Colon throws CG shutout, A's beat bumbling Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It took just one game for the Los Angeles Angels to revert to the way they played during the first half of the season.

Three errors, two unearned runs and a less-than-stellar pitching performance by starter Jerome Williams contributed to the Angels' undoing and a 6-0 victory by the Oakland A's Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium.

"I think he threw the ball well," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He had both sides of the plate going, just not a lot of luck. He didn't have a lot of support defensively. I thought he pitched well, better than the line score showed."

Williams, who hasn't won since June 12 and hadn't made it past four innings in his last three starts, spent the All-Star break assessing what he needed to do to start winning again. He felt hopeful despite losing his fourth consecutive decision on Sunday.

"In my last three starts before the All-Star break, I wasn't my normal self. I was out of whack," Williams said. "My arm angle was a little bit low, but during the All-Star break I got back to where I needed to be. I got my fingers back on top of the ball to get that downward action."

The A's helped themselves with a nine-hit attack and another brilliant effort by 40-year-old All-Star pitcher Bartolo Colon, who held the Angels to four hits and a walk.

"It's pretty amazing, and he was sick on top of it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "You saw the velocity. It was down all day, so he did it a little bit differently today with more movement and less power, and still got it done."

Colon improved to 13-2, thanks in part to strong defensive support. Josh Reddick took away a potential extra-base hit away from Mike Trout in the fourth inning, reaching over his head to make the catch before crashing into the wall.

Chris Young did even better by reaching above the center-field wall to take a home run away from Albert Pujols in the seventh inning.

"He's got a lot of movement on the ball," said Mark Trumbo, who went 0-for-3 against Colon. "His pitches all start out at about the same place. You just have to try and gauge where it's going end up. A lot of times it's off the fist.

"If you watch it from the side you might think that he's pitching in the upper 80s but when you get in the box and experience it, you come away with a lot more respect with how good his stuff is. It's a testament that he's able to throw games like this at the age that he is."

The victory enabled the first-place A's to push their lead over the third-place Angels back to 10 games in the American League West race.

"He did really well, especially against a lot their right-handed power guys, throwing his two-seamer down the middle and letting it run in on the hands," catcher John Jaso said. "He was really messing up Trumbo and did it a couple of times to Albert as well. That last pitch to him (in the ninth inning) was just a two-seamer on the outside part of the plate. It was moving a lot so he was able to freeze him on strike three."

The Angels essentially took themselves out of contention in this one with a bumbling defensive showing in the sixth inning.

A throwing error by catcher Chris Iannetta on a double-steal allowed Reddick to score. Young, who reached third on Iannetta's error, scored when first baseman Mark Trumbo threw wildly to the plate on a grounder by Coco Crisp.

Colon allowed one-out hits to J.B. Shuck and Trout in the ninth inning but stayed in the game -- after a visit to the mound by manager Bob Melvin -- to get the final two outs and record his first complete-game shutout since May 31. He retired 19 of the final 22 batters he faced.

"Every time I've taken him out of a game when it looked like he could go another inning, he's always been great about it," Melvin said. "But this was the first time he said: 'Give me one more baserunner.'"

NOTES: A's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes was not in Sunday's starting lineup because of his sore left wrist. ... Colon had not allowed a walk in 10 starts this season and issued only one on Sunday -- in the third inning to Eric Aybar. ... Iannetta snapped a 0-for-12 drought with a single in the third inning. ... RHP Garrett Richards could be inserted into the Angels' starting rotation if RHP Joe Blanton (2-12, 5.53) or Williams don't start improving, Scioscia said.