CLEVELAND — And in the seventh game, the Oakland Raiders remained winless.

The Cleveland Browns found their offense and a finishing kick in the fourth quarter Sunday to earn a 23-13 victory over the Raiders.

Oakland (0-7) fell to 0-3 under interim head coach Tony Sparano while losing its 13th game in a row dating to 2013.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andrew Hawkins early in the fourth quarter to propel the Browns (4-3). Hoyer faced questions about his job security this week after a loss against the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 19.

The Browns began to pull away late in the third quarter.

A jarring tackle by strong safety Donte Whiter on Raiders running back Darren McFadden knocked the ball free and into the hands of Joe Haden. The cornerback returned it 34 yards.

On the next play, Hoyer connected with Hawkins for 32 yards to the Oakland 21. Hoyer hit Hawkins for the score three plays later with 14:17 left for a 16-6 lead.

“The defense did a great job keeping us in it all day,” Hoyer said. “No one cares who gets the credit for a win. We just want to win games. We finally got a touchdown off of one of their turnovers.”

Hoyer completed 19 of 28 passes for 275 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. It is his fifth game without throwing a pick this season.

“We knew against a team like this, we were going to have to be patient,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said. “He made the plays when we needed to make them.”

The Raiders played hard for the third consecutive game under Sparano but once again fell short. They outgained the Browns 387 yards to 306 and dominated time of possession, 34:52 to 25:08.

“It’s definitely frustrating, but all we can do is look forward,” said tight end Mychal Rivera, who made seven catches for 83 yards. “We have to look at the film and figure it out. Obviously, we haven’t figured it out yet.”

The Browns’ running game sputtered for the second game in a row without injured center Alex Mack, producing just 39 yards on 25 carries. Cleveland’s lone highlight on the ground was a 5-yard scoring run by running back Ben Tate after linebacker Barkevious Mingo recovered a fumble by Raiders quarterback Derek Carr inside the Oakland 10. The fourth-quarter touchdown put Cleveland ahead 23-6 with 2:26 remaining.

“We just made it a point to stop the run,” Raiders defensive end Antonio Smith said. “With that zone running, it’s side-to-side cutback type of style. You’ve got to penetrate one side and on the other side don’t get cut.”

What the Browns said:

“We didn’t abandon our game plan. That was the biggest thing. They were taking the run away and we didn’t panic. We hit some play-action passes and those were big plays for us.” — Quarterback Brian Hoyer

What the Raiders said:

“The kid made a nice play and put his helmet on the football. This keeps happening each week.” — Head coach Tony Sparano on the key hit by Donte Whitner that forced Darren McFadden to fumble.

What we learned about the Browns:

1. The Browns offensive line got another makeover when Nick McDonald started at center and John Greco moved back to right guard for their game against the Raiders one week after Greco started at center and Paul McQuistan at right guard. The Browns are counting on McDonald to adequately replace injured Pro Bowl center Alex Mack.

2. The Browns can win without a potent running game, but they need takeaways by the defense to do it. The Browns were held to 39 yards on the ground on 25 carries, yet scored 17 points on takeaways. One touchdown was scored on a five-yard run by Ben Tate.

–TE Jordan Cameron suffered a concussion in the first half and did not return to the game. He will likely miss the game against Tampa Bay next week because he has a history of concussions. Cameron caught 80 passes last season. He caught three passes Sunday before being injured and has 13 in 2014.

–LB Paul Kruger sacked Raiders QB Derek Carr three times, giving him five sacks for the season. He had four sacks all of 2013. His second sack of Carr on Sunday kept the Raiders inside the 10 and led to a punt as the Browns protected a 9-6 lead.

–PR Travis Benjamin returned a punt 13 yards in the first half which is noteworthy for two reasons. It was the longest return for the Browns this season and it was the first he was used as a returner since muffing a punt in Tennessee on Oct. 5. He got lucky on that one because a Titans penalty wiped out the play. He got lucky again against the Raiders when he fumbled on a punt return and the Browns recovered.

What we learned about the Raiders:

1. Another change in head coaches and even starting the game at would normally be 1:30 p.m. Pacific time doesn’t change the fact the Raiders don’t win in the East. The Raiders have now lost 16 straight in the Eastern time zone. Coincidentally, the losing streak began in Cleveland when they lost to the Browns, 23-9, on Dec. 27, 2009.

2. Rookie quarterback Derek Carr is a work in progress. He threw 54 passes and completed 34 of them for 328 yards, but he did not get his team across the goal line until only seven seconds remained. He was sacked three times Sunday after being sacked only four times in the prior six games.

–QB Derek Carr spread the ball around to nine different players while completing 34 of 54 attempts. He showed poise in the pocket under a pass rush he has not dealt with this season. He now has nine touchdown passes and five interceptions, yet the rookie is 0-7 as a starter.

–QB Matt Schaub is the Raiders holder. He attempted a pass off a fake field goal formation. The play blew up because Tashaun Gipson intercepted for Cleveland and returned it 35 yards to the Raiders 48.

–LB Khalil Mack was credited with six tackles. He had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. He did not lead the Raiders in tackles on Sunday, but the players on the Browns offense agreed is he is one of the most dominant defensive players they faced this season.