VINTAGE COLON BACK AS ANGELS STAY ON TRACK STARTER ENDS SLIDE, DOMINATES A'S IN VICTORY ANGELS 6, OAKLAND 1.Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer ANAHEIM - As Bartolo Colon's first season with the Angels digressed in a hail of home run balls and dismal outings, the club's brain trust probed him for physical problems, dissected his mechanics, even met behind closed doors to figure out if there was anything overtly wrong with the man signed to a four-year, $51 million contract last winter. But although Colon's seven-start stretch of winless pitching was disconcerting dis·con·cert tr.v. dis·con·cert·ed, dis·con·cert·ing, dis·con·certs 1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass. 2. to the club, it also wasn't totally out of line with a career that bobbed inconsistently between dominance and mediocrity. Tuesday, the dominant Colon was back, and he was powerful enough to blow the Oakland Athletics “Philadelphia Athletics” redirects here. For other uses, see Philadelphia Athletics (disambiguation). The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. all the way into third place. Colon carried a shutout into the eighth inning and got plenty of support from an offense that pestered A's ace Tim Hudson Timothy Adam Hudson (born July 14, 1975 in Salem, Alabama[1] ) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Atlanta Braves. Hudson began his major league career with the Oakland Athletics (1999-2004) and played his last two years of college for five innings, producing a 6-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 43,021 at Angel Stadium. It was the Angels' sixth victory in eight games against the A's and it moved them past Oakland in the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. while vaulting Texas into first, a half-game ahead of the Angels. But the bigger sigh of relief for the Angels is not their current standing, but the thought that Colon might yet be a viable force in this pennant race. Tuesday's outing suggested he might. Colon (5-6) bulled through the A's pesky lineup, giving up just five hits in 7 2/3 innings and retiring the first 11 batters he faced. He struck out six, walked none and his fastball, which struggled to reach 92 mph in some starts, topped out at 96 and hit 95 consistently. And in winning for the first time since May 8, Colon reversed a number of disturbing trends. He'd given up 10 home runs in his past five starts, at least one in nine consecutive starts and 21 in all, tops in the AL. There were none Tuesday. He had a 0-4 record and an 8.28 ERA in his past seven starts, and had given up at least eight hits in his past four starts. There were just five Tuesday, all singles, and the A's didn't get a runner to third until the eighth inning, when Eric Byrnes Eric James Byrnes (born February 16, 1976 in Redwood City, California) is a left fielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Byrnes is well known for making athletic catches on fly balls in the outfield. singled home their first run on Colon's 116th pitch. As manager Mike Scioscia Earlier, his teammates wreaked havoc with Hudson (7-3), who entered Tuesday's game 13-5 lieftime against the Angels and whose 2.78 ERA was third-best in the AL. But Tim Salmon A starting lineup in sports refers to the set of players actively participating in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes for the first time in eight games, hit an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in single in the second, and the Angels provided Colon a comfortable cushion in the third. Eckstein hit a high chopper for an infield single and Chone Figgins smoked an RBI triple into right field. It was his AL-best 11th triple and he's just two away from Devon White's club record. Vladimir Guerrero hit an RBI double and Erstad an RBI single for a 4-0 lead, and Eckstein got Adam Kennedy home on a squeeze bunt for a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Figgins doubled in the seventh and scored on Guerrero's sacrifice fly for the final run. Colon did the rest, turning a 6-1 lead over to Brendan Donnelly, who retired all four batters he faced in his first home appearance this season. Gabe Lacques, (626) 962-8811 gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) The Angels' Adam Kennedy scores past A's catcher Adam Melhuse on David Eckstein's bunt in the fourth inning Tuesday night. (2) Tim Salmon singles to center, scoring Garret Anderson the second inning. Chris Carlson/Associated Press Box: GAME RECAP |
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