OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Art Howe knew the Chicago White Sox probably weren't throwing at Miguel Tejada. The Oakland manager also knew he'd probably get ejected if the Athletics responded.

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Still, Howe was glad Jim Mecir sent a message.

"If you can't pitch inside, don't try,'' Howe said.

Mark Ellis hit a three-run homer and Tejada drove in his 100th run of the season as the A's beat the White Sox 9-2 Saturday for their fourth straight victory.

Oakland had a comfortable victory in hand by the time reliever Damaso Marte hit Tejada on the elbow in the eighth inning. In the third, Jon Garland's 1-2 pitch accidentally glanced off Tejada's batting helmet.

Sure, Chicago probably wasn't going after the A's All-Star
shortstop, who drove in two runs with a single and an RBI
groundout. But Mecir still plunked Chicago shortstop Royce Clayton
on the leg with two outs in the ninth, leading to ejections for
Mecir and Howe.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask them,'' Howe responded when asked if the White Sox were throwing at Tejada. "Miggy's been getting hit quite a bit lately. It's got to stop.''

Tejada moved past Chicago's Magglio Ordonez, who has 99 RBI this season, for second place in the AL behind Alex Rodriguez. It's the third straight 100-RBI season for Tejada, who's generating talk as a dark-horse MVP candidate.

"I don't think they're scared of me or something,'' Tejada
said. "I don't think they tried to hit me. I don't show off or do
anything stupid.''

After Marte hit Tejada, home plate umpire Rob Drake warned both
benches -- but Howe didn't see the warning. Even the White Sox
couldn't argue with the A's response.

"We weren't trying to hit anybody, but at the same time, it's
just baseball,'' Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. "They had to
do what they had to do to protect their guys.''

"I wouldn't respect them if they didn't take care of it,'' Clayton said. "Hopefully, it's over and done with. They were just taking care of their players. That's the way baseball should be.''

Before the fun began, Mark Mulder (14-7) pitched eight innings of five-hit ball for his third victory in four starts. He got a wealth of run support from the A's, who pounded Garland (8-9) and reliever Rocky Biddle for eight runs in the first four innings.

David Justice had a two-run single during Oakland's five-run
third inning, which was capped by Ellis' homer off Garland. Ellis
got the chance for his fifth homer of the season only because
Ordonez was given an error when he dropped Ellis' liner in foul
territory earlier in the at-bat.

Justice added a solo homer in the seventh for his 1,000th career RBI.

The A's are winning regularly, but they haven't been able to gain any ground on Anaheim in the AL wild card race. The A's passed Boston for second place in the race on Friday night -- and with Seattle's loss to the Yankees Saturday, Oakland pulled within two games of the Mariners.

Garland, who's winless in six straight starts, didn't survive the third inning. He allowed six hits and three earned runs in his shortest outing of the season as the White Sox lost their third straight -- and eighth in a row at the Coliseum.

"I'm not happy at all,'' Garland said. "Of course, I'm never happy when I'm taken out of a game. I battled hard, and (Manuel) takes me out.''

The A's beat the White Sox 1-0 on Friday night on Jermaine Dye's
homer and seven strong innings by Cory Lidle. Mulder wasn't as
sharp as Lidle, but he stayed out of trouble against the team he
supported while growing up in the Chicago suburbs.

Mulder had his worst start of the season last Sunday against the Yankees, allowing eight runs and 11 hits. He struck out four against Chicago, retiring his first seven batters and 10 of his final 12.

"I'd make a few good pitches, and then miss a few,'' said Mulder, who won 21 games in 2001 but spent a month on the disabled list this summer. "I started getting a rhythm in the fifth inning. It's something I've been dealing with the past two or three weeks.''

Chicago got its two runs in the fourth. Carlos Lee scored from
third base when Dye made a diving catch on Paul Konerko's fly, but
Ordonez scored when Dye dropped Frank Thomas' fly for an error on a
much less difficult play.

Game notes
Justice drove in two runs, but he also left five runners
stranded. ... The A's got a larger-than-expected crowd of 40,658 at
the Coliseum on Kids' Day. ... Oakland scored two runs in the
fourth without a hit. Biddle walked three batters, hit Ray Durham
and allowed Tejada to score on a wild pitch.