A Day of Double Meaning

Held to four singles in the first game, the Oakland Athletics turned on the power against the Baltimore Orioles’ most effective starter.

Oakland hit three solo home runs to back right-hander Gil Heredia in a 4-0 victory Wednesday night to earn a doubleheader split.

In the day game, Brook Fordyce hit a two-run homer and Chuck McElroy pitched five strong innings in his first career start as the Orioles won, 2-0.

The split cost the A’s some ground in their bid to make the playoffs for the first time since 1992. Oakland fell three games behind Seattle in the AL West and a half-game behind Cleveland in the wild-card race. The Mariners beat Tampa Bay; the Indians swept a doubleheader in Boston.

Eric Chavez homered off Jose Mercedes (12-7) in the second inning of the nightcap, his 25th of the season and third in four games, to make it 1-0. Miguel Tejada hit an RBI single in the third, and Oakland went up 3-0 in the fourth on a solo shot by Jeremy Giambi.

Matt Stairs hit his 21st home run in the fifth off Mercedes, who is tied with New York’s Andy Pettitte for most wins in the AL since the All-Star break (nine).

Heredia (15-11) allowed seven hits in 7 2/3 innings.

The first game was a makeup of Tuesday’s nightcap, which was postponed by the commissioner’s office because the rain-delayed first game ended at 10:36 p.m. EDT. The A’s protested the postponement, to no avail.

Wednesday’s makeup game was played in front of approximately 2,000 fans (announced attendance was 32,539).

“This was a morgue,” Oakland Manager Art Howe said of the setting. “It was an embarrassment for major league baseball, but not an excuse for us.”