MLB: A's, Giants post wins

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MILWAUKEE (AP) - It's all still kind of a blur to Brandon Crawford.

As he wiped the remnants of a shaving-cream pie from his face and uniform, he wasn't even sure which of his prankster teammates got him.

Welcome to the big leagues, kid - and how!

Crawford hit a go-ahead grand slam in his first major league game, helping Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Friday night.

"It was all unreal," Crawford said, recalling how he felt as he rounded the bases. "Awesome. I mean, I still kind of have the jitters about it."

Lincecum (5-4) gave up three runs in seven innings. The Giants won despite the ejection of manager Bruce Bochy, who argued a close play at home plate in the fifth inning.

Bochy admitted he might have lost his temper in part because it has been such a frustrating week for the Giants.

"I'll be honest, I couldn't really tell if he had the call right," Bochy said. "But there's frustration building up, with everybody."

With the Brewers trying to rally in the eighth, Giants catcher Eli Whiteside absorbed a big hit from Prince Fielder. It was reminiscent of the play that caused a serious injury to Giants catcher Buster Posey earlier this week, but Whiteside held on to end the inning and preserve the lead.

"You don't have any choice but to try to knock the ball loose," Fielder said. "But they made a great play."


Athletics 6, Orioles 2

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Ryan Sweeney hit a tiebreaking single as part of a three-run sixth inning and the Oakland Athletics held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 on Friday night.

Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs for the A's, who won despite manager Bob Geren's first ejection of the season.

Sweeney also doubled and scored twice while Oakland matched its season high with four double plays.

Vladimir Guerrero singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for Baltimore, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

Brad Ziegler (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win while Joey Devine and Michael Wuertz pitched an inning apiece to complete the six-hitter.

The A's had lost seven of nine since moving into a tie for first in the AL West on May 17, primarily due to an offense that is last in the American League in runs scored.

That wasn't an issue against Baltimore. Oakland put runners on base in every inning, batted around during the sixth and reached double digits in hits for a second consecutive game. Every starter had at least one hit and five different players drove in runs.

It was the perfect start to the A's six-game homestand against the Orioles and Yankees following a tumultuous four-game series in Los Angeles when reliever Brian Fuentes publicly criticized Geren for a lack of communication. Former Oakland reliever Huston Street also was critical of Geren in published reports this week.

Geren wasn't around to see the end of this one.

The Oakland manager was ejected by home plate umpire Angel Campos after removing starter Gio Gonzalez in the top of the sixth.

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