Athletics’ Brooks earns 1st victory in major leagues

Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif.

Aaron Brooks was far more pleased with the ovation he received in his Oakland debut than how he was received in his first career start with Kansas City more than 14 months ago.

Back then, Brooks was cheered by the Toronto crowd when he got knocked out of the game in the first inning after giving up seven runs to the Blue Jays.

This time, the 25-year-old drew a standing ovation from the Athletics crowd after earning his first win the majors.

Marcus Semien homered to back Brooks and the A’s beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on Saturday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

“I tried to stay focused on the task and it worked out,” Brooks said. “I’d like to think guys can’t sit on too many pitches when I’m throwing them all for strikes. It really worked out tonight.”

Pitching in front of a crowd of 19,046 that included his parents and grandparents, Brooks (1-0) was stellar while allowing one run and five hits over seven-plus innings. The right-hander, who joined Oakland as part of the June 28 trade that sent Ben Zobrist to Kansas City, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in his first start since May 31, 2014.

Lonnie Chisenhall homered off Brooks in the fifth for the Indians’ lone run.

“[Brooks] had good stuff, keeping the ball down,” Chisenhall said. “His slider was coming in hard. He did a good job and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Cleveland had won three straight but struggled offensively.

The Indians also hurt themselves defensively when the A’s scored twice in the fifth on a throwing error by Cleveland first baseman Carlos Santana.

Anderson gave up four runs in 6 2/3 innings. He’s allowed 14 earned runs over his last three starts after giving up only three in his first four outings.