MLB: Oakland 4, Toronto 1

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OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Bartolo Colon turned in a solid start and Ryan Cook earned his 11th save Thursday while leading the Oakland A's to a 4-1 win over Toronto.

Colon (8-8) threw eight shutout innings and Cook and Sean Doolittle allowed only one run as they closed the game out and put the Athletics in sole possession of second place in the AL West, 4 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers.

Colon gave up seven hits and walked one batter to earn his second straight victory.

Josh Reddick tallied a two-run homer for the A's, who ended a two-game losing streak and moved in front of the Los Angeles Angels in the division chase.

Seth Smith and Brandon Inge notched Oakland's other two RBI.

Henderson Alvarez (7-8) took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits and five walks over five innings.

Oakland scored three times in the third on Smith's RBI single and Reddick's homer. Reddick had been 0-for-21 before singling in the first inning.

The Jays averted a shutout with a ninth-inning rally that brought in a run on a groundout by Moises Sierra.