Gio Gonzalez has been on the right side of consecutive weather-impacted starts.

The hard-throwing lefty pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, and the Oakland Athletics emerged from a rain-soaked start to hammer the Los Angeles Angels 14-0 Tuesday night.

“With the weather, it’s like hit or miss,” said Gonzalez, who allowed seven runs at Texas in his last outing before the game was washed away in the fourth because of rain. “Both times it’s been a big hit for me.”

Gonzalez (5-2) struck out seven and allowed only a line-drive single to Howie Kendrick leading off the fifth. He also walked one and cruised the rest of the way behind a dominant breaking ball and an offense that had its best game of the season.

Mark Ellis had three hits and four RBIs and Coco Crisp finished with three hits and two RBIs to chase starter Tyler Chatwood (2-2) in the third, handing the rookie the worst loss of his career. Oakland had season highs in runs scored and hits to move into a tie with Texas for first place in the AL West.

“I think when everybody starts feeling good about themselves, feeling better about how their swinging, the hits just roll on,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “Hitting is contagious. The opposite is true, too.

“You see a lot of Oh-fers on the bench it’s hard to gain some momentum. But a game like this can definitely catapult guys into feeling good about themselves and driving their numbers up and, ultimately winning more games.”

The only other hit for the Angels came on Jeff Mathis’ single leading off the ninth against Trystan Magnuson, who was making his major league debut. Craig Breslow also pitched a perfect eighth to send Los Angeles tumbling to its third straight loss.

“This was one of our worst games of the season,” Angels right fielder Torii Hunter said. “Gonzalez challenged us with the fastball. I don’t know why he doesn’t use that as much … He should use it more. We just couldn’t do nothing.”

Gonzalez has timed his last two starts to perfection.

He allowed seven runs in just 2 2-3 innings at Texas in his last appearance. But with the Rangers leading 7-0 in the middle of the fourth, the game was called for rain and didn’t count.

The start of the Angels game was delayed 42 minutes because of a rare May rainstorm in the Bay Area, and Gonzalez joked that once he got the lead he was just hoping to making it through five innings so the game would become official. With the clouds passing through in patches, the roughest of it never seemed to come with Gonzalez on the mound.

Instead, A’s hitters came through the rain first four innings to give Gonzalez all the cover he would need.

Ellis and Kevin Kouzmanoff had back-to-back RBI doubles, and Coco Crisp had a run-scoring single in the second inning to give Oakland a 3-0 lead. The rain subsided briefly for Gonzalez to work a perfect inning before a huge downpour.

One from the skies.

Another from Oakland’s bats.

Ellis added a two-run single and Crisp had another RBI single to highlight a four-run third that opened a 7-0 lead. Kurt Suzuki also hit an RBI double off reliever Trevor Bell to score Hideki Matsui in the fourth.

By the end of the fourth inning, every Oakland batter had reached base except for Daric Barton. Chatwood’s final line: seven runs allowed on seven hits and two walks in 2 1-3 innings, by far the worst start of the rookie’s career.

“We all just kind of came together at the right time,” Crisp said.

Gonzalez retired the first 11 batters with relative ease until walking Maicer Izturis. That spoiled the chance of matching the perfect game that teammate and friend Dallas Braden — who had season-ending shoulder surgery Tuesday, even texting Gonzalez from his hospital room after surgery to offer tips, per the usual — threw last May against Tampa Bay.

Kendrick took away the no-hitter with his single up the middle in the fifth. Gonzalez got him to ground into a double play, retiring the final seven batters he faced.

Gonzalez admitted he would’ve loved to have that fastball back, joking, “I’ll get you Howie.”

NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game for Minnesota Twins slugger and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, who died Tuesday at 74 after battling esophageal cancer. Killebrew was part of Oakland’s TV broadcast in 1982, according to the team’s media guide. … Oakland closer Andrew Bailey allowed no hits in one inning of work in an extended spring training game in Arizona. The A’s two-time All-Star could begin a rehab assignment in the minors next week. … The A’s previous season high in hits was 13 against Toronto on April 5, and their previous high in runs scored was nine on April 23 against Seattle.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Out of the corner of his eye, Chicago reliever Matt Thornton saw Coco Crisp breaking for home plate, but the left-hander couldn’t stop his motion without committing a balk.

