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Colon strong as A's blank Angels

Apr 19, 2012 - 5:29 AM Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Bartolo Colon tossed eight scoreless innings as Oakland downed the Angels, 6-0, in the third portion of a four-game set at Angel Stadium.

Colon (3-1), who threw 38 consecutive strikes at one point in the game, allowed four hits and did not walk a batter while striking out five.

"I had no idea about how many strikes I threw in a row. They told me later," said Colon. "I was happy with the way I pitched tonight. I have to continue to work hard."

Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run home run while Jonny Gomes added a solo shot and two RBI for the Athletics, who earned their second straight win on the heels of a three-game losing streak.

Ervin Santana (0-3) allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks to suffer the loss as the Angels fell to 4-8 on the season.

"This is a team with talented guys. We have to grind it out," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said about his team's slow start.

After Cliff Pennington and Josh Reddick hit back-to-back singles in the top of the first inning, Cespedes hammered a hanging 1-2 slider by Santana over the left-field wall to give the Athletics an early three-run advantage.

Gomes' bomb into the bullpen in left field in the sixth inning made it a 4-0 game.

The Angels did not have a runners reach second base in the game until Erick Aybar pulled a ground-rule double to right field with one out in the eighth inning.

Aybar then moved to third on Bobby Abreu's groundout to second, but Colon struck out Howie Kendrick to end the inning.

An RBI double by Jemile Weeks and a bases-loaded walk by Gomes in the ninth inning finalized the scoring.

Game Notes

The Athletics have hit 12 home runs over their first 12 games of the season...Colon, who won a Cy Young Award while pitching for the Angels in 2005, improved to 9-5 in 19 appearances against his former team...Santana fell to 13-4 in 24 games -- 22 starts -- against Oakland.