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Perez shines in first MLB start, Jays edge A's

Aug 22, 2011 - 12:37 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Luis Perez's first major league start couldn't have gone much better.

The rookie left-hander one-hit the Oakland Athletics in six innings Sunday to guide the Toronto Blue Jays to a 1-0 win in the finale of a four-game series.

Perez (3-2), who made 29 appearances out of the bullpen before getting his first chance to start, carried a perfect game into the sixth but gave up two walks and Oakland's only hit on a one-out single by Jemile Weeks.

He had four strikeouts and two walks and threw 50 of his 80 pitches for strikes to overshadow a good start by his counterpart.

Guillermo Moscoso (6-7) struck out seven and allowed just three hits in eight sparkling innings for Oakland. He threw 77 of his 109 pitches for strikes.

Jose Bautista battled Moscoso for a 10-pitch at-bat leading off the seventh inning and belted his 36th homer of the season on a slider for the game's only run.

"I was surprised he went with the breaking ball there," said Bautista. "Luckily, he hung it a little bit."

A's manager Bob Melvin said it's easy to look at a game like Sunday's and think that the offenses were down. But the pitching was terrific, he said.

"Both those guys pitched really well today," said Melvin. "You have to give them credit."

With the win, the Blue Jays avoided their first three-game losing streak since July 5-7.

The A's won the middle two games of the series and finished 4-6 on a 10-game homestand.

Perez, 26, had faced the A's twice already this month -- pitching 2 1/3 combined innings out of the bullpen in a pair of Toronto losses on August 9 and 11. But they got a much better look at him on Sunday.

Oakland's first baserunner came when Cliff Pennington walked to lead off the sixth, but he was forced out on Kurt Suzuki's bunt. Perez then walked Scott Sizemore before Weeks hit a single to center field to break up the no-hitter.

Coco Crisp grounded into a double play to end the bases-loaded threat.

Casey Janssen struck out five batters in three no-hit innings for Toronto to earn his second save, while Fautino De Los Santos worked around Bautista's triple in the ninth for the A's.

Game Notes

Toronto earned a 5-5 split of the season series and went 4-3 on a seven-game road trip...The A's are headed on the road for 10 games against the Yankees, Red Sox and Indians that starts Tuesday in New York.