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Oakland pitching resurgent and exciting

If American League teams were thinking this year would be the end of Oakland`s run of dominant pitching, it now looks as though they can forget about that.

Barry Zito won his fifth straight start, combining with two relievers on a seven-hitter, and the Athletics crept closer in the AL West race with a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. After losing the first game of the series, Oakland allowed one run while winning the last two. Zito (8-8) again followed a superb start by Rich Harden, just as he did last week when both didn`t allow a hit until the eighth inning of consecutive starts. Oakland starters are 19-5 with a 2.62 earned run average in their last 28 games.

"Their staff`s going through a hot streak right now and they`re all throwing well," the Angels pitcher Paul Byrd said. "You could say our offense is slumping, but good pitching beats good hitting."