The Athletics gave closer Grant Balfour a breather and rolled with reliever Ryan Cook in the final inning of Sunday's contest against the Royals.Cook worked his way around back-to-back singles as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure his first save of the season. His ERA went down to 1.74 after a 4-3 win.

Athletics closer Grant Balfour stayed perfect in save opportunites by recording his eighth save Saturday against the Royals, walking one batter in a scoreless inning. His ERA dropped to 1.56 in 17 1/3 innings this season.

Athletics closer Grant Balfour entered Friday's contest against the Royals in the ninth inning with a one-run lead.Balfour needed just 16 pitches as he struck out one and retired the side in order to secure a 2-1 victory. He has a 1.65 ERA and has converted all seven of his save opportunities.

Athletics closer Grant Balfour notched his sixth save Saturday against the Mariners. Balfour came on with a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning and was able to keep Seattle off the scoreboard. He did issue a walk and single in the inning but recorded a pair of strikeouts before getting Kyle Seager to ground out to second base to end ...

NEW YORK — Grant Balfour was angry.He had just given up a broken-bat single to Brett Gardner and thrown a wild pitch to Robinson Cano, moving the potential tying run to second base with two outs in the ninth inning.Oakland manager Bob Melvin called for an intentional walk."I don't make the decisions. He felt that that was the decision to ...