Milone gets cold reception after first complete game

BOX SCORE

OAKLAND -- This was to be a story of Yoenis Cespedes, and his triumphant return from a left hamstring strain after missing nine games. Cespedes was good But Tommy Milone was simply better. The crafty lefty dispatched the Dodgers with ease en route to his seventh win -- and first career complete game -- as the A's won 4-1. Milone's nine-inning performance was the first by an A's pitcher this season, and it came against the team with the best record in baseball. All he got for his efforts was a cold shower. "Dallas Braden hit me with a bucket of ice water," Milone said. "Luckily it was water and not Gatorade, I would have been all sticky."Milone allowed just three hits. His earned run came on a Juan Uribe double to right field that Josh Reddick actually caught in a head-first dive, before rolling over and accidentally flinging the ball. The play was ruled a hit. "He was really effective," manager Bob Melvin said. "Really, the only run they get wasn't a hard hit ball." Milone is now 5-1 with a 0.99 ERA in six starts at home, compared to 2-4 with a 7.42 ERA on the road. OK, now we can talk about Cespedes. In his first career start as a designated hitter he looked comfortable at the plate. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The two outs he did make were a near miss single to center, and a long fly ball to left field that most people in the building thought was a home run -- including Cespedes himself. When I asked him about the near-miss homer in the eighth inning, he cracked a guilty smile. "I knew I didn't hit the ball well, but the way the ball was going I presumed the ball was gone," he said through interpreter Ariel Prieto. Cespedes declared his strained left hamstring 80 percent healthy, and only wants to play in the outfield when he feels 100 percent. For the time being, the A's will surely be happy just to have him in the lineup."Boy, he is on it," Melvin said. "It was pretty impressive to see a guy that's been out in the fashion that he had been, coming in as the DH, having to think about his injuries a little bit, and to put together four at-bats like that was good to see." Speaking of players the A's are happy to have in the lineup -- Brandon Moss hit a screaming blast into the right field bleachers on a 1-1 pitch from Scott Elbert in the eighth. It was Moss' seventh home run in just 13 games with the A's. It was even more impressive because it came off a lefty. While the A's got their five-tool outfielder back from a hamstring injury, the Dodgers weren't so lucky. Matt Kemp remains out for the Dodgers with a hamstring issue of his own. Entering Wednesday, both Cespedes and Kemp had missed 32 games this season.The A's will go for the series sweep in a day game on Thursday, against reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.