OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Casey Blake 's home run in the top of the 12th inning lifted the Cleveland Indians to a 4-3 victory over the slumping Oakland Athletics , who have lost five in a row.

After Ronnie Belliard struck out looking to start the 12th, Blake slugged an 0-1 offering from reliever Justin Duchscherer (5-6) into the first row of the left field seats to give Cleveland the lead for good. The blast was Blake's 26th of the season, tying him with Travis Hafner for the team lead.

"It was just a curveball," Blake said. "I had it in the back of my mind he likes to throw it and it was a pretty good pitch. I just happened to reach out and got the barrel on it and it went out. (I was) pretty lucky."

"Casey clutched up for us big tonight," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I have to tip my cap to our guys because they keep going no matter what the situation is."

Coco Crisp and Omar Vizquel had back-to-back doubles in the third inning to open the scoring and Ryan Ludwick added a solo homer in the fifth to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

"To get the win in a long game like this is really satisfying," Crisp said. "It was a pitchers duel early on and we managed to hit a couple of mistakes. It's pretty satisfying to win one like this."

Eric Chavez answered for Oakland with a two-run blast in the sixth and Damian Miller added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to give the Athletics a 3-2 edge. But Crisp hit the first pitch of the eighth inning by Oakland starter Mark Mulder over the left field wall to even the game.

Cleveland starter Scott Elarton allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings and was relieved by Matt Miller , who worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end the sixth. Cliff Bartosh , Bobby Howry, Rafael Betancourt and Dave Riske each followed with a scoreless inning of relief.

"We literally used everyone in the bullpen tonight and they all came up big," Wedge said. "We made it hard on ourselves early, but the bullpen and defense overall were outstanding."

Rick White (5-5) loaded the bases in the 11th before escaping unscathed. Bob Wickman pitched a perfect 12th to notch his eighth save.

"The offense kept battling for us tonight," Wickman said. "We weren't going to give any at-bats away. We always continue to play hard until the twenty seventh out. It feels good to win a close game like this."

With the loss, Oakland saw its lead in the American League West Division shrink to one game over Anaheim, which edged the Chicago White Sox .

"We need to come out tomorrow with some fire," Swisher said. "I'm just happy to be getting the opportunity to play and contribute right now."