OAKLAND, Calif. – Brian Tallet yielded two hits over seven strong innings, Lyle Overbay homered and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided their first three-game skid of the season with a 6-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

Adam Lind had two run-scoring hits for the Blue Jays, whose powerful offense shook a two-game slump with 15 hits in the AL East co-leaders’ ninth victory in their last 11 meetings with the A’s.

Jason Giambi homered twice for Oakland, which managed just one hit off Tallet until the seventh. Newcomer Adam Kennedy had an RBI single in the ninth after Giambi’s two-run homer off Scott Downs, but Landon Powell flied out with the bases loaded to end it.

Tallet (2-1) struck out seven in his fifth outing as an injury replacement in Toronto’s rotation. The 31-year-old reliever had made just six career starts before this season.

Overbay drove in three runs with a second-inning solo homer, a sacrifice fly and an RBI double for the Blue Jays, who pounded fill-in starter Sean Gallagher (1-1) for 10 hits and four runs in the first five innings.

The A’s have lost six of nine despite winning their previous two during a nine-game homestand. Oakland hasn’t won three straight all season.

Giambi entered the game batting .202 in his so-far unimpressive return to the A’s after seven seasons with the Yankees, but he led off the seventh with a drive to right in his 38th career multihomer game.

After Giambi’s ninth-inning shot, Bobby Crosby drew a two-out walk from Downs to load the bases for Kennedy, who was acquired from Tampa Bay one day earlier in a trade. Kennedy’s single to right thrilled the small Coliseum crowd, but Powell finished an 0-for-4 day with an easy fly down the right-field line.

A’s manager Bob Geren was ejected by plate umpire Paul Nauert in the seventh inning after Matt Holliday argued about a called third strike. Both teams apparently had issues with Nauert’s strike zone.

Tallet made his first start since 2006 against the A’s on April 18, pitching well into the sixth inning of a no-decision. He got his first win as a starter since 2002 a few days later, and he took a no-hitter into the seventh against AL-worst Cleveland last Monday.

Notes: Kennedy played second base and batted eighth for Oakland. The 10-year major league veteran, who was in the minors before the trade, went 1-for-4 and made a spectacular leaping catch of Alex Rios’ line drive in the seventh. … Oakland RF Jack Cust threw out Travis Snider at the plate in the sixth when Snider attempted to score on Marco Scutaro’s fly. Cust got just the second assist of his career from right field. … Geren has been ejected four times since taking over the A’s in 2007. It was the first ejection for any Oakland player or coach all season.

AP-ES-05-09-09 1858EDT

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