Bündniss » wrong for Lawler, I think it will go wrong

CHICAGO -- Kendall Graveman was so dominant it left Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin searching for a clock.I was looking to see what time it was. It felt like it was an hour and 55-minute game, at least on his end, Melvin said. Weve seen him pitch well. Weve seen the sinker, weve seen the cutter. We just havent seen a shutout like this.Graveman faced one batter over the minimum while throwing a two-hitter, Khris Davis hit his 31st home run and Oakland beat the Chicago White Sox 9-0 on Friday night to hand James Shields his 15th loss.Graveman (9-8) allowed leadoff singles to Jose Abreu in the third and Adam Eaton in the seventh. Both were immediately doubled off first on line drives. Justin Morneau reached on an error by first baseman Yonder Alonso in the eighth.Graveman struck out five and needed 97 pitches for his second complete game of the season and his first career shutout.Time of game: 2 hours, 23 minutes.I thought we mixed pitches, especially second and third time through, Graveman said. I wanted to kind of keep some guys off balance and then went right back to the bread and butter, the sinker.Stephen Vogt and Alonso also homered for the As, who snapped a five-game losing streak.Shields (5-15) matched a career-high for losses in a season set with Tampa Bay in 2010. The three homers allowed gave him a major league high-tying 29 and the six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings gave him a major league-high 91.The right-hander has allowed 27 earned runs in 14 innings over his last four starts for the White Sox, who have dropped 10 of 13.Lately, Im not getting the job done with runners on base, Shields said. When you give up homers its fine, as long as no ones on. Thats not what Im doing right now. I need to get better at that.Shields walked three, including .211-hitting Max Muncy in the second to force in a run. Davis hit a solo shot to left in the third and Vogt and Alonso connected with two outs in a four-run fifth.Davis also singled, doubled and scored three runs and Vogt added an RBI double for the As, who had scored three or fewer runs in 12 of their previous 19 games.Graveman came in having allowed five home runs in his last four starts. But the 25-year-old righty set a career-high for wins as he takes over a bigger role with the As disabled list loaded with 15 players, including Sonny Gray.Were seeing a guy grow. Were seeing a competitor, Alonso said of Graveman. Were seeing a guy pound the strike zone, tons of ground balls. Its a lot of fun.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: RHP Jesse Hahn (shoulder) will come off the DL and start Sunday. That moves RHP Zach Neal to the bullpen. . RHP Henderson Alvarez (shoulder surgery) is scheduled to throw a 25-pitch bullpen Saturday with Josh Phegley (knee) catching. . LHP Sean Doolittle (shoulder) will throw again Saturday for Triple-A Nashville and could rejoin the team next week.White Sox: 2B Brett Lawrie, on a rehab assignment for a hamstring injury, experienced quadriceps soreness earlier in the week. He was scratched from the lineup Friday for Double-A Birmingham. . OF Avisail Garcia (knee) is expected to begin a rehab stint in the next few days.CRISP PLAYSAs LF Coco Crisp led off and went 0 for 5 in his 95th game of the season. He will need to play in 35 of the final 40 games to reach 130 and trigger a $13 million vesting option for 2017. Crisp told reporters earlier in the week he feels the As are intentionally trying to keep him from that mark.SEMIENS STREAKAs SS Marcus Semien had an RBI single in the eighth while playing in his 124th consecutive game. But that streak may soon end.His wife is going to have something to say about that, Melvin said.Semiens wife is due Saturday.UP NEXTWhite Sox ace Chris Sale (14-6, 3.30 ERA) seeks his first win since July 2 when he faces fellow lefty Ross Detwiler on Saturday night. Sale has allowed eight earned runs and 15 hits in his last two starts.USA Soccer Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. USA Soccer Store . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. USA Soccer Jerseys China . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. USA Soccer Pro Shop . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence.UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler goes for his third title defense against Tyron Woodley at UFC 201 on Saturday in Atlanta.The pay-per-view fight is flying a little under the radar, which is to be expected given its sandwiched between the landmark event that was UFC 200 and the Conors Revenge! storyline of UFC 202.That said, this is still a Robbie Lawler fight were talking about here. Theyre always worth the price of admission.Lets take a closer look at the upcoming 170-pound championship bout. Dont agree with these picks? Let MMA analyst Brett Okamoto know on Twitter: @bokamotoESPN.Main eventRobbie Lawler (27-10) vs. Tyron Woodley (15-3) Welterweight championship Odds: Lawler -175; Woodley +155Discussing when a fighters chin will deteriorate ranks right at the top in terms of worst topics ever. Who wants to talk about an athlete losing the ability to take a punch? Not me.Unfortunately, in a matchup like this one, it cant be ignored. According to Fightmetric, Lawler has absorbed 642 strikes since the start of 2014. Hes gone five hellacious rounds, back-to-back-to-back. When do these wars catch up? Lawler is 34 in human years -- and probably something like 112 in fighter years.Against Carlos Condit in January, Lawlers corner was in a panic going into the fifth round. For all they knew, Lawler needed a knockout to retain the title. He came out firing on Condit, hurt him with a big shot and ultimately took the round and a narrow split decision. It took everything Lawler had to win that fight. How many times can he refill the tank?If Lawlers odometer isnt a factor, I like him stylistically in this fight. The depth of Lawlers striking exceeds that of Woodleys. As dangerous as Woodley is, he mostly relies on his (albeit?incredible) right hand. Hell throw a few tree trunk inside leg kicks as well, but when push comes to shove: If you shut down the right hand, yyou shut down Woodley.ddddddddddddOf course, Woodley is a very powerful wrestler as well, and his top game can be devastating, but it just seems unlikely hell choose to burn energy trying to take Lawler down. Its very hard to hurt Lawler on the floor even when you have him there, and although I think criticism of Woodleys gas tank is sometimes a little overblown, hes going to pace himself.My guess is Woodley will be fine with letting Lawler come to him. Hang back, circle, conserve energy and look for any opportunity to land that lightning right hand. If you want to go on the attack against Lawler, you have to be extremely busy, and that doesnt really play to Woodleys strengths. Lawler has become more disciplined in the latter half of his career, but Woodley could still catch him reaching here and there, and he trusts he has the speed and power to make it count when he does.PREDICTION: If it goes wrong for Lawler, I think it will go wrong big (as in, KO) -- but Ill go with the champ. Lawler via TKO, fourth round.Rest of cardRose Namajunas (5-2) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (9-0)Kowalkiewicz is definitely being overlooked here, but Namajunas appears to be the better athlete with more ways to win. And shes on a roll.PREDICTION: Namajunas decision, 30-27Matt Brown (20-14) vs. Jake Ellenberger (30-11)This is kind of a weird fight, but it actually makes sense given Browns recent skid. Theres pressure on both; Brown is expected to roll while Ellenberger is barely hanging on to employment.PREDICTION: Brown, first round TKOFrancisco Rivera (11-6) vs. Erik Perez (15-6)A one-time hot prospect, Perez is still only 26, but hes been limited to four fights in three years. Pretty even matchup for him here against Rivera.PREDICTION: Perez via decision. ' ' '