sabathia in the top of the third inning, and Mark Kotsay drove in the final run of the evening when he hit a sacrifice fly off Scott Sauerbeck in the top of the seventh inning. The loss by Sabathia broke a seven-game winning streak for the lefty, who allowed just four hits and one run in six innings of work. After the departure of Haren, Ken Macha went to his bullpen and brought in Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer, Ricardo Rincon and Huston Street. The rookie Street continues to impress the major leagues, as he pitched a perfect ninth inning to garner his 21st save of the season. NOTES: The A’s are 3-1 in the first four games of their 10-game road trip to Texas, Cleveland and Boston. Two games remain in Cleveland before the A’s head to Boston for four games that may determine the outcome of two divisional races. In the second game of the series, the A’s will send Kirk Saarloos to the Jacobs Field mound, while the Indians will counter with Kevin Millwood, who no-hit the San Francisco Giants while pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies in April of 2003 at Veterans Stadium.