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Mazzaro wins debut as A's blank White Sox

Jun 3, 2009 - 4:11 AM CHICAGO(AP) -- Once Vin Mazzaro got past a nervous start, he looked right at home in his major league debut.

Mazzaro pitched into the seventh inning and Matt Holliday hit a three-run double to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 5-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

Mazzaro, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Sacramento before the game, helped end Chicago's season-high, four-game winning streak and handed the White Sox their fourth loss in 14 games.

Mazzaro (1-0) threw 27 pitches in the first, but got Paul Konerko to fly out with runners on first and second to end the inning. He got into another jam in the second before retiring Jayson Nix on a flyout and Scott Podsednik on a popup - part of a stretch where the 22-year-old right-hander retired 14 of 15 batters.

"After I got the first few batters out I started to settled down," Mazzaro said. "The two-seamer worked well and I mixed in the changeup and slider."

Mazzaro allowed three hits, walked four and struck one in 6 1-3 innings. Jack Cust homered for Oakland, which won for just the second time in seven games.

Mazzaro had 20 family members at the ballpark, including his mother and father.

"It was awesome," he said. "A great feeling. Especially getting a W out of it. It doesn't get any better than that."

Mazzaro, one of four rookies in the Oakland rotation, impressed manager Bob Geren.

"He has movement and velocity," Geren said. "Throwing 94 with movement, you can't touch that."

Bartolo Colon (3-5) gave up five runs, two earned, and six hits in 5 1-3 innings for the White Sox. He was originally scheduled to start Monday, but the club decided to give the veteran right-hander an extra day of rest.

"Most of the time Colon needs to be perfect to get it going and he wasn't today," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Cust helped Oakland get off to a fast start. He drove in Orlando Cabrera with a sacrifice fly in the first and hit his eighth homer in the fourth to make it 2-0.

Colon intentionally walked Cust to load the bases in the fifth, but Holliday responded with a double to give Oakland a 5-0 lead.

Third baseman Wilson Betemit's error helped up set up the big inning. It was Betemit's fifth error in 20 games.

"It's kind of hard for me, I have to play him," Guillen said. "It seems every time we play him he makes an error, in the meanwhile, it's not easy, because I was in that situation when I was playing, coming in every five or six days and perform. I know it is not easy. It's maybe my fault, I try to play him the most I can but I need better defense from him."

Notes: White Sox 2B Chris Getz missed his second straight game with a slightly sprained right ankle. ... To make room for Mazzaro, the A's optioned reliever Kevin Cameron to Triple-A Sacramento. ... Holliday made a nice sliding catch on Podsednik's ball in the eighth. ... White Sox LHP Wes Whisler made his major league debut in relief in the ninth inning. He struck out two in a scoreless inning. ... Mazzaro was the first Oakland pitcher to win in his major league debut since Dallas Braden did it on April 24, 2007, at Baltimore.