Athletics 9, Expos 1

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Tim Hudson wore an Incredible Hulk T-shirt a funny sight on the 6-foot-1, 164-pound pitcher.

He's one of Oakland's smallest players, though he had to be feeling a little bigger after his latest outing.

Hudson pitched seven strong innings for the win and got the run support he needed to avoid another no-decision as the Oakland Athletics completed a three-game sweep of Montreal, 9-1 on Sunday.

Hudson (5-2) entered his 15th start of the year with eight no-decisions, and he hadn't won since May 20, a span of four starts. He gave up six hits and one run, struck out five and walked one in his first career appearance against Montreal.

``I think I've pitched as well as I ever have,'' Hudson said. ``The win-loss record isn't there. That's one stat that's the furthest from the truth in the way a pitcher's pitching.''

Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer and Ramon Hernandez hit a go-ahead two-run shot for the A's, who won three straight for the first time since May 3-6 and ended a string of three straight series losses. Oakland last won a series when it took three of four in Kansas City two weeks ago.

``The road trip was a little rough,'' manager Ken Macha said. ``But we made a nice recovery and had a good weekend.''

Byrnes, who had a 22-game hitting streak earlier in the season, extended his current string to 10 with a third-inning single, then homered four innings later. He hit a 3-2 pitch to left for his third homer in three days and eighth of the year. Byrnes had six career homers coming into the season.

After Byrnes' homer in the seventh, Scott Hatteberg doubled and Erubiel Durazo and Eric Chavez each hit run-scoring singles. The A's batted through the order and scored five times in the inning.

Hernandez drove an 0-1 pitch from Javier Vazquez (6-4) over the center-field wall in the fourth for his ninth homer of the season and second of the series. On Friday, he homered and matched a career high with four RBIs.

The Expos are nearing the end of their 22-game, six-city trip. They play three games at Pittsburgh starting Tuesday, then return to Montreal for six games before going away again.

They stranded a season-high 13 baserunners in a 5-4 loss Saturday and were 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position. They left six more on base Sunday.

The Expos loaded the bases against Hudson with two outs in the third, but Hudson got Brad Wilkerson to ground out and escaped the jam.

``Sometimes you have to come through in tough situations,'' manager Frank Robinson said. ``We're not doing the job in clutch situations offensively.''

Endy Chavez, with two singles, was the only Montreal player with more than one hit. He scored the team's only run in the first on Jose Vidro's RBI groundout.

Vazquez, who had won three of his last four decisions, was tagged for five runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out five and walked four.

Oakland added two runs in the ninth when Anthony Ferrari walked in a run and allowed another to score on a wild pitch.

After Hudson's win, he threw his golf clubs on his shoulder and headed out, excited about the team's off-day charity golf tournament, an annual A's event.

``I'm going to rip it up,'' he said with a smile.< ^Notes:@ It was the A's first sweep since April 25-27 against Cleveland. ... Montreal hadn't been swept in interleague play since July 16-18, 2000, against Boston at Fenway Park. ... Hudson has gone seven or more innings in 11 of his 15 starts.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)