AMERICAN LEAGUE Hudson, A's keep their winning skeins intact

Pitcher Tim Hudson and the Athletics both gained their seventh straight wins.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Tim Hudson is making his own good luck these days -- and the Oakland Athletics are getting an early start on their usual September surge.
Hudson allowed six hits over eight innings, and Eric Chavez drove in three runs Friday as the A's matched a season high with their seventh straight victory, 5-2 over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Mark Ellis scored two runs and drove in another as the A's maintained their two-game lead in the AL West over the Seattle Mariners with their 11th win in 13 games.
After trailing Seattle since April 12, Oakland took sole possession of first place on Wednesday.
Hudson on a streak
Hudson (14-4) won his fifth straight start and his seventh straight decision, retiring the final seven batters he faced and striking out seven. During a string of no-decisions and tough losses earlier in the season, he called himself the unluckiest pitcher in baseball.
"It's almost turned a 180," Hudson said. "I tried to tell you all that that bad luck was going to turn into good luck one of these days, and it did."
Hudson improved to 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA in August, the clearest sign yet that Hudson's hard-luck days are over -- and his chances for a Cy Young award are getting better.
He is 5-0 in eight career starts against Tampa Bay, and the Devil Rays' young lineup gave him little trouble.
"He made strikeouts and a whole bunch of ground ball outs," Oakland manager Ken Macha said. "I think there were only five balls in the air."
Foulke gets 36th save
Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his AL-leading 36th save in 41 chances. Rocco Baldelli doubled with one out, but Terrence Long threw out the All-Star trying to stretch it to a triple.
Aubrey Huff drove in two runs for Tampa Bay, which lost for the seventh time in nine games. The Devil Rays helped out Oakland earlier in the week, taking two of three from the Mariners.
"[Hudson] has got really good stuff," said Huff, who's 15-for-32 (.469) during an eight-game hitting streak. "He hasn't got the hype of the other starters, but his numbers are right there with everybody else. He has some of the best stuff in the league, and he showed it tonight."
The A's current winning streak is still two weeks shy of their AL-record 20-game streak last summer, but both streaks put Oakland in first place during the stretch run to the playoffs.
"The intensity is probably a little bit higher," Ellis said. "It's coming down to that part of the year when baseball is a lot of fun. We're always good at this time of year."
15-for-17 vs. Rays
After sweeping three games from Baltimore to begin the home-stand, Oakland beat Tampa Bay for the third time in four meetings this season. The A's have won 15 of their last 17 against the Rays.
Carl Crawford hit a leadoff triple and scored on Huff's sacrifice fly in the first inning, but Oakland quickly took control against Joe Kennedy (3-11).
Chavez, who was 0-for-11 in his career against Kennedy, hit a two-run double in the bottom of the first, scoring Ellis and Miguel Tejada. He added a single in the third, again scoring Ellis.
Ellis had an RBI double in the fourth. After Kennedy walked the bases loaded in the fifth, Chris Singleton drove in another run with a walk from Brandon Backe, who pitched 3 1-3 hitless innings of relief.
Kennedy allowed seven hits, five runs and five walks in 42/3 innings -- another disastrous outing for Tampa Bay's opening day starter. Kennedy hasn't won in 13 starts since May 13, going 0-8 and pitching into the seventh inning just three times.
After the game, manager Lou Piniella banished Kennedy to the bullpen.
"I'm going to ... see if he can do some good using him out of there," Piniella said. "I've been thinking about it for a while. It's been a long dry spell for him."
Huff added a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Notes
Tampa Bay OF Adam Piatt didn't play in his return to Oakland, where he spent his entire career before the A's dropped him two weeks ago.
The A's lead the majors with 48 home victories. Only San Francisco has a better winning percentage at home.
RHP Jeremi Gonzalez reached the Devil Rays' clubhouse about 90 minutes before Friday night's game after spending four days in his native Venezuela with his wife, Maria, who had complications from recent abdominal surgery. "It was good to see my two daughters, too," Gonzalez said. He will start Sunday.