OAKLAND, Calif. -- The only thing Bartolo Colon cares about is staying healthy and helping his team win. He simply has no idea how to answer the constant questions about how hes doing both. Colon tossed eight innings of one-run ball to win his eighth straight start, powering the Oakland Athletics past the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 on Friday night to tie the best streak of his career. "I dont even know what I can say," Colon said. "Thank you, God." Colon (11-2) controlled the game with an efficient fastball the way he has so many others this season, burnishing his All-Star credentials and confounding critics who wonder how the 40-year-old continues to dominate. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked one to match Max Scherzer of Detroit for the most wins in the AL this season. Stephen Vogt stole some of the spotlight from Colons latest gem when he homered to end an 0-for-32 stretch to start his career, and four players drove in runs during the second inning to chase Shelby Miller (8-6) and help Oakland win its third straight game. Colon hugged his catcher in the dugout when he came out after the eighth and whispered in Vogts ear: "Thank you, Poppy." Vogts line-drive homer against reliever Joe Kelly in the fourth ended the longest hitless streak to start a career by a non-pitcher since Chris Carter began 0 for 33 with the As in 2010. "I cant imagine anything better," Vogt said. The Cardinals (48-31) dropped a game behind Pittsburgh for the best record in the majors -- and the NL Central lead. Kelly, who last pitched on June 21, allowed just the one run and three hits in 5 1-3 innings of relief in one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals, who couldnt solve Colons deceptive fastballs. "He has a different kind of movement and throws harder than what the gun reads," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Dan Otero pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the best first half of the season for Oakland (47-34) since 1992, when the club started 48-33. The As remain a half-game behind Texas for the AL West lead, and the reigning division champions owe much of it to the big, burly pitcher on the mound. The As are 13-3 in Colons starts. "Do the math," As manager Bob Melvin said. "Its halfway through the season and hes got 11 wins." Colon tied his career high with eight consecutive wins -- which he did in 2005, when he won a career-best 21 games for the Angels and captured the AL Cy Young Award -- and hasnt lost since May 9 at Cleveland. Hes the first As pitcher since Barry Zito in 2005 to win eight in a row. The right-hander also is the first pitcher to win his first seven starts since turning 40, according to information from the Elias Sports Bureau provided by the As. But with every win, Colon also brings more attention and more scrutiny -- fair or not -- about how he is finding so much success at this stage of his career. Colon is among more than a dozen players who have been connected to a now-closed Miami anti-aging clinic under investigation by Major League Baseball for performance-enhancing drugs. The right-hander also missed the end of last season when he was suspended 50 games for testing positive for synthetic testosterone. The As and Colon have brushed off any clouds that come the pitchers way with the motto Melvin has instilled with everything else about his team: focus on the days task and nothing else. Colon carried a perfect game into the fifth, when Matt Holliday walked with one out. Matt Adams added a short fly that dropped in front of a diving Coco Crisp in centre field for the first hit off Colon, and David Freese followed with an RBI single for the Cardinals lone run. With Colon in complete control again, the As sent 10 batters to the plate and forced Miller to throw 51 pitches in the second inning. It was the most thrown in an inning by one pitcher this season, topping the 50 tossed by Arizonas Ian Kennedy against the Cardinals on June 6. "I just struggled. I wasnt throwing strikes and when I did throw strikes, they were right down the middle," Miller said. Vogt, filling in for the injured John Jaso, added his first career hit in the fourth and teammates initially acted as if nothing happened when he jogged back in the dugout. Then, everybody charged him at once. Vogt got the ball back from a 5-year-old in the stands. The youngster was given another ball and team memorabilia in exchange. NOTES: Members of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum presented Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo with his induction plaque in the dugout before the game. "Its a great honour and great privilege," said Oquendo, who batted .256 in 12 seasons and earned the nickname "The Secret Weapon" for playing every position during his career. ... As manager Bob Melvin said Jaso (injured left hand) might not start over the weekend but is available off the bench. ... San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was in the stands and wearing an As cap. ... The Cardinals send Adam Wainwright (10-5, 2.31) to the mound against Jarrod Parker (6-6, 4.27 ERA) on Saturday. Authentic Nike MLB Gear . