PITTSBURGH -- At 40 years old and 16 seasons into his major league career, Bartolo Colon thinks hes having a career season. Terrell Owens Jersey . On Monday night, Coco Crisps speed helped preserve another win for Colon. Colon allowed one run over seven innings to outduel Jeff Locke as the Oakland Athletics won for the ninth time in their past 12 games, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 in a matchup of All-Star starters. Colon (12-3) moved into a tie for second in the majors in victories, and has the second-most wins by a 40-year-old in As history. He allowed seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts. The final pitch Colon threw Monday resulted in Crisp making a diving catch to preserve Oaklands lead. Crisp ran to his right to track down a hard-hit sinking liner headed for the left-centerfield gap from Andrew McCutchen with two men on and two outs. "The game was decided right there, to tell you the truth," said As manager Bob Melvin, who called the catch "the play of the year." Said Colon, through a translator: "I said, three times, Thank you, when we got back to the dugout." Colon shook off a tough-luck 3-1 defeat in his previous start to win for the ninth time in his last 10 outings. "Ive never pitched better than this year," said Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young winner. "This has been my best season." Locke (8-2) had a personal eight-game winning streak snapped, losing for the first time since his first start of the season April 10. He allowed three hits and three walks in seven innings. "I wouldnt change anything about it," said Locke, selected as an All-Star over the weekend. "Everything I did, Id take it out there the next start." Except, perhaps, a walk of Derek Norris with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh that gave the As a 2-0 lead. The Pirates got runners on second and third with two outs against Ryan Cook in the eighth, but Clint Barmes lined out to left. Grant Balfour remained perfect in 23 save opportunities when he worked a flawless ninth. Jed Lowrie had two of Oaklands three hits and one of its runs. The As (53-37) improved to a season-high 16 games over .500 and held on to first place in the American League West. Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez and Barmes each had two hits for the Pirates (53-35), who have lost five of seven to lose their grip on the majors best record -- and on first place in the NL Central. They trail the St. Louis Cardinals by a half-game. Locke faced one more than the minimum through six innings. Oaklands first run came on Josh Donaldsons sacrifice fly in the fourth. Lowrie had the Athletics first hit of the game, a double off the wall in right-centre. He advanced to third on a wild pitch -- catcher Russell Martins throw beat him, but Alvarezs tag swiped through too early. "Theres nothing I can do there," Alvarez said. "Try to tag him and run into it. Its just, that happens 100 times and 99 out of 100 times Ill tag him, you know? Just one of those plays." The Pirates only run came in the bottom of the inning when Barmes scored on a two-out infield single by Tabata. McCutchen -- an All-Star selection who earlier extended his hitting streak to 10 games -- came up and hit the ball hard into the gap, but Crisp thwarted Pittsburghs chance to tie or take the lead. "Right when I hit it, I knew he was going to catch it," McCutchen said. "Its Coco Crisp and hes fast. I told myself, Im catching that ball too, if Im out there playing. "Off the bat, I knew there was a chance it would fall but there was more of a chance he was going to catch it." NOTES: Oakland is 10-0 all-time against Pittsburgh -- the only team in the majors to have never lost to another team in the majors. ... Pirates 2B Neil Walker sat out his second consecutive game since leaving Saturdays game because of discomfort in his right side. He worked out during batting practice. ... Before the game, the As recalled 2B Grant Green from Triple-A Sacramento. The 2009 first-round pick went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his major league debut. Oakland designated INF Adam Rosales for assignment. Melvin said Green will regularly be in the lineup. ... Rookie right-handers will face each other during the middle game of the series Tuesday: The Pirates Gerrit Cole (4-1, 3.94) against the As Dan Straily (5-2, 4.52). Straily is 2-0 with an 0.69 ERA and .119 opponents batting average in interleague play this season; Cole won each of his first four starts until losing a 6-4 decision to Philadelphia in his most recent outing Thursday. Ronnie Lott 49ers Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Deion Sanders Womens Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. http://www.thenflsf49ersfanatic.com/c-4-49ers-steve-young-jersey.aspx .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. The International Olympic Committees compromise on Russian eligibility in the upcoming Rio Games, announced Sunday, is guaranteed to satisfy the fewest number of people. It punts responsibility to each sports international federation on an absurdly compressed timetable, further complicating a Summer Olympics already beset with problems.With the torch lighting in 11 days, here are some takeaways from the ruling:The IOCs decision underscores how badly broken global anti-doping and sports governance are, on the eve of its showcase event. Sixteen years worth of attempts to harmonize global anti-doping rules have brought us to this juncture, and many have lost faith in the system. Individual athletes can be suspended for small amounts of pain or cold medications and inadvertent use of tainted supplements, but higher up the food chain, when it comes to federations and nations, the standard of strict liability doesnt apply.The rationale for the IOCs decision was individual athletes rights versus considerable evidence of systemic corruption in Russias sports establishment, and government involvement in that establishment. But the IOC then pivoted and said any Russian athlete with a prior doping offense cannot compete even if his or her ban was served. This rights issue has been arbitrated before and wont stand up if legally challenged.A wider investigation into Russian sport should have been triggered no later than January 2016, when Part II of the World Anti-Doping Agencys independent commission report was released. There was plenty of smoke at that point and athlete representatives called for it. Insttead, WADA did not act until May, pushing its newest report to mid-July. Joe Montana Womens Jersey. Now, each individual international federation will cull through each Russian athlete using criteria that are not well defined, and apt to be unevenly applied. Many, if not all, of them are vulnerable to same overlapping interests as the IOC and WADA. So far, federations have rubber-stamped the Russian Olympic Committees nominations. What federation is going to buck Russia when the IOC wouldnt?Expect bureaucratic confusion and legal/arbitration challenges right up to the Opening Ceremony on Aug. 5 in Rio. The Parade of Nations will be suspenseful as we await the letter R.Fairly or not, any event where a Russian athlete competes or medals in Rio will be dominated by this conversation. This, in turn, obscures the fact that doping is hardly just a Russian problem.Whistleblower Yulia Stepanova was denied the chance to compete as a neutral athlete in Rio, condescendingly referred to as an athlete who doesnt meet ethical criteria in the IOCs ruling. Stepanova had to flee Russia in fear after helping expose corruption. Track and fields world governing body (the IAAF) and WADA both supported her bid to compete under a neutral flag. The IOC hid behind the rationale that athletes must compete under a national flag, when in fact the IOC has allowed athletes to compete under the Olympic flag in past Games, and authorized a refugee team for Rio. Not a great message to whistleblowers going forward. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '