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Richard and Padres avoid sweep in Oakland

Jun 18, 2012 - 5:08 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Clayton Richard fired 7 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday as the San Diego Padres defeated the Oakland Athletics, 2-1, in the finale of a three-game set at the Coliseum in Oakland.

Richard (4-7) allowed just five hits and walked two while striking out six to earn the victory. Huston Street entered in the eighth and recorded the final out of the frame on a strikeout, but walked a pair of A's in the ninth before Coco Crisp ripped a two-out single to center to cut the difference in half.

"He mixed in enough sliders, change (and) curveballs to keep them honest. But it was all about the fastball in good spots, throwing strikes and working fast," San Diego manager Bud Black said of Richard's outing.

Street settled in, however, and got Jemile Weeks swinging at strike three to nail down his eighth save of the season.

"Just looking for something up that I can hit good," said Weeks about his final at-bat. "He gave me pitches to do something with, but I just swung through them."

Will Venable slapped an RBI fielder's choice groundout in the third and Carlos Quentin added a ground-rule double in the ninth as San Diego salvaged the final game of the series and snapped the A's five-game winning streak in the process.

Bartolo Colon (6-7) absorbed the loss and was charged with one run on one hit in two-plus innings before leaving with a right oblique strain. Jonny Gomes registered three hits and Crisp knocked in the A's lone run.

Colon surrendered a single to Everth Cabrera to start the third inning before injuring himself on a throw to first base on Alexi Amarista's bunt.

The right-hander fielded the bunt cleanly, but fired the ball wide of first base and immediately clutched at his right side before heading to clubhouse.

Pedro Figueroa, who the A's recalled from Triple-A Sacramento earlier on Sunday, entered and induced Venable's RBI fielder's choice to shortstop, which scored Cabrera from third to make it a 1-0 game.

Figueroa kept the Padres off the board over the next two frames before being replaced by Jim Miller to start the sixth. Miller walked the first two batters he faced, but fanned Quentin before inducing an inning-ending double play from Yonder Alonso to escape the threat.

Richard gave up a two-out infield single to Gomes in the eighth, marking an end to the left-hander's day as Street trotted in from the bullpen and struck out Brandon Inge.

San Diego then tacked on a run in the ninth as Quentin clubbed a ground-rule double into the right-field seats. Logan Forsythe came on to run for Quentin and moved to third on a bunt before crossing home on a wild pitch by Ryan Cook to provide the visitors with an insurance run, which the Padres would need.

Game Notes

The Padres wrapped up a nine-game road trip at 5-4. They return home for a three-game set against the Texas Rangers beginning on Monday...Oakland continues a nine-game homestand with a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning on Tuesday...San Diego finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded five, while Oakland left 10 men on base and also finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.