AMERICAN LEAGUE Oakland's 'Strikeout Guy' shuts down Indians, 6-2

The Tribe's Milton Bradley homered before getting ejected in the eighth.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- If his cheesy new nickname sticks, Mark Mulder will have more than a victory to remind him of his second straight 11-strikeout performance.
Mulder had 11 more strikeouts Tuesday night, pitching into the eighth inning of a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
"All of a sudden, I'm Strikeout Guy," the left-hander said. "I don't know. I threw a lot of good pitches late in the game. That's what I'm excited about, because I didn't make many good pitches early."
Ramon Hernandez hit a two-run double in the seventh as the A's avoided wasting another sterling start from Mulder (14-7), who finished one strikeout shy of his career high.
Oakland trailed 2-1 entering the seventh, but Mulder struck out the side to a strong ovation. Moments later, his teammates scored three runs to take the lead for good in their first home game since the All-Star break.
"It hasn't been easy for us to score much lately, but we kept battling and finally put a couple of hits together," Mulder said. "That's why this is such a great win for us. It's got to be a big boost to our confidence."
In control
Except for two solo homers, Mulder was firmly in control. It was the fifth 10-plus strikeout game of his career -- and his second in a row, following his performance in a 3-0 win over Seattle.
Mulder allowed seven hits and retired 14 of 15 at one point. He joined Toronto's Roy Halladay, who has 15 victories, and Baltimore's Sidney Ponson as the AL's 14-game winners.
Mulder also was four outs shy of what would have been his major league-leading eighth complete game, but Keith Foulke finished up for his 27th save in 31 chances.
"[Mulder] had three good pitches tonight: A heavy sinker, a changeup and a big, slow curve that defies gravity," Cleveland catcher Tim Laker said. "That pitch killed me. It goes so slow, you wonder how he throws it."
Miguel Tejada, Terrence Long and Chris Singleton also drove in runs for the A's, who won their sixth straight at the Coliseum, where Cleveland has lost five straight. The A's have won seven of nine overall.
Losing the lead
Milton Bradley homered for Cleveland before getting ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a called third strike. Ryan Ludwick also homered for the Indians, who couldn't hold the late lead.
Brian Anderson (8-8) struck out six and retired 11 straight during six innings, but he lost for just the second time in nine starts because of a rocky seventh.
David McCarty and Eric Chavez singled to start the inning, and Hernandez hit reliever Jason Boyd's second pitch deep into the right-center gap. Moments later, Long had a pinch-hit RBI single off Jason Stanford.
"Those extra runs were my fault," Anderson said. "I left runners on. When you pitch against Mulder, you better not let them score more than two runs."
In the eighth, the A's got unearned runs on Chavez's double and Singleton's sacrifice fly.
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