NEWS » r, the Belmont Stakes winner, also trained by Asmu

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Sure, its the Texas Rangers in town. The very team the Oakland Athletics rallied to beat in Game No. 162 last October for a stunning sweep to steal away the AL West crown from the two-time reigning AL champions. The opponent hardly mattered Monday night. Oakland needed to bounce back and win. Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss hit consecutive home runs in the third inning, A.J. Griffin matched his season high with eight strikeouts and the As beat the Rangers 5-1 to start an important stretch on the heels of a really rough one. This marks Texas first trip to Oakland since losing those final three games of the 2012 regular season to give away the division title to the surprising As, whose latest victory ran their home winning streak in the rivalry to five. "It was big. It was welcomed," said manager Bob Melvin, sporting a bright yellow Golden State Warriors T-shirt under his uniform. "It just felt like we were back in sync." Back home, Oakland looked refreshed after losing six of seven on a 3-7 road trip through New York, Cleveland and Seattle. The As avoided dropping a season-low two games below .500 for the first time since Game 2 on April 2. Griffin (4-3) went seven innings and didnt walk a batter for the first time this season, earning his second victory in six outings since he won back-to-back appearances to start the year. Mitch Moreland homered to give the Rangers the lead in the second, then Eric Sogard and John Jaso hit RBI singles for the As in the bottom half. Griffin faced either the minimum or one more batter in each of his final five innings, helped by a pair of double plays. He improved to 3-0 in four starts against division opponents. "Its the best start command-wise Ive had in the pros, in the major leagues," he said. The right-hander got a scare when he ducked out of the way of Adrian Beltres sharp single up the middle leading off the seventh, and the pitcher patted his hand on his pounding heart once back on his feet. "He was keeping the fastball down and making good pitches," Texas Elvis Andrus said. "There was nothing more we could do. His breaking ball is really slow and its not that easy to adjust to so many mph lower than his fastball." Next, Sean Doolittle came in and struck out the side in order on 12 pitches in the eighth. Cespedes hit an 0-1 pitch just over the centre-field wall above leaping Leonys Martin in the third. But the Cuban slugger came out of the game in the top of the fifth with a stomach bug. "It came on during the game," Melvin said. "He threw up a couple times in the bathroom. Theyre calling it a stomach ailment, they dont think its a stomach virus. They think he should be in good shape to play tomorrow." The Rangers (24-14) arrived in the Bay Area having won seven of nine and began the day with the best record in the majors, but again ran into their division nemesis. Oakland became the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with fewer than 10 to play, beating the Rangers in the regular-season finale. Oakland trailed by 13 games on June 30. "Were not in here for any revenge," Rangers manager Ron Washington said before the game. "They beat us, we understand that, but theres nothing we can do about that. ... Im not coming up in here thinking about what happened in the past. Learn from that, but that certainly isnt fueling us. Whats fueling us is were healthy and were playing good baseball, thats it." The Rangers had their four-game winning streak snapped. They havent won five in a row since June 26-30 last year. Texas righty Justin Grimm (2-3) lost his third straight after receiving one extra day of rest between outings. He gave way to Joseph Ortiz after plunking Daric Barton to begin the sixth. Ortiz immediately allowed Derek Norris double. Moss struck out on four pitches to start the second after fanning four times on 14 total pitches in a 6-1 loss at Seattle. Then, he connected for his sixth home run with a drive to nearly the same spot as Cespedes moments before. It marked the second time this season the As hit back-to-back homers, also done by Jed Lowrie and Chris Young on April 3 against Seattle. Moss homer was the 7,000th in Oakland history. Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson hit the first on April 10, 1968. NOTES: Rangers RHP Colby Lewis, a former As prospect who had surgery last July to repair a torn flexor tendon, was examined by team doctor Keith Meister in Texas and diagnosed with mild tendinitis in his triceps. He is scheduled to throw again this weekend in Arlington and pitch his next rehab outing for Double-A Frisco as soon as Monday. ... Oakland Gold Glove RF Josh Reddick is yet to swing a bat to test his injured right wrist, but hopes to do so soon. There is no tear, so he is encouraged he can avoid surgery, which he had on the left wrist two years ago. ... As CF Coco Crisp (strained left hamstring) ran, hit and shagged flies. If all goes well, he will be activated from the disabled list Wednesday. Fellow OF Chris Young (strained left quadriceps) went 1 for 5 with a home run in an extended spring training game, but didnt feel that good. He is set to play again Tuesday. ... Announced attendance was just 11,030, a far cry from those lively sellouts to end last season. Cheap Nike Running Shoes Online .