Punchless Angels fall again to A's
Punchless Angels fall again to A's
ANAHEIM – The Angels couldn't solve Bartolo Colon. And now they're staring at a six-game deficit to Texas in the AL West after only a dozen games.
Colon pitched eight superb innings and got an early cushion thanks to a first-inning three-run homer by Yoenis Cespedes as the Oakland A's won, 6-0, Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.
The Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox again, improving to 10-2. The Angels are 4-8 and have lost two of three to the A's (6-7). The teams wrap up their series tonight.
Ervin Santana fell to 0-3, but his mistakes were costly. His troubles began with the second batter: Cliff Pennington hit a soft single to left, then Josh Reddick dumped a single into shallow center.
Santana got ahead of Cespedes, 0-2, before wasting one in the dirt. The next pitch was an 85 mph slider that floated over the heart of the plate. Cespedes smacked it into the A's bullpen just beyond the left-field fence, and in a flash it was 3-0.
It was the fourth homer of the year for the Cuban-born Cespedes, who's playing in his first major league season after defecting last summer.
That was all the support Colon needed. At times he resembled the overpowering pitcher who won the 2005 Cy Young Award with the Angels, when he went 21-8. Even though he'll be 39 next month, Colon baffled the Angels. They managed just three hits off him, all singles, in the first seven innings.
"We have to get simple and start grinding every at-bat," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Jonny Gomes made it 4-0 with a solo homer that just cleared the fence in left. When Gomes drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to make it 6-0, the crowd that remained vented their frustration with a shower of boos.
Contact the writer: lhall@ocregister.com
