| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Unlike early September last year, the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers are neck and neck chasing the AL West title. Both clubs are ready for this race to go right down to the end -- again. Coco Crisp hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth that was confirmed by a video review, and the As pulled into a first-place tie with Texas by beating the Rangers 4-2 on Monday. "You enjoy the race," As closer Grant Balfour said. "Id like to say were sitting here 10 games up." Yoenis Cespedes homered leading off the second inning and Chris Young added an RBI single in Oaklands fourth straight win. David Murphy hit a tying two-run shot in the Texas fifth for his first homer since Aug. 1. But the Rangers loaded the bases against Dan Otero with one out in the sixth and couldnt deliver. Crisp set a career high with his 17th homer that stayed just fair of the left-field foul pole, topping his 16 for Cleveland in 2005. He homered for the third straight game to help the As (79-58) move a season-best 21 games over .500. "I didnt think it was going to stay fair," he said. Crisp fouled a ball off the area below his right knee in the sixth. He stayed in and struck out, and then was removed for what the team called a shin contusion. Crisp said he felt fine afterward. In games so meaningful, he will do all he can to stay on the field. "Its a back and forth that kind of pumps your blood a little bit," Crisp said. "Obviously you want to be close or you want to be in front, in first place or as far in front as possible. Were fortunate were in the situation we are now." As lefty reliever Brett Anderson, pitching at home for the first time since April 29, worked a 10-pitch seventh, helped by Ian Kinslers inning-ending double play. Ryan Cook worked out of a jam in the eighth and Balfour finished for his 36th save in 38 tries as the Rangers left the tying run at second. "I was running on fumes," Balfour said of pitching for the fourth time in five days. "I was just trying to pitch with some guts." Oakland won for the seventh time in eight games and is hoping for another strong September like its 17-11 showing last year on the way to the West crown on the final day. The Rangers, who were unable to hold off streaking Oakland last year, fell out of sole possession of first place for the first time since Aug. 9, the last time the As shared the lead. "I expect it to go all the way down to the end. Division champs over there," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I dont expect them to go away and I certainly dont expect us to go away. Everything goes through Oakland. Doesnt matter where positioned in the standings right now." If Washington intended to put a target on the As, manager Bob Melvin quipped, "Ill flip it back to him." The Rangers had their three-game road winning streak snapped with just their third defeat in the last 15 games away from Arlington. Young singled in a second run for the As three batters after Cespedes connected for his 21st homer, against Derek Holland (9-7). Center fielder Leonys Martin missed the ball on Youngs base hit and it got past him for a two-base error. Young tried to score on the play and was thrown out at home after stumbling slightly rounding third. "Were playing OK, maybe not our best, and were tied for first with a team playing well, too," Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre said. "Well take our chances. Our destiny is in our hands." Top As prospect Michael Choice went 0 for 2 with a walk in his major league debut as the designated hitter. Dan Straily (8-7) pitched five innings to win back-to-back starts for the first time since early July, putting together two solid outings following a seven-start winless stretch in which he went 0-5. "You come out there and understand the magnitude of the situation, and youre very determined to get the job done," Straily said. Cespedes singled in the fifth for consecutive multihit games as the As began a stretch with 19 of their final 26 games against divisional opponents. Lance Berkman started at DH and went 0 for 4 one day after Texas activated him from the disabled list. He had been out since July 7 with left hip inflammation and a sore surgically repaired right knee. The Rangers won three of the teams first four series this year -- and, after this week, the clubs play once more in Arlington from Sept. 13-15. NOTES: Holland allowed more than one home run for just the third time all year. ... The As are 14-4 when Cespedes homers. ... Oakland is 20-22 vs. the West since May 19 compared to 41-18 against other opponents. ... The Rangers will recall RHP Ross Wolf and OFs Engel Beltre and Joey Butler on Tuesday. Cheap Authentic Jerseys . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. http://www.cheapnflauthenticjerseys.us.com/ . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Wholesale Jerseys . