OAKLAND, Calif.
Troy Stokes Jr. Jersey . -- Oakland Athletics leadoff hitter Coco Crisp tinkered with his swing for a few days and finally got the results he has been looking for. That is critical for a team trying to hang on in the AL West after owning the best record in baseball for a majority of the season. Crisp hit a tiebreaking three-run triple in the fourth inning to help Scott Kazmir earn his career-best 14th win, and the As beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game losing streak. "I havent been hitting well at all so Im trying to figure out some things to try to be successful with whatever Im dealing with," Crisp said. "These past couple of days, whatever Ive been trying to do it seems like it could work so Im trying to stick with that and see what happens." Crisp wouldnt divulge what changes he has made to his swing but it is clear he knew something had to change. Coming off a miserable road trip when he went 2-for-23, Crisp grounded out and singled before lining an 0-1 pitch from Mets starter Dillon Gee down the right field line with the bases loaded. It was Crisps third triple this season. The As, who avoided losing six consecutive games for the first time since 2012, remained a half-game behind the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. "Its very rare that he goes through a stretch like that," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said of Crisp. "Its not like he was striking out all the time (or) taking off-balance swings. A hit like that, especially with runners in scoring position in a tight game, can do wonders for the personality." Kazmir (14-5) allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He retired nine of his final 10 batters after giving up a solo home run to Travis dArnaud leading off the fourth. New York lost its third straight. Oakland had been mired in a team-wide hitting slump before coming up with its most productive game in a week. Crisp, the As leadoff hitter who has been in and out of the lineup with lingering neck pain, provided the biggest boost with his first multi-hit game since July 8. Josh Reddick added a two-run homer, and Alberto Callaspo drove in a run with a sacrifice fly two batters before Crisps bases-clearing hit. The Mets avoided making history but couldnt snap their skid. New York had been held to four hits or fewer in its previous five games. According to stats provided to the team by Elias Sports Bureau, no club had ever done that in six straight. The Mets managed seven hits this time but it wasnt enough to prevent their second loss in three games against the As this season. Gee (4-6) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander fell to 0-5 in his past seven starts and is winless since July 9. "He was up in the zone," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Thats not where hes supposed to be. The balls Coco hit were because he fell behind in the count. Hes a better pitcher than hes showing." WORLD SERIES REDUX This was just the Mets second visit to Oakland since the teams played in the 1973 World Series. New York lost two of three games at the Coliseum in 2005. ON FIRE DArnauds home run was his fourth in 12 games. In 43 games since being brought up from Triple-A on June 24, he is batting .267 with eight homers, 10 doubles, 22 RBIs and 10 runs scored. TRAINERS ROOM Mets: As expected, New York placed RHP Bartolo Colon on the bereavement list following the death of his mother. RHP Gonzalez Germen was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take Colons roster spot. ... RHP Jacob deGrom pitched to hitters and is on schedule to come off the DL on Friday. ... 2B Daniel Murphy was given the night off. Murphy went into the day leading the NL with 152 hits. Athletics: INF Nick Punto (hamstring) will begin to do more baseball activities in the coming days. ... OF Craig Gentry (hand) was slated to play seven innings for Triple-A Sacramento. Kyle Blanks (calf strain) was penciled in at DH. UP NEXT Mets: RHP Zach Wheeler (8-8) makes his second career start against Oakland. Wheeler allowed six runs and lasted just two innings in his only other outing against the As on June 25, the shortest start of his career. Athletics: RHP Jeff Samardzija (3-2) pitches the second half of this two-game series. He is unbeaten in five starts at the Coliseum.
Schoolboy Rowe Jersey . Pikul Khueanpet scored early in the second half and Kanjana Sungngoen made it 2-0 in the 65th minute of the playoff. Tuyet Dong narrowed the margin with goal four minutes from time. The win gave Thailand fifth place at the Asian Cup and the last of the continents qualifying spots for the 2015 Womens World Cup in Canada.
Dick McAuliffe Jersey .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown.CALGARY - Following what some are calling a dream season, Marielle Thompson believes she still has much more to prove.After winning gold in womens ski cross at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Thompson went on to capture her second Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup champion.It was kind of — people have been saying — the dream season, said Thompson, 22, from Whistler, B.C.Thompson will begin defence of her title this weekend at the season-opening Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup at Nakiska Ski Area outside of Calgary.Im just trying to build on the momentum from last year, she said. Im pretty young and I feel like Im still building on my skiing and improving.While Thompson won World Cup titles in 2012 and again last year, she has set her sights on winning gold at the 2015 world championship in Kreischberg, Austria in late January. She still remembers finishing second behind Swiss skier Fanny Smith at the 2013 worlds in Voss, Norway.I still have things to do, said Thompson, who beat Smith in the final World Cup race of the season last year to capture her second Crystal Globe. It was pretty tight, but I finished with the win. It was pretty exciting because that last final heat, if she beat me, she won the overall and if I beat her, I won the overall.Thompson began her season last year with a World Cup win at Nakiska as she finished ahead of Smith and French veteran Ophelie David.Last year I started off really well with a win at Nakiska, so I hope I can make that happen again, said Thompson, who should be once again challenged by Smith and David. The course was really fun last year and its the same guys building it, so Im sure it will be awesome again.Both the womens and mens qualification runs will take place at Nakiska on Friday.I think I get more nervous for qualifying than for racing because if you dont qualify well, youre not in the races, Thompson said.The top 16 women and top 32 men will move onto Saturdays elimination heats, which will feature fouur skiers racing each other down a course of jumps and bumps.
Jim Northrup Jersey. . The top two skiers advance to the next heat while the other two are eliminated.Youve got to just be ready to race and lay it all on the line right away, said Calgarys Brady Leman, 28, who wants to improve on his third-place showing at Nakiska last year. Last year was the dream season for Marielle. It was the season that almost was for me.I made more medal finals than anyone else. I just had a combination of really bad luck and bad performances in the medal finals. That kind of made for a so-so season.Agonizingly, Leman finished just out of the medals in fourth place in Sochi.Every other person in the race will trade you for fourth, but at the same time its like youre the one guy in that round that doesnt get a medal, he said. That really sucks.The unknown aspect of what will happen when four skiers race side-by-side is also what makes ski cross such an exciting sport for fans to watch, Leman said.Everyone has a chance and how good your chance is depends on what youve done and how good of a chance you give yourself in terms of your training and preparation, he said. That also doesnt change that you might just get a pole between your legs or something like that in the first round and your day is over.Being able to race so close to his hometown is an added bonus for Leman.Its super cool for me because its home, he said. Its 45 minutes to an hour from the city. All my friends and family get to come up and watch.Leman added that spectators who make the jaunt out to Nakiska will be impressed with how much theyll be able to see from the bottom of the hill.Theres a great view from the finish at Nakiska, he said. You can see the last jump - which is really big - coming into the straightaway. Theres a big screen at the bottom to show the whole run, so you can look up at the screen and see whats going on and then turn around and see the finish live. Its usually a pretty good atmosphere. ' ' '