CLEVELAND -- When a team filled with strikeout pitchers faces a team with hitters that strike out a lot, the result is what occurred Tuesday night at Progressive Field. Lots of swinging and missing.

Trevor Bauer struck out a career-high 14, the most by an American League pitcher this season, and rookie Bradley Zimmer had a double, a home run and a career-high four RBIs as the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics 9-4.

Bauer (5-4) pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk. He and three relievers combined for 19 strikeouts, tying the franchise record for most whiffs in a nine-inning game.

Bauer, who threw 113 pitches, got stronger as the game progressed. He struck out the side in four of the seven innings he pitched, and he fanned 10 of the last 12 batters he faced.

"He was raring back and letting it go," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "He was being really aggressive, but he wasn't just throwing. He was pitching. That was impressive."

Indians pitchers are third in the league in strikeouts, while Oakland hitters have struck out the fourth-most times in the league.

A's manager Bob Melvin, who watched his team strike out 12 times in a 5-3 loss to the Indians on Monday, and 29 times in two days, could only shrug.

"They've got strikeout guys, and we do strike out some," Melvin said. "But recently we've been striking out too much. When we don't put the ball in play, we don't give ourselves a chance."

In one stretch, from the fifth through the seventh innings, the A's put only one ball in play.

"I like my strikeouts," Bauer said. "Half the balls they put in play were hits, so I decided after the fourth I just wasn't going to let them hit the ball anymore."

Melvin said, "We can't have strikeouts up and down our lineup."

The first four hitters in the Oakland lineup were a combined 3-for-18 with 13 strikeouts.

Oakland starter Sonny Gray (2-2) pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Jason Kipnis also homered, and Jose Ramirez had his third consecutive three-hit game for Cleveland. The Indians (27-23) won their third game in a row. The A's (22-29) have lost four straight.

Trailing 7-3, the A's scored an unearned run in the eighth inning off Bryan Shaw when third baseman Ramirez booted a ground ball for an error.

Zimmer's home run was a two-run blast off reliever Frankie Montas in the eighth inning.

Leading 1-0, Oakland boosted the margin to 3-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Ryon Healy and a sacrifice fly by Matt Joyce.

Gray held Cleveland scoreless on two hits through the first three innings. however, in Gray's second trip through the order, Indians hitters did some damage. In the fourth inning, they scored four runs on four hits, the big blow being a two-run double by Zimmer that gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead.

The Indians continued to flex their muscles in the fifth inning, scoring three more times in a rally that began with Kipnis' sixth home run over the center field wall.

The last run of the rally scored on a wild pitch by Gray as the Indians' lead grew to 7-3.

That was when Bauer started to strike out almost everyone -- nine of the 10 hitters he faced in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

"When we got the lead, Trevor put his foot on the gas," Francona said.

Melvin said, "He was a different guy after they got the lead. He was re-invigorated. His velocity got better and his breaking ball got better."

Everything got better for Bauer and worse for the A's.

"He was throwing everything for strikes. I was confident in every pitch I called," Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez said.

NOTES: Indians RHP Danny Salazar, recently moved from the rotation to the bullpen, will be available to pitch in relief for the first time Wednesday. ... Indians 3B Jose Ramirez's .376 batting average at Progressive Field is the highest home mark in the American League. ... The A's hit 74 home runs in their first 50 games, matching the franchise record for most home runs in the first 50 games of the season. The 2000 A's also hit 74 homers in the first 50 games. ... Oakland leadoff hitters are hitting .161, the lowest mark in the majors. ... LHP Sean Manaea, who will start Wednesday for the A's, has a streak of 14 consecutive games allowing five hits or fewer with two or more innings pitched. That is the longest such streak by an American League pitcher since at least 1913.