A's fall to Blue Jays, 6-5

The Associated Press

E-Mail

reprint or license

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

OAKLAND -- Aaron Hill doesn't consider himself one of the American League's top power hitters even though he's near the top of the home run list.

Hill's 25th homer -- a three-run shot-- was the key blow in the Toronto Blue Jays' 6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.

Hill now trails only Justin Morneau (27), Mark Teixeira (26) and Carlos Pena (26) among the leading home run hitters in the league.

"Don't put me in that category," the Blue Jays All-Star second baseman said. "Those guys are proven home run hitters. I'm just lucky. I keep trying to hit line drives and sometimes they go out of the ballpark."

Hill had four RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the second and a go-ahead homer in the fourth, to provide the bulk of the Blue Jays offense.

"I can't say enough about him," manager Cito Gaston said. "I still think he can get better, believe it or not. There are some things I'd like to see him do. I'd like to see him sit on his pitch and not go after every pitch when he's up there."

While Hill provided the offense, rookie left-hander Brett Cecil picked up the victory with six good innings and one bad one. Cecil (5-1) gave up four runs in the second, but nothing else. He retired 15 consecutive hitters after Adam Kennedy's three-run double in the second gave the A's a brief 4-3 lead.

Hill said he simply stopped throwing so many fastballs.

"They were sitting on the fastball," Cecil said. "In the third inning, I didn't throw one fastball the whole time... After (the second) I felt like a different pitcher."

The game matched a couple of rookie pitchers headed in opposite directions. Cecil, who was just drafted in 2007, came into the game having allowed only one run in his previous 20 innings. A's right-hander Trevor Cahill, who was impressive enough in the spring to win a rotation spot at age 21, had a 7.98 ERA over his previous seven starts.

Both pitchers were shaky early, but Cecil righted himself and Cahill (6-10) didn't.

"Just the fact that when I get behind guys, they're able to look for a pitch," Cahill said. "(When I) try to bring a fastball, they're looking for it, and that usually leads to more home runs. Overbay was ahead 3-1 and he was just looking for a fastball."

The loss disappointed a sellout crowd of 35,067 on Rickey Henderson Night. The A's retired the No. 24 for the recently inducted Hall of Famer.

During a ceremony before the game, Henderson walked along a red carpet from center field to second, where he picked up a gold base and held it over his head.

Henderson, who grew up in Oakland, repeated a line he used in Cooperstown, saying he was "very very humbled."

Notes: A's 1B Jason Giambi, who is on the disabled list with a strained right quad, is back with the team and said he'll be ready to be activated when he's eligible on Tuesday. "I feel great," said Giambi, who was rehabbing at his home in Las Vegas.