Williams snags piece of history as Phils blank A's

Oakland, CA -- Jerome Williams worked seven scoreless innings and Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer, as Philadelphia shut down Oakland, 3-0, in the middle test of a three-game series.

Chase Utley and Cody Asche each doubled and scored for the Phillies, who dropped a 3-1 decision in Friday's opener.

Williams (4-2) allowed four hits and one walk while fanning three over his 93- pitch effort. Antonio Bastardo and Ken Giles worked an inning apiece to finish off the four-hit shutout.

Williams grabbed a piece of baseball history with the victory, becoming the first pitcher to beat one team while with three different clubs in the same season. He earned a win over Oakland on April 26 as a reliever for Houston. He also pitched six solid innings as a starter for Texas to win July 25.

"That is crazy," Williams said. "For one, you would never think that you would face the same team that much."

Dan Otero (8-2) served up the go-ahead blast for the Athletics, who have lost four of their last five. Drew Pomeranz was lifted after five full frames despite giving up just one hit and a pair of walks with six strikeouts.

Oakland, which has also lost seven of 10, is now locked into a battle over the AL wild card with Kansas City and Seattle, both a half-game back of the first berth.

"I think you can sit here and talk all day long about the things we haven't been doing well," said A's catcher Derek Norris, "But one thing that we do well is, when we think we've hit rock bottom, we've come back with a vengeance. We control our own destiny."

Galvis finally snapped a scoreless deadlock with two away in the seventh, driving a pitch over the wall in right center for a 2-0 Phillies edge. Asche also scored, aboard thanks to a one-out double.

"He's got surprising power for such a little guy," said Phils manager Ryne Sandberg of Galvis.

Utley's double with one out in the eighth off Fernando Abad turned into Philly's third run of the contest after a bloop single from Marlon Byrd against Ryan Cooke dropped into short right field.

Bastardo stranded a runner at second in a scoreless eighth. Though the visitors failed to increase their lead with two on in the top of the ninth, Giles retired the side in order to record his first career  save.

Notes: Saturday's shutout was the third spun by the Phillies pitching staff against the A's in 14 interleague meetings. Philly won, 4-0, in Oakland on June 25, 2008, then claimed a 1-0 victory in the Quaker City on June 24, 2011 ... The Phillies upped their record to 7-12 in interleague play this season ... Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp has gone 390 straight at-bats without hitting into a double play, matching Reggie Jackson's franchise record set from Aug. 27, 1974 to July 5, 1975.