OAKLAND, Calif. -- Now that hes won a career-high four straight major league games, Oakland As right--hander Kendall Graveman is in what should be unfamiliar territory, but he said it feels like old times.Its kind of what I expect out of myself, Graveman said Sunday. When you actually do it and actually command the baseball the way you want to, that feels normal. I remember when I was coming up through the system in the Blue Jays organization, this is what almost all of my starts felt like.Graveman will try to extend his winning streak on Monday night when the Oakland As open a three-game series against the Houston Astros, who beat Seattle 8-1 on Sunday and will send right-hander Mike Fiers to the mound.Gravemen went 1-6 with a 5.36 ERA over his first nine starts. In his past eight starts, hes 4-0 with a 3.40 ERA, and the As are 7-1 in that stretch.Whats changed for Graveman?I think hes relying on his best pitch and not trying to be too fine with it, As manager Bob Melvin said before a 5-3 loss to Toronto. I think there were times where he probably was trying to pick a little too much on the corners. And when you have that kind of sink and its working for you, you have that kind of sink on your fastball, just throw it down the middle and let it move a little bit and hopefully they beat it into the ground, which, when hes pitching well and doing well, thats what theyre doing.Graveman said he has learned some valuable lessons while battling through some rough stretches at the start of his first two seasons with the As. Last year he was 1-2 with an 8.27 ERA when he was sent down to Triple-A Nashville. He wound up going 6-9 with a 4.05 ERA in 21 starts for the As as a rookie.Not to boast, but to have success in the minor leagues the way I did, you kind of think, Hey, this might be the way it is all the time, Graveman said. But youre going to go through some bumps and some struggles. I hadnt experienced that for a couple years leading up to that moment. Even last year when I came to start the year I really hadnt experienced that.But now I think you see I experienced a little bit of that after the first month of the season. Hit a little bump in the road there, and to get over it and continue to pitch and continue to compete and to find a way to get out of it quicker than I did last year, I think that was big. I think it showed growth.Fiers is 6-3 with a 4.35 ERA, but hes coming off a rough start on July 6 against Seattle. Fiers gave up four runs on five hits, including three home runs, in just 3 1/3 innings of work and got a no-decision in Houstons 9-8 victory.Fiers gave up all three home runs in a four-run fourth inning when Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Dae-Ho Lee took him deep as the Mariners cut Houstons lead to 5-4.The few games where we scored a lot, Ive given up a lot of runs or not gone as far in the game, Fiers said after the game. Im not changing anything. Im not trying to change anything, if I am. I just need to be better.Fiers is 0-1 with a 3.28 in four career starts against the As.Graveman is 2-1 with a 5.24 ERA in four career starts against Houston. In his last start on July 9 at Houston, he gave up two runs on five hits over five innings in a 3-2 As victory. He struck out three and walked none for his fourth straight win. Hell face the Astros again after eight days of rest.Ive thrown a couple bullpens since the last (start), Graveman said. Im just trying to keep that arm slot that Ive had going and its been good. Thats the main focus right now, just keep on top of the baseball and let the sinker work and pitch off of that.It was a good break, too. Ive thrown quite a few innings the first half of the year and I want to continue to do that. Its always good to have a little bit of a break physically and also mentally to take a little bit of a break because sometimes going every five day you really have to stay locked in.
Yeezy Cheap Real .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.
Cheap Wholesale Adidas Yeezy . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout.
http://www.cheapyeezynz.com/ . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday.
Yeezy Sale Nz .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable.
Nz Yeezy Boost . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. HOUSTON -- Marcus Evans had 31 points on 9-of-12 shooting and a career-high eight assists, Egor Koulechov added 11 points and eight rebounds and Rice cruised to a 90-77 win over Houston Baptist on Wednesday night.Marquez Letcher-Ellis had 12 points and Marcus Jackson scored 11, including three 3-pointers.Koulechov and Connor Cashaw each hit 3s in a 10-2 run that put the Owls in front, 10-4, for good.Rice (6-1) led by as many as 14 in the first half before taking a 37-29 lead into the break. Josh Ibarra hit back-to-back jumpers -- he was fouled on the latter, but missed the free throw -- to pull HBU within one with 13:08 to play but Evans answered with a 3.ddddddddddddLetcher-Ellis had a dunk, then a steal and a layup to cap an 11-3 run that made it 74-61 with 4:47 left and the Owls cruised from there.Colter Lasher scored 15 for the Huskies (2-4).Four HBU players, including three starters, fouled out and Rice attempted three times as many (33) free throws as the Huskies. ' ' '
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