Good thing for the White Sox.

A.J. Pierzynski caught Thornton’s inside pitch and dove in front of the plate to cut down Crisp trying to score the tying run on a straight steal in the eighth inning, helping to preserve a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

“He caught me off guard a little bit,” Thornton said. “You never know, if I flinch you might get a balk. Everyone thought he was just going to deke a little bit, fake in and come back out, but he kept on going.

“Two weeks ago that’s a game-tying run and who knows what happens? But we’re playing a little better baseball right now and getting some better results as a whole.”

The White Sox, winners of five of their last six, are definitely on the upswing following a 4-18 stretch that threatened to take them out of contention before the All-Star break.

Chicago is still nine games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central but the outlook is a lot more optimistic than it once was.

Omar Vizquel had an RBI double during a four-run second inning and Phil Humber (3-3) pitched well into the seventh. Chicago managed only five hits and did all its scoring in one inning but made several stellar defensive plays.

The biggest came when Crisp tried a rare straight steal of home, a play that had the White Sox clubhouse buzzing long after the game ended.

Crisp led off the inning with a single, stole second and went to third on Daric Barton’s groundout. The speedy outfielder faked as if he was going to steal, then broke for home while Thornton was in his windup. Pierzynski caught the pitch and reached out to tag Crisp on the shoulder as he dove for a corner of the plate.

“I was trying to make something happen, but it’s a play I have to make,” Crisp said. “I still believe if I don’t stutter step, I make it. If he (Pierzynski) hesitates, I’m in. It was a good pitch and a good play by him.”

Humber gave up three runs and six hits in six-plus innings, the fourth straight solid outing by the right-hander. He didn’t walk a batter for the first time in seven starts this season.

Sergio Santos worked the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.

Humber, claimed off waivers from Oakland in January, had his only bad inning in the seventh when the A’s chased him with four consecutive singles.

Humber’s wild pitch with the bases loaded scored Ryan Sweeney from third, and David DeJesus’ second hit of the night, a soft single to right, drove in Hideki Matsui. Jesse Crain struck out Mark Ellis, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Kevin Kouzmanoff that cut the White Sox lead to 4-3.

Crain avoided further damage by picking off DeJesus at first.

“I’ll take it,” Humber said. “I didn’t pitch that great out there. They hit a lot of balls hard right at guys. Fortunately we put some runs on the board early and then the bullpen came in and did a great job.”

DeJesus finished with two hits and needs one more to reach 1,000 for his career.

Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy had control problems in the second inning when the White Sox scored four times. He gave up a leadoff single to Paul Konerko, then issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. Alex Rios’ grounder scored one run and Vizquel followed with an RBI double.

Gordon Beckham’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0, and after Juan Pierre reached on an infield single, McCarthy threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt. The ball rolled into Chicago’s bullpen as Vizquel raced in from third.

McCarthy (1-4) settled down and allowed only two hits over the next five innings but remains winless over his last six starts.

The right-hander had six strikeouts and two walks.

“We got down four but then (McCarthy) got it back quickly and got better as the game went along,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said. “It was right there for us, but we couldn’t overcome the early four-run deficit.”

NOTES: Injured Oakland closer Andrew Bailey played catch before leaving for Arizona, where he’s scheduled to pitch one inning in an extended spring training game Saturday. … The A’s played without OF Josh Willingham, who served a one-game suspension for bumping plate umpire Bill Miller while arguing a called third strike against Kansas City on May 6. … Playing 20 games without an off day, the White Sox are going with a six-man rotation and manager Ozzie Guillen isn’t ruling out using it beyond that. … Justine Siegel, a 36-year-old mother of one, threw batting practice to Geren and a few A’s players before the game. Siegel had previously pitched batting practice for Oakland in spring training and was extended an invitation to join the team at the Coliseum.

Coco Crisp can be one of the more entertaining players in baseball when he is actually on the field. Regardless of whether or not he’s healthy, though, his hair is usually always something worth keeping an eye on.

The Oakland Athletics are taking advantage of their outfielder’s unique hairdos, and they are having their fans vote on what look he’ll don next.

The three choices are fairly logical.

