SEATTLE -- Well, that was more like it.Oakland right-hander Sonny Gray didn't allow an earned run in 7 2/3 innings, Brandon Moss hit his team-leading 21st home run of the season, and the A's avoided a three-game sweep in their last series before the All-Star break with a 4-1 win over the Mariners on Sunday at Safeco Field.Even Nick Punto, who entered Sunday 4-for-42 over his previous 15 games, added a solo home run in the ninth to give the A's some extra insurance. 
But the afternoon belonged to Gray (10-3). The 24-year-old Tennessean struck out five, walked two and allowed six hits en route to his fourth win in his last five starts while improving to 7-1 this season against the American League West.At 59-36, the A's enter the All-Star break with the best record in the Major Leagues. This is the second year in a row the club enters the break in first place in the AL West.On Sunday, the offense snapped out of a two-day lull that was the product of injuries and of facing the Mariners' 1-2 punch of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma.After combining to score four runs off Hernandez and Iwakuma the past two days, Oakland finally broke through -- even though regulars Derek Norris (rest), Coco Crisp (sore neck), Josh Reddick (strained right knee) and Alberto Callaspo (strained right hamstring) were out of the starting lineup.The A's had just one hit -- an Andy Parrino double -- off Mariners starter Chris Young through four innings, but they used a pair of RBI singles from Craig Gentry and John Jaso in the fifth to grab a 2-1 lead. Then, with one out in the sixth, Moss launched a towering solo home run into Safeco Field's right-field seats to give Oakland the 3-1 advantage.Gray's only blemish came on an unearned run in the first inning after an errant pickoff attempt went wide of first base and into right field, allowing James Jones to advance all the way to third base. Robinson Cano followed with a dribbler back to the mound that allowed Jones to score.That was all Seattle would get, as closer Sean Doolittle recorded the final four outs for his 14th save of the season.Adam Lewis / MLB.com
But the afternoon belonged to Gray (10-3). The 24-year-old Tennessean struck out five, walked two and allowed six hits en route to his fourth win in his last five starts while improving to 7-1 this season against the American League West.At 59-36, the A's enter the All-Star break with the best record in the Major Leagues. This is the second year in a row the club enters the break in first place in the AL West.On Sunday, the offense snapped out of a two-day lull that was the product of injuries and of facing the Mariners' 1-2 punch of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma.After combining to score four runs off Hernandez and Iwakuma the past two days, Oakland finally broke through -- even though regulars Derek Norris (rest), Coco Crisp (sore neck), Josh Reddick (strained right knee) and Alberto Callaspo (strained right hamstring) were out of the starting lineup.The A's had just one hit -- an Andy Parrino double -- off Mariners starter Chris Young through four innings, but they used a pair of RBI singles from Craig Gentry and John Jaso in the fifth to grab a 2-1 lead. Then, with one out in the sixth, Moss launched a towering solo home run into Safeco Field's right-field seats to give Oakland the 3-1 advantage.Gray's only blemish came on an unearned run in the first inning after an errant pickoff attempt went wide of first base and into right field, allowing James Jones to advance all the way to third base. Robinson Cano followed with a dribbler back to the mound that allowed Jones to score.That was all Seattle would get, as closer Sean Doolittle recorded the final four outs for his 14th save of the season.Adam Lewis / MLB.com
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