OAKLAND, Calif. - Jarrod Parker looked as if he might finally run into a rough start after falling behind just two batters into the game. After that, it was a typical Parker outing. Parker matched an obscure mark by allowing one run or less for the 10th time in 14 career starts, pitching the Oakland Athletics past the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Monday night. "It seems like its the same game every time," manager Bob Melvin said. "They get one run. Today started off a little spotty for him, a double in the corner and they score a run early. It looked like maybe he didnt have his best stuff. He then certainly did his thing." Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss homered against their former team to send Daisuke Matsuzaka to an early exit and Parker (5-3) did the rest from there, allowing six hits in 6 2-3 innings. Parker is the first pitcher since Ferdie Schupp of the New York Giants with a string like this in his first 14 starts, although Schupp was a spot starter who pitched mostly in relief when he did it from 1913-17. "Its just cool," Parker said. "Obviously its something I never really thought of and didnt think it was possible at all. Its fun to look at and Im obviously honoured to be compared to those guys. Its awesome. I do what I can and will try to do less than one run every time." Parker yielded a double to Daniel Nava to start the game, followed by an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia. But the Red Sox didnt threaten again until they put the first two runners on in the seventh. Parker got Mike Aviles to hit into a forceout and struck out Nick Punto. Sean Doolittle came in and struck out Nava to end the threat, marking the seventh time in Parkers last eight starts he has held the opposition to one run or less. "Parker was able to throw his off-speed stuff when he was behind in the count," Boston manager Bobby Valentine said. "He used both sides of the plate with his fastball. A couple of times when we had a threat going, he snuffed it out pretty quickly." Matsuzaka (0-3) was chased before retiring a batter in the second inning and failed for the sixth time to join Hideo Nomo and Tomo Ohka as the only Japanese pitchers with 50 career wins. Matsuzaka has not won a game since May 8, 2011, against Minnesota and now might be headed back to the disabled list with a stiff neck. "Dice obviously didnt have his good stuff tonight," Valentine said. "He went out with a big crick in his neck. We were hoping he was going to work through it. As it turns out he didnt work through it." Reddick, acquired last December in a trade for injured closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney, hit his 19th homer with two outs in the first inning to tie it at 1. "Its always going to be something special to do well against these guys," Reddick said. Matsuzaka then failed to retire any of the five batters he faced in the second to match the shortest start of his career. Seth Smith opened the four-run second with a drive to centre field that hit off Ryan Kalishs glove for a double. Derek Norris then walked and Moss hit the next pitch over the right-field fence for his ninth homer in 22 games with Oakland. Moss played 49 games with Boston in 2007-08 but has come into his own with the As in the past month. Matsuzaka was replaced by Clayton Mortensen after Brandon Inge singled and Cliff Pennington walked. Reddick added a sacrifice fly that made it 5-1 and closed the line on Matsuzaka, who allowed four hits and walked two. "My body wasnt in the condition it probably should have been but despite the home run in the first inning, I got out of that inning and I thought Id be able to fight through a few more innings," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. The long balls gave the As home runs in 13 straight games, their longest streak since doing it in 14 consecutive games early in the 2004 season. Mortensen helped save the Boston bullpen by pitching five innings, allowing only a sacrifice fly to Inge in the sixth inning. NOTES: Boston 3B Will Middlebrooks will be out for at least a few days with an injured left hamstring. Valentine said the team would likely bring up another position player on Tuesday and either place Middlebrooks on the DL or send down one of the 13 pitchers. ... Oakland LHP Dallas Braden threw off the mound for the first time since March as he works back from elbow ligament replacement surgery last May. ... As RHP Bartolo Colon (6-7) is expected to come off a DL stint for a strained right oblique to make his first start since June 17 on Tuesday against Jon Lester (5-5). wholesale jerseys . The level-headed skipper said all along his young, powerful hitters would eventually put things together. Whether that was wishful thinking or well-placed confidence, Melvin was right. Yoenis Cespedes had his first career four-hit game, including a homer and three RBIs, and the Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 9-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep. cheapjerseys.com . Since being signed on Dec. 16, the 6-foot-9 McGuire has appeared in nine games. Hes averaged 2.