Sexson Impresses the Home Crowd

CLEVELAND —  Rookie Richie Sexson got his first big-league curtain call Sunday.

Cleveland’s 279th-consecutive sellout crowd stood and cheered the first baseman after he hit his first grand slam to power the Indians past Oakland, 9-4.

“That was great, it gave me chills,” said Sexson, batting .413 since replacing the injured Jim Thome. “I’ve seen other people get cheered like that on TV and felt chills. I didn’t exactly know what to do. Kenny Lofton told me to get out there and tip my hat.”

Sexson hit a 1-and-1 pitch from reliever Tim Worrell into the left-field seats in the seventh inning for his third homer in two days and fifth this season. The grand slam helped the Indians beat the Athletics for the first time in 10 games.

Sexson is 31 for 75 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 19 games since replacing Thome, who broke his right hand on Aug. 7.

Charles Nagy (12-9) had a season-high 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Mike Jackson pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 34th save.