NEW YORK -- Scott Kazmir has been so good for the Oakland Athletics, manager Bob Melvin wasnt prepared to see his ace flop so badly.
USWNT Store . Kazmir was tagged for three homers and allowed a season-high seven runs in the As 10-1 loss to the New York Mets and Bartolo Colon on Tuesday night. "Its almost a shock when you see him give up some runs but he just got some balls up, missed locations with a few of them and they didnt miss them," Melvin said. "Usually hes so unpredictable in his pitches that if he does get a ball up sometimes he gets away with it but he didnt today." A first-round draft pick by New York in 2002 but sent to Tampa Bay in a very unpopular trade two years later, Kazmir struggled from the start in his first start ever in Queens. He entered with the ALs best ERA (2.08) and on a four-game winning streak, but was out after just three innings. His ERA rose to 2.66. Kazmir (9-3) gave up consecutive homers to Curtis Granderson and Chris Young in the second inning and a three-run shot to Travis dArnaud in the third. The left-hander went 22 starts without giving up more than one homer in a game since Aug. 18, with the Indians. Kazmir blamed his lack of command on his troubles, not his first outing against the Mets in New York -- he beat the Mets in September in Cleveland. "Ive never played in Shea Stadium. Id never played in Citi Field so its not really coming back for me," Kazmir said. "I think itd be a little bit different if I had actually played at the big league level with the Mets and had a little bit of history in that regard, but it was just going out here today to take care of business." The As second straight loss ended with reliever Jeff Francis striking out. Melvin had Derek Norris and Craig Gentry on the bench but Gentry was given a cortisone shot in a knee. Norris was out of the lineup after being hit by a backswing on Sunday. "I wasnt going to use him in that type of game," Melvin said of Norris. Colon (8-5) shut down the team that didnt want him back this year despite an 18-win season, pitching four-hit ball for eight innings against the AL West leaders. Signed by the Mets 10 days after the As inked Kazmir in December, Colon won his sixth straight decision. He also singled for his second straight game, much to the delight of the 25,751 in attendance. "Just when you think youve got him figured out hes going to throw something that you have no idea hes going to throw and thats just a testament to how good he is," Stephen Vogt said of Colon. "Obviously Im frustrated that we didnt beat him but obviously it was great to see him." Colon only faced trouble in the first when Yoenis Cespedes followed Brandon Moss single with a double to the wall in centre field for the early lead. Colon gave up a hit to Cespedes in the fourth and another single in the fifth to Coco Crisp, but he otherwise cruised through the best run-producing lineup in the majors. "It feels really good in particular because its a team like the Oakland As, which for me right now is the No. 1 team," Colon said through a translator. Slumping Mets outfielder Chris Young also homered off failed closer Jim Johnson in the fifth for only the Mets fifth four-homer game at Citi Field since it opened in 2009, according to STATS. Granderson and David Wright had RBI groundouts, and Daniel Murphy added a run-scoring single for the Mets, who scored at least 10 runs in consecutive games for the first time since June 28-29, 2011, in Detroit. They beat Miami 11-5 on Sunday. The Mets have won a season high-tying three straight. NOTES: The As activated RF Josh Reddick before the game. He was 0 for 2 with a walk. ... Oakland placed 1B Kyle Blanks on the 15-day DL with a left calf strain. ... Wright tied a career high with an RBI in his seventh straight game. ... First base umpire Joe West was hit in the chest by a line drive but he barely flinched. ... Up next: Oakland LHP Brad Mills (0-0) vs. New York RHP Zack Wheeler (3-7).
USWNT Jerseys 2020 . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision.
USWNT Pro Shop . The NFL says Wednesday that the game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions at Wembley on Oct. 26 will start at 1:30 p.LEVERKUSEN, Germany -- Bayer Leverkusen fired Sami Hyypia as coach Saturday after an alarming mid-season slump and turned to the Finns former coaching partner Sascha Lewandowski to secure Champions League qualification. The Bundesliga club said in a statement that the former Liverpool defender Hyypia was being released "with immediate effect" following Fridays 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Hamburger SV. Lewandowski stepped back to resume coaching Leverkusens youth side after securing Champions League qualification with Hyypia last season. He has been charged with securing at least fourth place in the Bundesliga to repeat the feat this time around. "He helped us out in a critical situation once before when he worked alongside Sami Hyypia following the release of Robin Dutt," Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller said. "Were firmly convinced he will succeed again." Leverkusen previously drew with bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig and is in danger of losing fourth place, with both Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach in a position to overtake on Saturday. "This decision was more than difficult because Sami did a brilliant job over the last two years," Voeller said. Leverkusen was second at one point in the Bundesliga but had a severe change in fortune after the winter break with only three wins from 12 league games this year. IIt has also endured humiliating losses to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup.
Wholesale USWNT Jerseys. "What he and his coaching staff achieved with the team in the first half of the season was well beyond expectations and earned him praise from all sides," Voeller said. "Thats why the current slump is even more painful for us. The dramatic events of the last few weeks leave us no other choice but to bring about a separation. We want to and have to try everything to save the season." Assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte was also released. "Its not an easy situation for me now to take Samis place," Lewandowski said. "We had responsibility for this team together for more than a year. So you cant take over without regret that the former partner couldnt realize his dreams." Kicker magazine said that Thomas Schaaf (former Werder Bremen coach), Markus Weinzierl (Augsburg), Armin Veh (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jos Luhukay (Hertha Berlin) are all possible candidates to take over from next season. Hyypia is the seventh coach to lose his job in the Bundesliga this season, following the dismissals of Bruno Labbadia and his successor Thomas Schneider at Stuttgart, Thorsten Fink and his successor Bert van Marwijk at Hamburger SV, Michael Wiesinger at Nuremberg and Mirko Slomka at Hannover. ' ' '