Colon, A's shut down Red Sox
BOSTON -- Aside from the terrible weather, things really couldn't have gone any better for the Oakland A's on Tuesday night.
The Athletics ended a four-game losing streak with 13 runs, 13 hits and seven brilliant innings by a seemingly ageless Bartolo Colon in cruising to a 13-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. The game was called after seven innings following an entire night of rain and wind.
While the A's broke out of a hitting slump that produced 10 runs during the losing streak, the story of the night was Colon, the chunky right-hander who officially turns 40 on May 24.
"That's the perfect guy to have on the mound in games like that," manager Bob Melvin said after Colon gave up three singles and struck out seven in his 10th career shutout, this one raising his record to 3-0 and lowering his ERA to 2.42.
"(He's) a guy that's going to throw strikes, doesn't let the conditions affect him and keeps everybody on their toes because they know potentially the ball is going to be in play very quickly and everybody's always ready to play behind him because of the that."
With a game-time temperature of 42 degrees and a 16 mph wind blowing a misty rain across the field from the start, Colon went out in short sleeves and gave up only an infield hit through the first 4 2/3 innings. He yielded back-to-back singles at that point but ended the night by striking out the side in the seventh.
He also issued a walk in the sixth, his only walk in 26 innings this season.
Asked after the game if the walk bothered him, Colon, speaking through interpreter Ariel Prieto, said, "Pequito," which translates to "very little."
"He's just got a great feel for pitching, and he does it the same but a little differently," Melvin said. "He's still, I would consider him, a power pitcher with the amount of fastballs he throws. He doesn't throw a hundred miles an hour anymore, but he still has that kind of movement; he still throws a ton of fastballs, he commands it very well to both sides of the plate, so really his fastball winds up being like two different pitches. And he mixes in just enough breaking balls to keep you off balance."
Seth Smith drove in three runs, two with his second homer of the season, and Coco Crisp, John Jaso (three hits), Brandon Moss (also three) and Josh Reddick knocked in two runs apiece. Both Moss and Reddick came up with Boston. Moss has 11 RBIs in seven games against the Red Sox, and Reddick has 14 RBIs in 10 games vs. his former team.
The A's scored six runs in a disastrous Boston third inning en route to chasing Alfredo Aceves (1-1). The right-hander gave up eight runs, seven earned, in 3 1/3 innings in suffering only the second loss by a Red Sox starter this season.
The tarp was called out onto the field before the Oakland eighth, and the game was called after a 37-minute delay.
Boston fell to 13-7 with the loss but remained in first place in the AL East.
"The weather conditions weren't ideal, but to say that it was a major distraction, I don't know that we can go that far," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "We see what Bartolo did against us.
"Really, we didn't have many good swings at pitches that found their way to the middle of the plate."
The third inning, which included two Aceves balks, three walks and an Aceves throwing error, one of two Boston errors in the inning, was a tough one for the Red Sox, who did everything wrong.
"It was an ugly inning, and things kind of unraveled from there," Farrell said.
The A's (13-8) batted .175 with 22 hits during their losing streak, giving up 26 runs in the previous four games, nine to the Red Sox on Monday.
NOTES: "In appreciation" of their fans who braved the terrible elements, the Red Sox invited people with ticket stubs from Tuesday to attend Thursday night's game against the Houston Astros. ... Red Sox CF Jacoby Ellsbury's 12-game hitting streak was snapped. It had been the longest active streak in the majors. ... A's OF Casper Wells, acquired from Toronto for cash consideration, joined his new team Tuesday but could be gone by this weekend, when OF Yoenis Cespedes reruns from the disabled list. To make room for Wells, who flied out as a pinch hitter and stayed in Monday's game, OF Michael Taylor was sent to the minors. Cespedes, out with left hand muscle strain, is hitting and will return Sunday, the first day he's eligible to come off the disabled list. He is likely to play minor league rehab games Friday and Saturday. ... Red Sox DH David Ortiz, who played three straight days making his season debut after Achilles and heel trouble, got the night off in the cold and rain. ... Boston RHP John Lackey, on the DL with a right biceps strain, is on target to start Sunday against the Astros. He worked 3 2/3 effective innings in a Double-A rehab appearance Monday and will pitch Sunday if he has no trouble when he throws Thursday. ... Boston LHP Jon Lester brings a 3-0 record 1.73 ERA into Wednesday's series finale, facing LHP Brett Anderson (1-3, 5.95 ERA). Lester is 3-3 with a 4.15 ERA in 10 career outings against the A's, but he has yielded two runs or fewer in five of the 10 starts.
