Neues » end of the season to help

OAKLAND, Calif. Jeff Locke Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics are tired of squandering chances, especially in late September and on a night Sonny Gray more than earned a positive result. Gordon Beckham homered for the division champion Los Angeles Angels, who dropped the As into a tie for the top AL wild card with a 2-0 win Tuesday night. Grey fanned Mike Trout three times among his career-best 12 strikeouts, one month to the day after Jon Lester struck out the Angels slugger three times at the Coliseum. But Gray had nothing to show for it as Oakland was shut out for the seventh time since Aug. 1. "Its one of the major themes of the last month, month and a half," left fielder Sam Fuld said. "Weve had opportunities. Youve got to take advantage of those opportunities." Oakland and Kansas City are tied for the two wild-card spots at 86-71, three games ahead of Seattle with five to play. The Royals beat Cleveland 7-1 earlier Tuesday night and won the season series with the Athletics 5-2, giving Kansas City the tiebreaker. That means if the Royals and As win the wild cards and finish with identical records, Kansas City would host their one-game playoff next Tuesday. Wade LeBlanc (1-1) ran his scoreless stretch to 15 2-3 innings over his last six outings, allowing five hits in 5 1-3 innings for the AL West champions. LeBlanc is the second of three straight left-handers the Angels are throwing in this series. He is making his case to be on the post-season roster. "Any time players perform well, its going to help you to be stronger and help you make decisions," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We havent made any decisions yet but these are two strong starts from Wade." Gray (13-10) is 0-3 in his last six starts. The right-hander has one victory in 11 starts since a 5-0 July that earned him AL pitcher of the month honours. Of Trouts 13 games with three or more strikeouts, three are against the As. Gray struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced. "That was terrific," manager Bob Melvin said. "He was up for it today. You could see when he came in the dugout there was a look in his eye he was going to get after it." The As had a chance to tie the game in the fifth after Josh Reddicks one-out double. Eric Sogard grounded out two batters later on an off-balance throw by second baseman Howie Kendrick that just beat Sogard, who slid headfirst. Los Angeles went ahead in the second on an unearned run when Erick Aybar scored from third during a rundown. Efren Navarro was caught stealing at second on a 2-6-3-4 double play after Hank Conger struck out swinging. Beckham hit his ninth homer leading off the sixth. "We lost. Whatever I did wasnt good enough tonight. It doesnt matter," Gray said. The As loaded the bases in the eighth against Joe Smith, who retired Stephen Vogt on a shallow fly to right to escape unscathed. Huston Street finished the three-hit shutout for his 16th save with the Angels and 40th overall. "I left a small village of runners in scoring position," Vogt said. Oakland was shut down after scoring 16 runs over its previous two games. That outburst came after the As totalled only 19 runs in their previous 10 contests. "We had some opportunities, and one or two more hits and its a different game," Melvin said. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: Jered Weaver (18-8) had the flu for a second straight day and left the ballpark. Scioscia said there is flexibility to push Weavers next start from Friday to Saturday if the right-hander needs an extra day. ... 3B David Freese was held out of the lineup after he experienced tightness in his upper back earlier in the day. ... OF Josh Hamilton hit off a tee for the second straight day. He missed his 18th game in 19 because of pain in his upper body. ... Scioscia said RHP Matt Shoemaker is "symptom-free" from a strained left oblique but wont pitch again in the regular season. He still needs to throw off a mound. "You dont want to jump over a step and risk setting yourself back," Scioscia said. Athletics: C Derek Norris was the DH for a second straight day after requiring an injection in his troublesome shoulder. He is slated to start Wednesdays series finale. UP NEXT Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (5-9, 3.98 ERA) has pitched two or fewer innings in each of his past two starts -- both losses -- after winning his previous three. He had no-decisions with a 1.00 ERA in his first three outings against Oakland this season. Athletics: Lester (16-10, 2.41) looks to improve on his 3-1 September record and beat the Angels for the first time in three starts this year. Martin Prado Jersey . FIFA said in a statement Friday that "several racist and discriminatory incidents were apparently perpetrated by local supporters during the match, in particular by displaying neo-Nazi banners and by making monkey noises and gestures as well as Nazi salutes. Miguel Rojas Jersey . Vonn flew back to Vail, Colo., last week after hurting her surgically repaired right knee at a downhill race in France. "Her knee was swollen again after Val dIsere," U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser told The Associated Press. http://www.marlinsteamproshop.com/ . - Jerome Verrier scored the winner 8:24 into overtime and Louis-Phillip Guindon stopped 46 shots as the Drummondville Voltigeurs edged the host Val-dOr Foreurs 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.Teenage forward Cameron Smith is set to make his Super League debut for reigning champions Leeds against Huddersfield on Friday, live on Sky Sports. The academy loose forward has twice been named as the 18th man for the Rhinos and is expected to get his chance with Brett Delaney and Carl Ablett joining the clubs lengthy injury list.Smiths older brother Daniel plays for Huddersfield but there will be no family clash as the latter is currently sidelined with a foot injury. Sky Live: Huddersfield v Leeds Zak Hardaker is the latest player to be ruled out of Leeds clash with Huddersfield Im looking forward to it lots, Smith said. Im very grateful for the opportunity to be able to fulfil my dream of playing Super League, Im just going to go out there and give it all Ive got.I was lost for words when Brian Mac (head coach Brian McDermott) said Id be on the bench. I didnt know what to say. As soon as I got in the car, I rang my mum and she was chuffed to bits.My brother was chuffed too and it would have been interestinng to see what would have happened if we had both been on the field. Justin Bour Jersey. Rhinos Zak Hardaker has failed to recover from a head knock With full-back Zak Hardaker failing to recover from a head knock and skipper Danny McGuire still troubled by a calf injury, McDermott has also called up utility player Luke Briscoe, who has re-signed for the club until the end of the season to help them through their injury crisis.Briscoe, 22, made three Super League appearances for Leeds in 2014, as well as two on loan at Wakefield, and also featured for Hunslet on dual-registration before signing for the Hawks.Briscoe, younger brother of injured winger Tom, played 17 times for Hunslet in 2015 but his season was ended by a serious knee injury and he became a free agent. Also See: Sky Live: Huddersfield v Leeds Betts joins England set-up Sky Live: Warrington v Wigan Ferres braced for Giants return ' ' '