Blue Jays’ skid hits five games

OAKLAND, Calif.—Bartolo Colon finally received some early run support from his Oakland teammates.
He didn’t need much at all as it turned out—even if his fastball was lacking its regular zip.

The 39-year-old Colon scattered seven hits over eight innings, extending his shutout streak to 16 1/3 innings and leading the Athletics to a 4-1 win over the slumping Toronto Blue Jays last night.
“Early in the game I didn’t know if he had his best stuff, to tell you the truth,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin.
“I don’t know if our gun was off today, but you saw a lot of 86s, 87s [m.p.h.], which you don’t normally see out of him.
“But he finds a way,” Melvin added. “He makes you make the adjustment.”
Colon (8-8) didn’t do much out of the ordinary while winning his second-consecutive start. The right-hander relied primarily on his fastball, changing speeds just enough to keep the Jays off balance.
He retired 15-of-18 during one stretch and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by getting Rajai Davis to ground out.
Colon had three strikeouts and one walk.
The A’s staked him to a 3-0 lead following Josh Reddick’s two-run homer in the third.
That’s something Oakland hasn’t done much with Colon on the mound. In 12 of his 21 previous starts, the A’s were held to two runs or fewer.
“I don’t pay much attention to it,” said Colon, who has not allowed a run since the fourth inning against the N.Y. Yankees on July 22.
“It’s more important for me to do the best that I can when I’m on the mound, and let the team do whatever they want,” he reasoned.
Brandon Inge and Seth Smith also drove in runs for the A’s, who improved to 14-5 since the all-star break.
Oakland, held to no more than one run in three of its previous four games, moved past the L.A. Angels into second place in the AL West.
The A’s are 4.5 games behind Texas.
The Jays, meanwhile, have lost five-straight, matching their season high.
“We’re in a stretch where runs are at a premium,” said Toronto manager John Farrell. “It’s difficult to string hits together right now.
“You have to credit Colon,” he added. “He stayed out of the middle of the plate.”
Colby Rasmus, Edwin Encarnacion, and Yunel Escobar had two hits apiece for Toronto.
Eric Sogard singled leading off the third, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Smith’s single to right.
Reddick followed with his 23rd home run—a towering shot into the bleachers above the right-field scoreboard to give Oakland a 3-0 lead.
“[Colon] has done great all year and we haven’t gotten him the run support that he deserves, so for me to be able to do that was huge,” said Reddick, who was mired in a career-worst 0-for-21 slump before singling in the first.
Henderson Alvarez (7-8) struggled with his control and lost for the second time in six decisions. He had a career-high five walks, pitched with runners on base in all but one of his five-plus innings, and struck out one.
Oakland made it 4-0 in the seventh when Inge singled home Chris Carter to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
The Blue Jays scored in the ninth to avoid the shutout.
Elsewhere in the AL, Minnesota blanked Boston 5-0, Texas dumped L.A. 15-9, and Kansas City topped Cleveland 7-6 (11 innings).