First, there is the “shaved” cut. The clean-cut look is one that Red Sox fans got to see quite a bit of during Crisp’s run in Boston.

Also on the ballot is Crisp’s “braids” look. The braids look also is one that Sox fans saw in Crisp’s Boston tenure, including during perhaps Crisp’s most memorable moment — his fight with the Tampa Bay Rays.

However, the early clubhouse leader, and likely the runaway winner in the A’s contest, is Crisp’s afro. He’s dabbled with it over the years, but he took it to an entirely new level earlier this season.

See the photo below to understand what we’re talking about.

April 20, 2011|Josh Dubow, AP Sports Writer

Oakland Athletics’ Brett Anderson works against the Boston Red Sox during… (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Kevin Youkilis and Jed Lowrie homered off the previously untouchable Gio Gonzalez and the Boston Red Sox got their first road win of the season after seven straight losses, beating the Oakland Athletics 5-3 on Wednesday.

Clay Buchholz (1-2) allowed a leadoff home run to Coco Crisp and nothing else in 5 1-3 innings as the Red Sox snapped the longest season-opening road losing streak in franchise history.

Despite building a 5-1 lead, there were some tense moments late for the Red Sox. Crisp’s one-out RBI single off Bobby Jenks in the eighth inning cut Boston’s lead to three runs, but Jenks recovered by striking out Daric Barton. Jonathan Papelbon escaped the jam by striking out David DeJesus.

The A’s added another run in the ninth on Landon Powell’s RBI single before Papelbon got pinch-hitter Josh Willingham and Cliff Pennington to end the game for his third save.

Gonzalez (2-1) came into the game having thrown 17 straight scoreless innings and having allowed only one run in three starts for an 0.47 ERA. But he allowed an RBI single to Carl Crawford in the second, a solo homer to Youkilis in the fourth and the two-run shot by Lowrie in the sixth in a rare off performance for an Oakland starter.

In the previous turn through the rotation, A’s starters gave up just one earned run in 33 2-3 innings for an 0.27 ERA. Gonzalez was touched for four runs and eight hits in six innings in a game played in a steady rain.

Gonzalez had good stuff as evidenced by his nine strikeouts but was done in by the homers from Youkilis and Lowrie as the A’s lost for just the sixth time in their past 24 home games against Boston.

J.D. Drew added his first homer of the season, a solo shot, in the seventh off Jerry Blevins to help the Red Sox win for the fourth time in five games after a 2-10 start.

Buchholz allowed 10 runs in five innings on the way to a pair of losses in Oakland last season and got off to a rough start in this game as well when Crisp homered to right field on Buchholz’s first pitch.

But Buchholz stranded a pair of runners in both the second and fifth innings and pitched around Mark Ellis’ one-out double in the fourth before being relieved by Daniel Bard with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning.

Bard struck out Pennington and then escaped the jam by retiring Crisp on a popup. Crisp’s out came one pitch after his line drive to left field landed just inches foul.

Buchholz allowed one run and six hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Notes: Ellis’ double in the fourth was the 200th of his career. Ellis also made Oakland’s major league-worst 20th error in the top of that inning when he dropped a ball on a potential force at second. … Lowrie was 2 for 4 and is batting .480 this season against lefties. … Crisp’s homer was just the eighth of the season for the A’s. … LHP David Purcey, acquired from Toronto earlier in the week, made his Oakland debut with a perfect eighth inning. … This marked the 99th anniversary of the first game played at Fenway Park, a 7-6 Boston win in 11 innings over the Yankees in 1912.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (CBS / AP) — Coco Crisp and Daric Barton homered off Mike Leake, lifting the Oakland Athletics over the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 on Tuesday.

Leake allowed seven runs in his worst spring outing. He also gave up two doubles among six Oakland hits in 2 1-3 innings.

Leake made the Reds’ rotation by default when an MRI exam revealed inflammation in Johnny Cueto’s right shoulder.

“I felt a little too good today,” Leake said. “I was just missing a little bit. I don’t like to walk people. I was trying a little too hard.”

Leake made the jump from college baseball to the major leagues last year without pitching in the minors, but was competing with Homer Bailey and Travis Wood for two open spots in the rotation this season. Cueto’s injury cleared his way, but Leake doesn’t feel settled.

