Colon blows away Jays

Luke Prokopec pitched well enough to win. Bartolo Colon pitched better.
Colon threw a complete-game four hitter, and Jim Thome hit his 11th homer, as the visiting Cleveland Indians finished off a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-1 win yesterday.
“He was outstanding,” Toronto manager Buck Martinez said of Colon. “I don’t know how he ever gets beat. This guy is as dominant as any pitcher can be.”
The Jays couldn’t catch up to Colon (6-3), who was still hitting 99 miles per hour on the radar gun in the ninth inning. He struck out five, walked two, and lowered his ERA to 2.48—third best in the American League.
Toronto’s sputtering offence scored only three runs in the three-game series. “I don’t know that we’ve had a better pitched series against us,” said Martinez.
Prokopec (2-7) was charged with three runs—all earned—in six innings. He gave up five hits, struck out a season-high six, and walked three.
“It was my best start at home, that’s for sure,” said the Aussie righty. “I threw the ball well, I was ahead of most guys. It’s just a matter of timing, just trying to get the sticks going at the same time as the pitching.”
Prokopec nearly came unglued in the fifth, loading the bases with two walks and a hit batter. Matt Lawton singled home one run and Omar Vizquel hit a sacrifice fly before Ellis Burks ended the inning with a fielder’s choice ground-out.
Prokopec flirted with disaster again in the sixth. Thome led off with a single and moved to third on Travis Fryman’s double to left.
Russell Branyan struck out and centrefielder Chris Magruder was walked intentionally, loading the bases for catcher Einar Diaz, who hit one into short left.
But Toronto shortstop Felipe Lopez bailed out his pitcher with a fine running catch, then John McDonald ended the inning with a foul pop-up to catcher Darrin Fletcher.
Thome homered to right leading off the second, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead.
“We were fortunate to score off [Prokopec],” said Thome. “He kept us off balance. He knows how to pitch, that’s for sure.”
Toronto’s only run came in the third when Vernon Wells, Shannon Stewart, and Dave Berg strung together a trio of two-out singles. An error by Magruder allowed Wells to take third on Stewart’s hit, meaning the run was unearned.
Stewart opened the sixth with a double and moved up on Berg’s grounder to second. Raul Mondesi followed with a weak bouncer towards Colon. He charged the ball and flipped it to Diaz, who tagged out a sliding Stewart in a close play at the plate.
Toronto (17-30) has now lost five of six following a three-game sweep of Oakland last weekend. The Indians (23-26) rebounded after being swept in Detroit to begin their six-game road trip.
A crowd of 22,380 took in the game under sunny skies at an open SkyDome.
Elsewhere, Minnesota beat Anaheim 5-2, Oakland blanked Tampa Bay 7-0, the N.Y. Yankees routed Boston 14-5, Detroit dumped the Chicago White Sox 9-2, Seattle thumped Baltimore 8-1, and Kansas City swept Texas 7-5 and 9-8.