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Nike MLB Jerseys Autographed . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. http://www.cheapmlbjerseyssigned.com/ . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. Discount Nike MLB Jerseys . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Signed Nike MLB Jerseys . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Throughout the Tour de France, Australian professional cyclist Richie Porte will be checking in. Here is his latest entry, as told to ESPN contributor Rupert Guinness:Saturday: Stage 8, Pau to Bagnères-de-LuchonRacing a Grand Tour is so hard, but it ramps up when you get into racing a block of mountain stages like what we are in right now with Stages 7, 8, and 9 in the Pyrénées.We are now two of three days down, and the hardest of them is Sunday. Ive said it before, and now I really believe it: the 184.5km stage from Vielha DAran in Spain to Andorra Arcalis should be one of the hardest of this years Tour. On paper it certainly is.Saying that, Saturdays eighth stage, also over 184.5km but from Pau to Bagnéres-de-Luchon, was really tough. It was interesting to hear that Chris Froome (Sky) said it was one of the hardest hes raced in a while -- and he won it, not to mention took the yellow jersey.It was a stinker when it came to the heat. There is no other way to describe it. But at BMC, we were happy with how it panned out. Sure, it would have been nice to win the stage, but I felt good and so did Tejay van Garderen. It was also great to see Damiano Caruso riding so strongly. He is really crucial for us in these stages and he is really making a difference.But one challenge that no one else can really make easier for us is how we look after ourselves during a days racing and in between, and that is not as easy as you may think.We have a great staff on the team who help us be as ready as we can be for another stage. But there is a quick turnaround for a rider between one stage and another, and there is a responsibility to make sure you eat well - and enough - and also continue to rehydrate. That responsibility becomes greater when you are racing back-to-back mountain stages.What makes everything so much harder in the Tour is the size of the event: from the number of people to the logistics of fitting so many people into one region and more.dddddddddddd It all makes for delays that can make your day as a rider in the race so much longer. In this years Tour, the transfers have not been the easiest; we do get stuck in traffic quite a lot.As a rider every hour of recovery helps. You eat on the bus. You are eating as much as you can in a day ... and from as soon as you get off the bike. Trust me, its not that easy. Like today, for Stage 8 ... I began by eating my usual breakfast: an omelette with prosciutto and avocado and a couple of coffees. Then, during the stage, I drank at least eight bidons [plastic bottles] of about 600 millilitres each, and ate 10 rice bars and four energy gels ... thats a lot of calories. But I burnt 4,600 calories.Then, when I was up for the anti-doping control, our team doctor who was with me said I needed to rehydrate when I thought all I had been doing all day was eating and drinking. But I certainly took his advice: by the time settled in to the hotel I had drank two litres.Im grateful I get to go back to the hotel in a car, but when you arrive at the hotel the day does not end there. Again, it is about recovery: you get on the table to be treated by the physiotherapist and then you have a massage. By the time you have dinner, which often includes more rice (I prefer pasta, but rice seems to more effective for me), its 8:30-9 p.m.After telephoning my wife Gemma for a chat, I watch a bit of television, or maybe I just sort of look at the screen in a kind of daze, Im so tired. Then it lights out at 10:30 p.m.Then, we do it all again the next day. At the Tour, thats times 21, or 23, if you include two rest days. The first rest day this year falls on Monday, and Im sure many will welcome it. Chiefs Jerseys China Cheap Nike Chargers Jerseys Cheap Nike Raiders Jerseys Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys China Cheap Nike Giants Jerseys Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys For Sale Wholesale Redskins Jerseys China Cheap Nike Lions Jerseys Packers Jerseys China Cheap Vikings Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Panthers Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Saints Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike Buccaneers Jerseys Cardinals Jerseys China Cheap Rams Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Nike 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys China Bears Jerseys China Cheap Nike Bills Jerseys Ravens Jerseys China Wholesale Falcons Jerseys China ' ' '