Meister der Farbe » q.html]Steve Carlton[/u

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Tommy Milone threw more than 50 pitches before recording the first out of the second inning, and Oakland manager Bob Melvin wasnt sure how much longer his starter would last. Milone not only stuck it out, he ended the longest losing streak of his career despite the Athletics still having trouble scoring when hes on the mound. The left-hander overcame his rough start to outduel Ervin Santana and win for the first time in more than a month, and the As scored twice in the sixth inning to beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Saturday night. "That was Houdini," Melvin said after Oaklands second straight one-run win. "He was at 50 pitches with three outs, 70 pitches with six or seven outs and he still goes six innings. Ive been impressed with a lot of his starts but none more than that." Milone (4-5) wasnt crisp and pitched with runners on base in all but one of his six innings but kept the damage to a minimum. The Royals loaded the bases with no outs in the second but Milone got out of it without allowing a run. Elliott Johnson fouled out to first baseman Brandon Moss near the Kansas City dugout before Milone struck out Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. Milone worked out of trouble again in the third when he gave up a leadoff double to Salvador Perez before retiring the next three batters. "I always feel like Im going to make it out of every inning," Milone said. "I definitely didnt make it easy on myself. Being able to come back and get out of those situations, it feels good at the end of the day." Milone walked three and had four strikeouts but overcame his uneven performance to win for the first time since April 15. Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his eighth save. That was enough to offset a solid start by Santana. Santana (3-3) pitched much more effectively than Milone but was denied in his third attempt at earning his 100th career victory. He allowed only three baserunners through the first five innings and gave up just four hits total but got little support. "He really threw the ball good (but) right now there is no room for error for any of (our pitchers) out there," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We had great opportunities. We just didnt capitalize." The As have scored just eight runs over Milones last six starts and were getting shut out before scoring twice in the sixth. Moss hit a tiebreaking triple in the sixth off Santana, one of just five hits Oakland managed. Moss was mired in a 4-for-30 slump before tripling over the head of centre fielder Cain to drive in Coco Crisp, who had walked. Eric Sogard started the inning with a leadoff double and scored on Jed Lowries sacrifice fly. The As were also held to two runs for the third consecutive game but made it hold up in front of a rare sellout crowd at the Oakland Coliseum. The As also beat Kansas City 2-1 on Friday. Billy Butler singled twice and drove in the only run for Kansas City, which has lost nine of 12. Oakland didnt get much else but didnt need it. The Royals failed to score after loading the bases against Milone with no outs in the second. They also stranded a runner at third with one out in the fourth. "Thats Tommy for you," said Sogard, who went 2 for 3. "He battled and kept us in the game. The kids a fighter." Kansas City had the tying run on base in the ninth after Eric Hosmer drew a leadoff walk but Balfour retired the next three batters on flyouts. Alex Gordon doubled with two outs in the first and scored on Butlers bloop single to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. Notes: Oakland OF Chris Young went 0 for 2 with a walk in his first game back from the disabled list. Young was activated before the game. ... As 3B Josh Donaldson doubled in the second to extend his hitting streak to a career-best seven games. ... To clear room for Young, Oakland 1B Daric Barton was designated for assignment. Barton hit .143 with one home run and three RBIs in eight games with the As. Its the second time this season Barton has been designated for assignment. ... RHP A.J. Griffin (4-3) starts the series finale for Oakland in his first career appearance against the Royals. ... RHP Luis Mendoza (1-2), who pitches for Kansas City on Sunday, has a 3.48 ERA in five appearances against the As. Mike Mayers . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Chris Carpenter .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-matt-wieters-jersey-large-1111q.html . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Lou Brock . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Steve Carlton . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. When I ran the Portland Marathon earlier this month, I expected a few things: a hard workout, a medal and a burger and a beer sometime shortly after crossing the finish line.I didnt expect more talk about what makes a real runner and whose times really matter.My best marathon time is 4:18:30, a bit faster than the typical female American marathon finisher. Im proud of this. I havent been graced with a lithe body or the leg muscle fiber composition that could fling me fast through 26.2 miles. And it takes a lot of long, lonely miles out on the road -- and hill repeats and track workouts and eating right and sleeping enough -- to get me there.Still, I have friends who can bang out a sub-four-hour marathon without seriously training, and Ive interviewed pros who can run a marathon in close to half my time. I know fast people, but I do the best with what Ive got -- and thats OK by me.On Oct. 9, I ran the Portland Marathon, my seventh full, and I did it as a training run for the New York City Marathon. But I was in a group of participants that most likely ended up running an extra half mile.Event director Les Smith said he still isnt sure what happened and that theyre still investigating. But so far he thinks that some runners were sent the wrong way after there was a longer-than-usual time gap between group starts in order to allow for a train to pass. He thinks that a volunteer may have thought all the runners had gone by and left his or her post.At first I didnt notice the extra half mile (I didnt race with a GPS watch), and then shrugged when I found out. Hey -- things happen. But then, according to an interview with Oregon Live, Smith said, We think that the people who were involved with that are not normally Boston qualifiers. The only thing that would happen is it would impact their personal best.Then he added, Its not a big deal.But any four-hour-plus marathon runner would agree that it is a big deal, and Smith wholeheartedly agreed when I called him Monday to talk about what happened. He says he was misquoted there and by local TV station KPTV and feels sick about the fall out, both that runners were sent the wrong way, and that runners -- and me -- would think he didnt care about our achievements.Ive run over 50 marathons, he said. The reason I became the race director is because Im back of the pack. IIve always been.ddddddddddddAs the sport of running has expanded and grown, letting in runners who may not have even attempted a 5K before, marathon times have slowed. In 1980, when U.S. marathons had 143,000 finishers, the median marathon finish time was 4:03:39 for women and 3:32:17 for men, according to Running USA. In 2015, those numbers shifted to 509,000 finishers with median times of 4:45:30 for women and 4:20:13 for men.Much of that participation growth has come from women. In 1980, only 10 percent of U.S. marathon finishers were women. In 2015, women made up 44 percent.This is great and a welcome change -- the more people who can find and thrive in the sport, the better. But there are still holdouts (mostly older and faster runners) who wring their hands at this inclusion. They think were ruining the sport. Were called weekend warriors, hobby joggers, a waste of race resources -- that we take spots of real runners who train hard enough to care.But we care. This isnt a hobby for us. I dedicate a significant amount of time and energy into being the best possible runner I can be with the body God gave me. Even though I finished Portland a half hour over my fastest marathon time, it was a still a victory because I was able to fly across the country, run a race in a new-to-me city -- in the rain, by myself -- and still run well.Just because the result is not within spitting range of a Boston Marathon qualifying time doesnt mean that my effort or anyone elses is any less important -- nor should it be any less important to people who put on races.Thats why Smith is so apoplectic that people think he feels otherwise. Thats ridiculous, he said when I asked him if he really believes our times didnt matter, pointing out that a reason the half and full marathons have a walking option is because he wants everyone to feel invited.Thats good. Im relieved. Im used to bearing the slings and arrows about my times from less charitable runners, but the idea that someone who puts on a marathon would feel this way too stung. The sport has come so far since the 1980s, when the field was rail thin and mostly male. I dont want to be pushed back.Jen A. Miller is author of Running: A Love Story. ' ' '