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ARLINGTON, Texas -- With the way Bartolo Colon was dominating on the mound, all the Oakland Athletics needed was the early run they scored off Yu Darvish. Now they just about have a stranglehold on the AL West after beating the Texas Rangers twice in less than 24 hours. Colon scattered seven hits over eight scoreless innings and the division-leading As won 1-0 Saturday, stretching their division lead over Texas to 5 1/2 games with two weeks left in the regular season. "I dont think its much difference because last year we wanted to win every game, and right now we feel like we want to win every game still," said Josh Donaldson, who drew a walk in the first and scored the games only run. "If anything, it might be a little bit different for them. ... Now theyre looking up at us and trying to catch us." Oakland overcame a five-game deficit against the Rangers in the final nine games last year, including a season-ending three-game sweep at home to clinch the division. Texas has 15 games left -- but only one against the As in Sundays series finale. The As won for the seventh time in eight games and have already clinched the key division series. They built a 9-2 lead in Friday nights opener and held on to win 9-8 after Texas had a six-run eighth. "Its big for us to be able to pull these victories off," As centre fielder Coco Crisp said. "One was weird, the other one today was just a pitchers duel." Colon (16-6) struck out seven and lowered what is already his career-best ERA to 2.73. The 40-year-old right-hander became the first to reach 20 victories against Texas, his most wins in his career against any team and the most by any pitcher against Texas -- breaking what had been a tie with Bert Blyleven, Dennis Leonard and Jack Morris. "Bartolo was just absolutely phenomenal today and didnt really give them that much of a chance," Donaldson said. Darvish (12-9) struck out 10 over seven innings in his fourth 1-0 loss of the season. The right-hander from Japan has lost his last four starts, the last two by 1-0 scores, and is winless his last six. Texas scored two runs or less for Darvish his last seven starts. That includes his 2-1 win at Houston on Aug. 12 when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. "I cant control it. I cant do anything about it. The only thing I can do is concentrate on the batter in front of me," Darvish said through an interpreter, insisting that he is not frustrated. "As a pitcher, you cant control how many runs are scored. Am I going to go into the lineup and help the lineup? I cant." Darvish struck out the side in the first, but Donaldson walked and scored on a two-out double by Brandon Moss into the right-field corner. Second baseman Ian Kinslers relay throw to the plate was a bit up the line. Colon walked one before Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his 38th save in 40 chances. Texas has lost all five games on this homestand, and is 2-10 in September. "It put us in second place. Thats about it," manager Ron Washington said. "Weve still got games left to play. Were going to continue to play." Other than the As last season, only two other teams have overcome deficits of five games or more with 15 or fewer games left since 1969, according to STATS. In 2007, Philadelphia had a 5 1/2-game deficit against the New York Mets with 15 games left, the same the Rangers face now. The St. Louis Cardinals were 5 1/2 games behind Houston with 11 games remaining in 2001. Darvish had his majors-best 12th game of at least 10 strikeouts this season, and the 20th in his 58 career games. He also surpassed 250 strikeouts, becoming only the fourth pitcher to accomplish that within his first two MLB seasons. The others were Tim Lincecum, Dwight Gooden and Herb Score. NOTES: The 12:06 p.m. start was the earliest ever at Rangers Ballpark, which is in its 20th season. And it came after a 4-hour, 9-minute game Friday night that matched the fourth-longest nine-inning game in park history. That game ended at 11:16 p.m. ... The last MLB pitcher with four 1-0 losses in the same season was Orel Hershiser in 1989. ... Balfour had allowed seven runs over his previous seven games, but converted five of six saves in that span. Cheap Nike Air Max Shoes Wholesale . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. Nike Air Max Zero Uk . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. http://www.airmax2016uk.biz/nike-air-max-shoes.html . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Air Max 2016 Womens Cheap Nike Air Max 2015 Black . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisvilles final home game for nearly a month was especially memorable because of its precision in a lopsided victory against Missouri State. Certainly, the sixth-ranked Cardinals have room to improve in many areas as they prepare for four road contests over 23 days including a Dec. 28 showdown against in-state rival No. 19 Kentucky in Lexington. For now, the defending national champions look forward to building on its best overall performance of the season. Montrezl Harrell had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Louisville manhandled the Bears 90-60 on Tuesday night. The Cardinals (10-1) took control early and never let up against the Bears (8-2). They combined dominant rebounding and offensive accuracy during a 16-0 first-half run for a 19-4 lead in the first meeting between the schools since 2006. Harrell was among four Cardinals with at least eight rebounds each, a combination that alone outdid MSU in Louisvilles 51-30 domination of the boards including 20-10 offensively. They also outscored the Bears 46-28 inside and held them to 38 per cent shooting to close a 5-0 home stand. Asked if this was Louisvilles best effort to date, Harrell answered, "Id say so. It was a great win. The first half we really got into it, (and it) got us going." Senior guard Russ Smith added 11 points and eight assists, while freshman Terry Rozier had 11 points and eight rebounds. Forwards Stephan Van Treese and Mangok Mathiang combined for 17 rebounds for Louisville, which shot 34 of 66 from the field (52 per cent). Louisville coach Rick Pitino agreed that it was the best he has seen his team play, adding, "I dont know what was better, the defence, the offence or the offensive rebounding. It was just awesome in the first half." Jarmar Gulleys 14 points led the Bears, whose two-game winning streak was thoroughly halted by a Cardinals squad that controlled every facet of the game. MSU led Louisville 4-3 before the Cardinals seized the pace with the big run. The Bears never got closer than 17 after that, spoiling Paul Lusks 100th career game as a coach. "They just dominated us on the glass," Lusk said. "Theyve got a lot of talent but they also play so darn hard.dddddddddddd We just simply couldnt keep them off the glass. That was the telltale of the game." Missouri State brought some impressive credentials into its second meeting against Louisville and first since losing to the Cardinals in the 2006 NIT. The Bears were runners-up to Virginia in the Corpus Christi Challenge, a four-game run that included a win over previously unbeaten Texas A&M. They also boasted an impressive scoring combination in Gulley and Marcus Marshall, who had combined for nearly 27 points per game coming in and were developing into a strong scoring duo in just four games together. Against the Cardinals, though, they combined for only 22 points as Marshall finished with eight. MSUs bench was outscored 32-26, 10 points below their average. Louisville welcomed back point guard Chris Jones from a one-game absence because of a sprained right wrist. Rozier started but the 5-foot-10 junior came in five minutes later with the wrist bandaged and finished with nine points in 19 minutes. The Cardinals were in the midst of their key run when Jones entered. The sequence was highlighted by Chane Behanans thunderous one-handed dunk off of Van Treeses long lead pass and Roziers steal of the inbounds pass and layup seconds later. Louisville continued to overwhelm MSU, which was outrebounded 20-5 through 13 minutes and 27-10 overall in the first half. That statistic offered the best indicator of Louisvilles defensive effort, which disrupted the Bears dribbling, passing and shot selection. The Cardinals nearly matched their per-game blocks average (4.6) by the break alone, finishing with seven and answering everything MSU attempted. "They switched defences a lot," said MSU guard/forward Keith Pickens, who had four points. "It was sometimes hard to read. I think it came down to rebounding early. They killed us on the offensive glass." Louisvilles offence was just as effective, as the Cardinals dissected MSUs zone and muscled their way for baskets. Louisville also had 14 assists and recorded seven blocks. "If we play defence like that, we can beat any team in the country," Rozier said. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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