OAKLAND, Calif. -AP- Josh Reddick and Ike Davis quickly helped the Oakland Athletics put a difficult weekend behind them.
Reddick and Davis hit two-run homers in the first inning to back seven scoreless innings from Kendall Graveman, and the A's snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Colorado Rockies 7-1 on Monday night.
"That was really big," Graveman said. "It set the tone for the whole game."
Billy Butler also homered off David Hale (2-3) and scored three runs as power-starved Oakland matched its season high for homers. The power barrage helped the A's bounce back after getting swept in a three-game series by Kansas City to open a 10-game homestand.
 
Reddick, Davis, Butler homer for A's in 7-1 win over Rockies
 
"It was a good day for the team offensively," Davis said. "A couple of the guys that haven't really done much in the last couple weeks to help out, that's good."
Graveman (5-4) was the beneficiary of the big night from the bats, shutting down Nolan Arenado and the Rockies for his latest strong start since returning from the minors.
Arenado had one single but was unable to go deep after hitting eight home runs in his past seven games, including four in a weekend series across the bay in San Francisco.
Charlie Blackmon hit a solo homer off Evan Scribner for Colorado's only offense. The Rockies have lost 14 straight road interleague games, one shy of the record set by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Graveman was sent down to the minors after a rough opening month when he went 1-2 with an 8.27 ERA in his first four starts with Oakland. But he has been a completely different pitcher since being brought back up last month, using an effective sinker to become an effective part of the rotation.
Graveman allowed five hits and three walks with three strikeouts to improve to 4-2 with a 2.01 ERA in eight starts since coming back from the minors.
"He seems to have gone down there and figured it out pretty quick," Reddick said. "He's transitioned that pretty well up here."
Reddick got the A's started when he hit a no-doubt, line-drive homer into the right-field seats with two outs in the first. Carlos Gonzalez never flinched in right field as the ball sailed over his head.
Butler followed with a single before Davis launched a high drive into the right-field stands to make it 4-0 with his third homer of the season.
"They came out swinging," Hale said. "I guess I left a few over the plate or something."
Hale fell to 0-3 with a 7.54 ERA in his past four starts.
 

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