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Wholesale Nike Running Shoes . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. http://www.cheapnikerunningshoes.com/ . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Nike Running Shoes Clearance . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Nike Running Shoes For Sale Cheap . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- As he walked briskly into the post-race interview area at Saratoga, trainer Bob Baffert said: This is better this year. Why didnt we do that last year?A year after making a similar walk - though with less enthusiasm - following Triple Crown winner American Pharoahs defeat in the Travers, Baffert floated on air after the previously unheralded Arrogate put on a performance for the ages, winning Saturdays Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes by a whopping 13-1/2 lengths over stablemate American Freedom. Moreover, Arrogates final time of 1:59.36 for 1-1/4 miles was a track record, demolishing the mark of 2:00 set by General Assembly in the 1979 Travers.That was ridiculous, Baffert said.The win capped a sensational hour for Arrogates owner, Juddmonte Farms, which also won the Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer Invitational with Flintshire on Saturday. It was also a two-win day for Baffert, who won the Grade 1 Kings Bishop with Drefong.But Arrogate eclipsed all performances on a Breeders Cup-type card at Saratoga, where 13 3-year-olds went into the starting gate for the 147th Travers but only one will be remembered.Arrogate, a son of Unbridleds Song, had never run in a stakes race before Saturday. His three wins coming into this race came against a total of 10 horses. On Aug. 4, he beat two horses in an allowance race, coming from last of three.When Arrogate drew the rail for the Travers, Baffert knew Mike Smith would have to put him into the race from the outset. Smith hustled Arrogate away from the gate but was third under the wire the first time as American Freedom and Laoban had outbroke him.But by the time the field entered the first turn, Arrogate was in front, running an opening quarter of 23.23 seconds. The gray locomotive kept rolling at a brisk clip of 46.84 seconds for a half-mile and 1:10.85 for six furlongs while basically in hand.So smooth, so strong, Smith said. He would look around a lot because hes so immature. Every time he looked too much Id say, Hey, and, man, he would jump to it.Entering the far turn, Arrogate widened his lead and he came to the quarter pole two lengths in front after running a mile in 1:35.52, equaling the second-fastest mile fraction in the history of the race.Smith said he kept busy on Arrogate in the stretch because he was afraid someone was coming, but no one was in shouting distance as Arrogate came to the wire in front of 48,630 spectators.Sent off an 11-1 shot, Arrogate returned $25.40 and keyed a Bafffert exacta that returned $134.dddddddddddd50.It was Baffert who picked out Arrogate at auction for Juddmonte, which three years ago retained him as their Southern California trainer following the death of Juddmontes previous U.S. trainer Bobby Frankel several years earlier. Arrogate brought $560,000 as a yearling.Rafael Bejarano had ridden Arrogate in his three previous victories, but he also had ridden American Freedom to a victory in the Iowa Derby and a runner-up finish in the Haskell Invitational. Bejarano said owner Gary West wanted him to ride American Freedom.I wanted to ride [Arrogate], but there was nothing I could do because the owner wanted me to ride that other horse, said Bejarano, adding that Arrogate was much better than the other horses and he loved the distance.American Freedom finished a half-length in front of third-place finisher Gun Runner, who finished 3-3/4 lengths ahead of Gift Box in fourth. He was followed, in order, by Governor Malibu, Connect, Creator, My Man Sam, Destin, Forever dOro, 5-2 favorite Exaggerator, Laoban, and Anaximandros.Jockey Kent Desormeaux was on Exaggerator, who he said was empty before the running started.In addition to trying to boost his credentials for the 3-year-old championship, Exaggerator was trying to disprove the notion he is simply a wet-track specialist. He has won three Grade 1s in the slop this year. His last effort on a fast track was an 11th-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.Im not going to scratch my head, Im going to accept it as racing and Ill figure out what happened in the ensuing days, said Keith Desormeaux, trainer of Exaggerator. I can assure you theres nothing physically wrong with him. It kind of mimicked his Belmont race. Its hard for me to accept that its all about the track.Trainer Steve Asmussen was glad to see Gun Runner bounce back from his fifth-place finish in the Haskell with a respectable third-place showing in the Travers.On a dry track we saw Gun Runner is of very high quality, he said. It is very comforting to be able to throw out the Haskell.Creator, the Belmont Stakes winner, also trained by Asmussen, finished seventh. Asmussen deduced that Creator had the same troubles with the turns at Saratoga as he did at Fair Grounds this winter.Saratogas probably not for him, Asmussen said.They used to say that about Baffert. They werent saying it Saturday. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '