Dein erstes Forum » f Aaron Altherr -- with one hand.TRAI

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Less than eight months after finishing third in voting for the AL Cy Young award, Athletics ace Sonny Gray is mired in the longest slump of his career.There is little indication that things are going to get better any time soon, either.Gray lost his sixth consecutive decision after blowing an early three-run lead and the Athletics offense was held to one hit over the final seven innings of a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.This hasnt been his best year and hell figure it out and hell get better as the year goes on, As manager Bob Melvin said. Theres always going to be a year thats as not good as other years. So far this is the one for him. Hes been good for us.Gray was coming off two fairly decent starts before blowing up against Pittsburgh in the Pirates first trip to the Oakland Coliseum since June 27, 2010.Gray (3-7) gave up seven runs, hit a batter and threw two wild pitches in six innings while losing his sixth consecutive decision. The right-hander, third in the 2015 AL Cy Young voting, is winless since April 22.Once I got to two outs, I just wasnt able to get them out, Gray said. There were times, like in the sixth where I got two quick outs, I have to be able to shut that inning down and get back out there for the seventh . and not hit a guy and walk another. It just escalated from there.Jody Mercer homered and had an RBI single to help Pittsburgh rally from three runs down to beat. Matt Joyce added two hits, Josh Harrison drove in two runs while Andrew McCutcheon doubled and scored on a wild pitch to help the Pirates to their first win in their history at the Coliseum and just their second in 13 games between the two franchises.They did it by taking advantage of another shaky outing by Gray (3-7).We just stayed the course, Harrison said. We just put together some good at-bats as a team and it wasnt easy on him.Marcus Semien hit his 17th home run of the season for Oakland.Pirates starter Jeff Locke (8-5) also struggled early but retired the final nine batters he faced to win his third straight. He gave up three runs over five innings with three walks and three strikeouts.Three relievers combined to retire the final 12 batters and complete the four-hitter.Mercer homered in the third and added an RBI single as part of a two-run fifth.Harrisons two-out, two-run double in the sixth put the Pirates up 7-3.ALL-STAR PUSHSemiens home run was his fifth in nine games, padding his AL-leading total among shortstops. Melvin thinks Semiens offensive surge should be good enough to earn the young shortstop a trip to the All-Star game in San Diego later this month. Hopefully that merits some consideration going forward, Melvin said. You cant ignore the numbers. Not only is he doing it all offensively, he doing defensively too. He just maturing.LINEUP SHUFFLEJed Lowrie had decent results while batting leadoff for the first time this season. He drew a walk from Locke in the first before Semien homered on a 3-2 pitch. Oaklands second baseman added an RBI double in the second to make it 3-0.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Infielder Tyler Ladendorf was recalled from Triple-A Nashville before the game. Left-hander Dillion Overton, the losing pitcher against San Francisco on Thursday, was optioned down. Overton went 1-1 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts.UP NEXTPirates: Right-hander Chad Kuhl (1-0) pitches against Oakland on Saturday in his second career start in the majors after beating Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in his debut.Athletics: Rich Hill is expected to come off the disabled list to start against Pittsburgh. The left-hander had been out since May 30 with a strained groin.Brad Hand Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. 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Its an influence in football and a big part of the game.PHILADELPHIA -- The Miami Marlins werent ready to give up -- on Sundays game or their flickering playoff hopes.J.T. Realmuto delivered a go-ahead infield single in the eighth, Christian Yelich belted a game-tying home run earlier in the inning and the Marlins rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to avoid a three-game sweep.Derek Dietrich reached base three times and added an RBI for the Marlins, who came into the day six games off the pace in the NL wild-card race.Reliever Mike Dunn improved to 4-1 and A.J. Ramos pitched a scoreless ninth for his 37th save.The guys know were not mathematically eliminated but were not in a very good spot, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. We just have to keep fighting.With the Marlins trailing 4-2 in the eighth inning, Yelich hit a two-run homer off Hector Neris (4-4) that struck off the left-field foul pole. It was the 19th homer of the season for the center fielder.Miamis rally continued when Marcell Ozuna reached second as Cesar Hernandez and Tommy Joseph collided trying to catch a routine pop up. After moving to third on a groundout, Ozuna came home when Realmuto, who entered the game the previous inning, hit a sharp grounder down the line that third baseman Maikel Franco fielded cleanly but threw wide.This is how we play, said Yelich, who leads the majors with 34 go-ahead RBI. We play hard all the time. If you play hard, you can live with the results.Freddy Galvis and Odubel Herrera both homered for the Phillies. Tommy Joseph added a pair of hits and an RBI.Marlins starter Andrew Cashner, who lasted just two innings in his previous start, allowed three earned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out four through four innings. He labored through a rough 38-pitch first inning, giving up two runs and three hits and walking two.Joseph, who hit his 20th home run of the season the previous night, put the Phillies in front with an RBI single in the first and Galvis followed with another RBI single two batters later.Herrera added his 14th home run of the year to lead off the third, extending Philadelphias lead to 3-0. Hes now 12 for 23 in his last six games.Galvis added another solo blast in the sixth, his 20th hoomer.ddddddddddddHe finished with three hits and also made a spectacular defensive play in the third.We let it slip away, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. We should have won that game.Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI single in the fifth, breaking up Alec Ashers shutout bid. Dietrich followed with an RBI single to chase Asher before reliever Joely Rodriguez induced an inning-ending double play to preserve the Phillies 3-2 lead.Making his third start of the season after serving an 80-game suspension for PEDs, Asher allowed six hits and two earned runs while striking out four and walking zero.TIME TO LEAVEMarlins third baseman Martin Prado was ejected after striking out to end the third, throwing his helmet against the ground in disgust and arguing with home plate umpire Dale Scott. Ichiro Suzuki replaced him.Afterwards, Prado claimed that he was mad at himself and not at Scott, adding that it was just the second ejection of his 11-year career.SURE-THING CLOSERRamos has converted 92.5 percent of his save opportunities this season (37 of 40), which is good for the third-best save percentage in the National League.SIGN HIM UPSome of the biggest cheers of the game came in the bottom of the second when a Phillies fan sitting along the right-field line caught a sharp line drive off the bat of Aaron Altherr -- with one hand.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins: Giancarlo Stanton was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight day after making his first start in the field on Friday following a three-week stint on the disabled list (left groin strain). He pinch hit in the seventh inning and struck out.Phillies: Veteran slugger Ryan Howard missed his second straight game with knee soreness.UP NEXTMarlins: They open a 10-game homestand Monday vs. the Nationals, with Miami LHP Wei-Yin Chen (5-4, 4.99) facing Washington RHP A.J. Cole (1-2, 4.71).Phillies: They begin a two-game home series vs. the White Sox on Tuesday with Philadelphia RHP Jake Thompson (2-5, 5.64) opposing Chicago RHP James Shields (5-17, 5.84). ' ' '