OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Jon Garland was brilliant once again.

Garland tossed a four-hitter as the Chicago White Sox continued their torrid start with a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics .

At 16-4, the White Sox are off to the best start in franchise history. Their current eight-game winning streak is the longest in the major leagues this season.

"We only had two hits going into the seventh and still managed to win the game," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "This is a different team this year because our pitching and our hitting are performing when they need to. We're playing good ball right now, that's the bottom line."

After allowing only one run over eight innings in his last start, Garland (4-0) turned in his best performance of the season. The 6-6 righthander struck out three while yielding only one walk in the second shutout of his career.

"He's always had good stuff, but he's never had a chance to show it," Guillen said of Garland. "Tonight he showed what he is really capable of."

The 25-year-old Garland surrendered a two-out double to Marco Scutaro in the fifth but settled down and retired the last 13 batters he faced. He threw 79 of 116 pitches for strikes.

"I had a real good changeup tonight, and for the most part I was ahead in the count," Garland said. "When I'm ahead in the count, they can't sit on my pitches. Our guys got the big hits late and that was the difference."

After Juan Uribe singled with one out in the seventh, backup catcher Chris Widger belted his first homer of the season off Athletics starter Barry Zito to snap a scoreless tie.

"Tonight I was just trying to drive the ball and was fortunate to hit one out," Widger said. "It always feels good to get a big hit, especially a home run, in that situation."

Carl Everett pushed Chicago's lead to 4-0 with a two-run double later in the frame.

Zito (0-4) lasted 6 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs and seven hits with four strikeouts. The former American League Cy Young winner allowed only five runners to reach base over the first six innings.

The A's, who dropped a 1-0 decision to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday, have been held scoreless over their last 22 innings.

"We're just not scoring right now," Athletics manager Ken Macha said. "I'm confident this thing will turn around."

"It's difficult, but it has nothing to do with what I'm doing out there," said Zito about the team's lack of run support. "It's not my job to factor in what our hitters are doing."

The A's were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since 1997.

"We're a good hitting team, so this is frustrating," Oakland first baseman Scott Hatteberg said. "We have to try and relax and play like we're capable of."

Tonight's loss marks the fourth time this season that the A's have been shut out. They were blanked only three times all of last season.