“There’s still going to be a decision when he comes back. When the season starts I still have to compete,” Leake said.

Brett Anderson, in line to be Oakland’s opening-night starter, gave up four runs and four hits in six innings. NL MVP Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes homered for the Reds.

Anderson was scheduled to start Monday, but rain forced cancellation of his outing against the Dodgers.

“I felt good,” Anderson said after his longest stint of the spring. “Joey Vott is the best hitter of all-time and I have to get it through my head that I can’t beat Jonny Gomes with fastballs inside. I felt good it’s the best lineup I’ve faced yet and to go through it three times felt good.”

Oakland manager Bob Geren is still open-minded about who will be on the mound against Seattle on April 1.

“I’m leaving everything open right now,” Geren said. “I’ll see how everyone comes through the next start.”

Votto also doubled and singled and drove in four runs.

“It’s about that time. You have to have some of your big boys swinging well at the end of spring and the beginning of the season, especially (Jay) Bruce, Votto and (Brandon) Phillips. Our starting guys are swinging good. Jonny Gomes is starting to swing a little better,” Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said.

Votto, a notoriously slow starter, increased his spring average to .324 with three home runs and a team-high 13 RBIs.

Barton, Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis added doubles for the A’s.

Barton has nine hits in his last 22 at-bats.

NOTES: Oakland reliever Craig Breslow made his first Cactus League appearance. He had a strained left hamstring that had restricted him to minor league games. … Reds closer Francisco Cordero has six straight scoreless appearances. … Cincinnati’s projected starting lineup played all nine innings with the exception of Phillips, who played five. … Drew Stubbs struck out four times against Oakland. “Stubby’s struggling a bit,” Baker said. “We’re going to DH him in some minor league games to get him extra at-bats.”

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (CBS / AP) — Coco Crisp and Daric Barton homered off Mike Leake, lifting the Oakland Athletics over the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 on Tuesday.

Leake allowed seven runs in his worst spring outing. He also gave up two doubles among six Oakland hits in 2 1-3 innings.

Leake made the Reds’ rotation by default when an MRI exam revealed inflammation in Johnny Cueto’s right shoulder.

“I felt a little too good today,” Leake said. “I was just missing a little bit. I don’t like to walk people. I was trying a little too hard.”

Leake made the jump from college baseball to the major leagues last year without pitching in the minors, but was competing with Homer Bailey and Travis Wood for two open spots in the rotation this season. Cueto’s injury cleared his way, but Leake doesn’t feel settled.

“There’s still going to be a decision when he comes back. When the season starts I still have to compete,” Leake said.

Brett Anderson, in line to be Oakland’s opening-night starter, gave up four runs and four hits in six innings. NL MVP Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes homered for the Reds.

Anderson was scheduled to start Monday, but rain forced cancellation of his outing against the Dodgers.

“I felt good,” Anderson said after his longest stint of the spring. “Joey Vott is the best hitter of all-time and I have to get it through my head that I can’t beat Jonny Gomes with fastballs inside. I felt good it’s the best lineup I’ve faced yet and to go through it three times felt good.”

Oakland manager Bob Geren is still open-minded about who will be on the mound against Seattle on April 1.

“I’m leaving everything open right now,” Geren said. “I’ll see how everyone comes through the next start.”

Votto also doubled and singled and drove in four runs.

“It’s about that time. You have to have some of your big boys swinging well at the end of spring and the beginning of the season, especially (Jay) Bruce, Votto and (Brandon) Phillips. Our starting guys are swinging good. Jonny Gomes is starting to swing a little better,” Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said.

Votto, a notoriously slow starter, increased his spring average to .324 with three home runs and a team-high 13 RBIs.

Barton, Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis added doubles for the A’s.

Barton has nine hits in his last 22 at-bats.

NOTES: Oakland reliever Craig Breslow made his first Cactus League appearance. He had a strained left hamstring that had restricted him to minor league games. … Reds closer Francisco Cordero has six straight scoreless appearances. … Cincinnati’s projected starting lineup played all nine innings with the exception of Phillips, who played five. … Drew Stubbs struck out four times against Oakland. “Stubby’s struggling a bit,” Baker said. “We’re going to DH him in some minor league games to get him extra at-bats.”

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)