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and an assist in 16 minutes per game. http://www.comcheapjerseys.com/ . The four top teams from the regular season have advanced through two rounds of playoffs to square off in this weekends preliminary finals. cheap jerseys nfl . The club fired assistant coaches Randy Cunneyworth and Randy Ladouceur on Wednesday. cheap jerseys . Chad Owens caught three passes and returned four kicks to set pro footballs record for all-purpose yards in a season. NEW ORLEANS -- Even if Colin Kaepernicks second start was hardly as spectacular as his first, he played well enough to extend coach Jim Harbaughs quarterback quandary for at least another week. With the 49ers defence making big plays of its own, it might not have mattered who was under centre. Ahmad Brooks and Donte Whitner each returned interceptions for touchdowns, a pass rush led by Aldon Smith sacked Drew Brees five times, and San Francisco ended New Orleans three-game winning streak, 31-21 on Sunday. "We always want to be the best defence on the field, especially on the road," Whitner said. "When you play us, you are going to get hit. Thats our identity: smart, hard-nose, physical football." Kaepernick was solid in his second career start while Alex Smith, deemed healthy enough to suit up after recovering from a concussion, watched from the sideline in uniform. Kaepernick passed for 231 yards, including a short touchdown to Frank Gore. He also ran for a 7-yard score. He threw his first career interception, but it was inconsequential. "We got a win, so thats all that really matters," Kaepernick said. Niners coach Jim Harbaugh implied the decision to start Kaepernick had more to do with preserving Smiths long-term health than on performance, but he was noncommittal about who might start next week at St. Louis. "The fact he had symptoms seven to eight days later, Im not going to put a guy back out there," Harbaugh said of Smith. "He eventually got cleared. The plan was to rotate him back into the action (in practice), but not all the way to the front line. ... That would give him a chance to get cleared up completely." Smith did not seem to think he needed to more time, but kept complaints to a minimum. "Obviously I want to play. I want to start. I think I should, but its not my decision," Smith said. "Im part of this team and its great to go out and get a win." Brees finished with 267 yards and three TDs. After rushing for 140 yards or more in each of its previous three games, New Orleans (5-6) managed only 59 yards against San Francisco (8-2-1). One of Brees scoring passes went to Marques Colston, who set a Saints record with his 56th career touchdown for the club. The Niners gained 144 yards on the ground, led by Gore with 83. The Saints shut down tight end Vernon Davis, but the Niners other tight end, Delanie Walker, had three catches for 81 yards, including one for 45 yards to set up a touchdown. The Saints had to play recently acquired reserve William Robinson at right tackle after rookie Bryce Harris, making his first start because of injuries to Zach Strief and Charles Brown, was carted off with an apparent right leg injury. But just about every Saints lineman was beaten on a Niners sack. Brooks, Aldon Smith and Justin Smith eaach had 1 1/2 sacks, all in the second half.dddddddddddd "Theyre a good defence," Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt said of San Francisco. "When you lose your right tackle and youve got to play with a young man whos been here four days, thats a tough challenge." San Franciscos interceptions came during a 21-0 spurt that turned a 14-7 deficit into a 28-14 lead. "You give them two free ones and thats what they thrive on," Brees said. "All of a sudden they rattle off 21 points in a short amount of time and we really felt like we had the game under control." Brooks snagged the first, returning it 50 yards late in the first half to tie the game at 14. The second came on Brees first pass of the second half. The ball deflected off Colstons hands as the leaping receiver was upended and briefly shaken up. Whitner snagged the deflected pass and returned it 42 yards to make it 28-14. Since losing to the New York Giants on Oct. 14, the Niners are 5-0-1 and hold a 2 1/2-game lead in the NFC West. It seems their biggest problem at this point is deciding who should be their No. 1 QB. Smith, who led the Niners to the NFC title game last season, started the first nine games. "That would be coachs decision," Kaepernick said. "Im just trying to take a similar approach that Ive been taking, just keep my head down, keep working and see where it takes me." The Saints, meanwhile, missed a chance to pull into a tie for the last NFC wild card berth, and remain a game out with another tough game coming up at Atlanta on Thursday night. Kaepernick gave the Niners the early lead, scoring easily on a read-option run that fooled the Saints defence. New Orleans tied it on tight end David Thomas 6-yard catch, then took the lead on Colstons TD, capping a drive that began when Ted Ginn Jr.s fumbled punt was recovered by Rafael Bush on the 49ers 10. New Orleans was looking to go up by two scores after Kaepernicks interception on an underthrown pass that cornerback Patrick Robinson easily caught. Instead, Brooks tied it, stepping in front of a pass for Jimmy Graham. NOTES: Saints DT Brodrick Bunkley was thrown out for unsportsmanlike conduct with 1:05 left for kicking lineman Alex Boone in the back of the helmet right after the Saints had blocked a field goal ... Aldon Smiths sack of Brees in the third quarter was his 16th this season, 30th in his career. He became only the second player to reach 30 sacks in his first two seasons, joining Reggie White (31) and Derrick Thomas (30). He reached it in fewer games (27) than either of them. ... Niners WR Kyle Williams and RB Kendall Hunter both were shaken up on the same play in the second half with apparent leg injuries. ... Saints S Isa Abdul-Quddus left the game after a hard collision with tight end Delanie Walker in the fourth quarter. ' ' '