Oakland, CA -- Bartolo Colon outdueled Barry Zito in a battle between aces and Darin Erstad snapped a tie with an RBI single during a two- run seventh inning, as the Angels downed Oakland, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game series from McAfee Coliseum.

Colon (2-1) earned the win after yielding just one run on two hits over seven strong innings. Colon, who retired the final nine batters he faced, struck out five and did not issue a walk.

"This is the best I've felt," said Colon. "I try not to pay attention to who is pitching. I try and concentrate on the nine guys I have to get out. All of my pitches were working good even in the bullpen before the game."

Steve Finley hit a solo homer for the Angels, who have won three of their last four games.

Zito (0-3) was extremely solid on the hill, but lost for the third time in as many starts this season. The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner permitted just two runs on four hits over eight frames, but yielded both runs in the critical seventh inning to put his team in a hole it could not overcome.

Scott Hatteberg drove in the lone run for the Athletics, who have dropped three of their past four contests.

The Angels trailed 1-0, but finally touched Zito in the seventh.

Finley began the rally after he was hit by a pitch with one out and later came all the way around the bases to score on Robb Quinlan's double that rolled to the wall in left-center field. Erstad then followed with a sharply-hit single off Eric Chavez's glove that plated Quinlan for a 2-1 edge.

Colon set Oakland down in order in the seventh before turning it over to the bullpen. Scot Shields pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

The Angels then blew the game open in the ninth as they scored four runs.

Finley hit a mammoth one-out solo homer to right field to make it 3-1 and the score continued to get worse for the A's. Bengie Molina then singled and Lou Merloni followed with a walk. Chone Figgins later lined a two-out single off Huston Street that scored Molina, and on the play, Merloni also touched home on a fielding error by Eric Byrnes. Vladimir Guerrero capped the big inning with an RBI hit to make it 6-1.

Francisco Rodriguez came out of the bullpen and worked a perfect ninth to preserve the win.

Oakland did not get a baserunner over the final five innings and finished with just two hits.

"He (Colon) was that good," said Oakland's Mark Kotsay. "He kept the ball down and ran it up to 97. He attacked us. It's a bit frustrating."

After neither team got a runner to second base over the first 3 1/2 innings, the Athletics finally got something going in the home fourth. Kotsay led off the frame with a double and later scored on Hatteberg's two-out base hit to right field.

Game Notes:

Zito, who struck out six and walked only one, hit three batters. It was the first time an Oakland pitcher hit three batters in one game since Tim Hudson did it in June 11, 2004...Colon improved to 5-3 in 11 career starts against Oakland, while Zito fell to 10-6 lifetime versus the Angels. Colon made his 250th career appearance...Oakland's current 25-man roster is 4-for-50 lifetime versus Rodriguez.