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 16-driver championship field that would be whittled down to create a winner-take-all season finale is among radical changes reportedly being considered by NASCAR. NASCAR chairman Brian France has repeatedly said he wants to place a greater emphasis on winning, and hes never ruled out tinkering with the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format in an effort to create the "Game 7 moments" he covets. The Charlotte Observer first reported Friday night a possible overhaul to the Chase format that France first introduced in 2004 and has made periodic changes to several times since. Citing anonymous sources, The Observer outlined three major changes beginning with expanding the field from 12 drivers to 16 -- meaning a win during the "regular season" would virtually guarantee a driver a spot in the field. Once the field is set, The Observer said NASCAR is considering eliminations during the 10-race Chase. The field would be cut after the third, sixth and ninth races. The proposed eliminations would drop the lowest four drivers from title contention after the third, sixth and ninth races, leaving four drivers eligible for a "winner-take-all" race in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The four remaining drivers would go into Homestead with their points reset and tied in the standings, The Observer said. A statement from NASCAR chief communications officer Brett Jewkes was non-committal on The Observer report. "NASCAR has begun the process of briefing key industry stakeholders on potential concepts to evolve its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship format," Jewkes said. "This dialogue is the final phase of a multi-year process that has included the review of extensive fan research, partner and industry feedback and other data-driven insights. NASCAR has no plans to comment further until the stakeholder discussions are complete. We hope to announce any potential changes for the 2014 season to our media and fans very soon." But driver Denny Hamlin posted a series of Tweets on Saturday afternoon that supported the format if NASCAR ultimately moves forward with the changes. NASCAR is expected to officially outline any changes later this month. "This points system change is going to be a really good thing. Trust in it and watch how exciting each chase race is going to be," Hamlin posted. Hamlin also Tweeted that every Chase race will now be as exciting as the September race at Richmond, which is the final race to set the Chase field. He also responded to two fans who criticized the format. One arggued it was "artificially construed excitement" instead of the traditional consistency that NASCAR used for decades in crowning its champion.dddddddddddd "Consistency will keep you up top," Hamlin replied. Hamlin received support from 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who replied on Twitter to him that he also liked the reported new format. "Guess we may be in the minority here," Keselowski said. NASCAR has been working feverishly behind the scenes to improve its on-track product, particularly at 1.5-mile tracks, and at least some changes are expected to the points system to meet Frances desire to put a greater emphasis on winning. France was thrilled with the finish of the March race at California, where feuding drivers Hamlin and Joey Logano relentlessly raced for the win. The two ended up wrecking -- Hamlin ended up with a broken bone in his back that sidelined him for more than a month -- and Kyle Busch slid through the carnage for the victory as a furious Tony Stewart nearly came to blows with Logano on pit road. Its that kind of competitiveness, compelling action and drama that France seeks every week. Despite introducing The Chase in 2004, NASCAR has failed to create many of those breathtaking "Game 7" moments in the finale. The debut was successful as Kurt Busch beat Jimmie Johnson for the title by eight points, and five drivers went into the 2005 finale mathematically eligible to win the championship. Then Jimmie Johnson reeled off five consecutive championships, snapped only by Tony Stewarts race-winning, championship-deciding showing in the 2011 finale. Keselowski won easily in 2012 when Johnson was felled by mechanical problems, and it was Johnson, again, in an easy Sunday drive for win No. 6 in November. So a shake up to the system wouldnt be unexpected. But it may not necessarily look like what The Observer reported -- the newspaper was clear the format is only being considered -- because its not unlike NASCAR to float ideas to gauge reaction. For example, NASCAR officials met in October with drivers to discuss an overhaul to qualifying procedures. Among the "potential" changes discussed that day was road course-style qualifying everywhere but Daytona and Talladega. NASCAR said it was considering a 60-minute drafting session for Daytona and Talladega qualifying. In reality, cars will qualify as usual next month at Daytona while NASCAR is now apparently considering three rounds of "knockout style" qualifying -- similar to what Formula One and IndyCar use -- everywhere else but Talladega. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
|
