Athletics 9, Expos 1

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer and Tim Hudson pitched seven strong innings as the Oakland Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the Montreal Expos, 9-1 on Sunday.

Ramon Hernandez also homered as the A's won three straight for the first time since May 3-6. Oakland had lost its last three series.

Byrnes, who had a 22-game hitting streak earlier in the season, extended his current string to 10 games with a third-inning single, then homered four innings later. He hit a 3-2 pitch to left for his third homer in as many 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 had 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 home run 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 stretch away from Montreal. They play a three-game series at Pittsburgh starting Tuesday, then return to Montreal for six games before hitting the road again.

The Expos loaded the bases against Hudson (5-2) with two outs in the third, but Hudson got Brad Wilkerson to ground out and escaped the jam.

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

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 scored twice in the ninth when Anthony Ferrari walked in a run and allowed another to score on a wild pitch.< ^Notes:@ It was the A's first sweep since April 25-27 against Cleveland. ... Hudson has gone seven or more innings in 11 of his 15 starts. ... Hernandez's first five homers of the year were solo shots, but the last four have come with runners aboard. Last year, six of his seven were solo homers. ... A man named David Flagg performed the anthems for the U.S. and Canada. On Father's Day, Flagg dedicated his performances to his father, a prisoner of war during World War II.

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