inished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Gray is 5-10 with a 5.84 ERA and 15 wild pitches.Obviously hes frustrated and obviously hes working to get better every day

HOUSTON -- Rich Hill has returned to form after a stint on the disabled list, and it helped the Oakland Athletics to a much-needed win Thursday night.Yonder Alonso doubled and drove in two runs and Hill tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts in six solid innings to give the Athletics the 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros.The win snapped Oaklands two-game skid and was just its second victory in eight games.Weve seen quite a few of these games from him this year and to come back so effective after a long layoff and an injury is really impressive, manager Bob Melvin said. Weve gotten him back to 100 pitches or so and hes pitching in the same fashion he did before he left.Hill (9-3) allowed three hits and one run to extend his winning streak to six games in his second start since coming off the disabled list on Saturday. Hill was out for a little over a month with a strained left groin.He said he feels like hes back to where he was before his injury.Last outing went really well and I think this outing went well, he said. Every single time you get to put the uniform on at this level and go out there you have to take advantage of it.Manager A.J. Hinch said Hill kept Houston off-balance by mixing his pitches well.Early, it was all about the breaking ball. Late, it was all about his fastball, he said. So he changed his game plan a little bit back and forth and we had no way to solve it. He had a little bit of everything working. Regardless of our tendency to strike out, Rich Hill did a really good job.Ryan Madson pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.The Athletics trailed by one in the second when Danny Valencia and Khris Davis singled before Stephen Vogt drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. The Athletics tied it when Marcus Semien grounded into a double play that allowed Valencia to score.Alonso followed with his double to put Oakland up 2-1. He gave the Athletics an insurance run with an infield RBI single with two outs in the ninth.Houstons Doug Fister (8-6) yielded three hits and two runs in eight innings for his third straight loss after winning his previous seven decisions.George Springer extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff triple that landed on Tals Hill in center field. Houston took a 1-0 lead when he scored on a groundout by Marwin Gonzalez.Luis Valbuena singled with one out in the second before Hill settled in, retiring the next 10. Houston didnt have another baserunner until a single by Jake Marisnick with two outs in the fifth inning. Hill struck out Jason Castro to end that inning before striking out three with two walks in the sixth to end his night.Josh Reddick reached on an error by shortstop Carlos Correa to start the ninth before Houston intentionally walked Vogt with two outs. Semien drew a walk after that to load the bases before Alonsos fly ball dropped in front of Correa to allow Reddick to score.COCOS APOLOGYCoco Crisp was ejected after tossing his bat in the direction of home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn after striking out for the third out of the fifth inning. After the game, Crisp apologized for his behavior and said he didnt mean for the bat to end up so close to Reyburn.I want to apologize for getting too close to him, Crisp said. That was pretty bad. Just also to let him know that I didnt want it to come out where it was going to hit him.Crisp went 0 for 3 to snap a 12-game hitting streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors.UP NEXTAthletics: Daniel Mengden (1-4, 3.48) will start for Oakland on Friday. The rookie, who has 31 strikeouts combined in his first five career starts, looks to bounce back after allowing seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday.Astros: Collin McHugh (5-6, 4.50) is scheduled to start for Houston on Friday. McHugh is looking for his first win since May 30, after going 0-2 in his last six starts.Cheap Rollie Fingers Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Cheap Padres Jerseys Authentic . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.cheappadresjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-trevor-hoffman-jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Cheap Padres Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59.OAKLAND, Calif. -- After the way Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta finished last season en route to winning the National League Cy Young Award and started this season, he was overdue for a rough streak.Arrieta went 11-0 with a 0.57 ERA over his final 13 regular-season starts last year, and the Cubs went 13-0 during that stretch. This year, he went 9-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his first 10 starts as the Cubs won all 10.But over his past five starts, Arrieta has gone 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA, and the Cubs have lost all five games. Hell try to end that skid Saturday afternoon against the Oakland As in the second game of a three-game series at the Oakland Coliseum.I just think we all (have) high highs and lows, catcher David Ross said Friday before the Cubs 7-2 victory against Oakland. Its going to be hard to sustain what he was doing. I dont think anythings wrong.I think we all went through a little stretch there where we were kind of fatigued. I think the All-Star break helped him recover and hes pitched well since then. It could be fatigue, it could be rhythm, it could be any number of things. But for how long he sustained just being completely unhittable, I think everybody said, Whats wrong? when he gives up a couple runs.Arrieta (12-5) certainly isnt sweating his mini-slump. In his previous start, he gave up two runs on two hits over seven innings in a 4-1 loss to Seattle. Two starts before that, he held the Mets to one run on five hits over seven innings and got a no-decision in a 2-1 loss.Yeah, two hits, Arrieta said of his start against the Mariners. Two walks in the 8th or it could have easily been a different story. A couple close calls led to a couple base runners. They ended up getting a couple.Sometimes this game does weird thinngs to you.dddddddddddd But trying to get locked in and be at our best individually down the stretch is the most important thing for us. Thats kind of what were striving to do.Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt said the As are expecting nothing but the best from Arrieta.I faced him a lot in the minor leagues, Vogt said. You cant say enough about what hes done over the last couple years. Its pretty special. Im looking forward to the challenge. Hes got some of the best numbers in baseball and hes had some of the best success over the last couple years. It will be a good challenge for us. Im looking forward to it.As right-hander Sonny Gray will be looking again to recapture the command he had last year when he finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Gray is 5-10 with a 5.84 ERA and 15 wild pitches.Obviously hes frustrated and obviously hes working to get better every day, Vogt said. Its just been kind of when he hasnt been good, they take advantage of him, and when he has been good, bounces havent gone his way.So its kind of been an up-and-down season for him. But hes handling it well. I think hes learning. Obviously its not easy, but hes doing a good job, hes keeping a good level head and hes putting his work in every week, like he has all year.In his previous start, Gray gave up seven runs over 3 1/3 innings in an 8-0 loss to Cleveland.Were always looking and expecting him to go out and be the guy that weve seen in the past, As manager Bob Melvin said. So is he. Its just about going out there and stringing a few performances together that get him going in the right direction again. ' ' '