OAKLAND, Calif. - Support his big moves or not, Billy Beane made one thing perfectly clear: The Oakland Athletics season probably would have ended sooner without Jon Lester a part of it.Oakland had the man on the mound it traded for to shine in these very moments, and the As summed up their topsy-turvy season in a single game, over a span of innings a and extra innings.A roster of tired, banged-up bodies that owned baseballs best record as recently as mid-August and stumbled through September is now headed into the off-season after a 9-8, 12-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals in Tuesdays wild-card game.Beane went all in on July 31, dealing slugging left fielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for Lester, the veteran left-hander who seemed poised to pitch his team into the division series before Oakland collapsed once more late this season.Simply put, if we dont have Jon Lester, I dont think we make the playoffs, Beane said Wednesday as players packed up their belongings in a quiet clubhouse.The small-budget As beat out the big spenders in the Lester sweepstakes. Then Wednesday, Beane bid Lester a likely farewell as he heads off for a big-money contract elsewhere.An offence that had been prolific to that point almost immediately went into a long funk, sparking questions and scrutiny about Beanes decision to part ways with someone as dynamic in the middle of the order as Cespedes, the two-time reigning Home Run Derby champ. The Cuban defector signed a $36 million, four-year contract before the 2012 season.Manager Bob Melvin handed the ball to Lester on Tuesday with the season on the line and Oakland built him a nice lead that appeared would be plenty, and the recent struggles might all be forgotten as things started fresh. Yet that 7-3 cushion wouldnt last against a determined Royals team, a starved franchise and fan base celebrating the organizations first playoffs since 1985.The As went 88-74 to get back to the playoffs, failing to stay with the red-hot Angels down the stretch after Oakland won the previous two AL West crowns.A microcosm of that game was a microcosm of our year, theres some truth to that, Melvin said.The September collapse baffled all involved, Melvin and his players alike were regularly at a loss for words in describing the various ways they were failing to come through a or, like Tuesday night and some many others recently, to finish off an opponent when the opportunity arose.Im proud of the fact we went to the playoffs for a third time in a row, Beane said.Had the As advanced, neither centre fielder Coco Crisp nor catcher Geovany Soto would have been available because of injuries sustained Tuesday.Beane speaks of small windows of opportunity for this club.He got aggressive this summer to give the As their best shot at a deep October run this time on the heels of consecutive five-game losses in the division series to Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers.Lester was the perfect pitcher to take Oakland further at last, just as he did leading the Red Sox to a World Series championship only 12 months ago. He threw a no-hitter against the Royals in 2008 to boot.Beanes other deals included the July 4 acquisition of right-handers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Chicago Cubs for three top prospects.On Aug. 31, the GM traded away pitching prospect Nolan Sanburn for Adam Dunn, who reached the playoffs for the first time but never saw the field Tuesday and has plans to retire without a single post-season at-bat. He had counted on this being his chance in his 14th major league season.Horrible, its an awful feeling, said Melvin, who fully expected to be in the ALDS and use Dunn. I have so much respect for Adam Dunn that it kills me he didnt get in that game.At the start last spring, the As lost two top starters to season-ending elbow injuries and eventual Tommy John surgeries in Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin. Given an organizational focus on building depth from the bottom of the farm system on up, Oakland had the arms to withstand those losses, and, eventually, even the excess with the additions of Hammel and Samardzija that Beane traded left-hander Tommy Milone to the Twins when he became the odd-man out and found himself in the minors despite an impressive winning stretch.Now, Oakland must decide who will play shortstop in 2015 given Jed Lowrie is set to become a free agent at a position that wont have many.Its somewhat cathartic for us to start working on next year, Beane said. Theres still a lot of good pieces here. Were very much a jigsaw puzzle. Mike Scifres Womens Jersey . Listen to all the action live on TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, and TEAM 1410 beginning at 4pm et/1pm pt. The hosts were embarrassed by Germany, 7-1, in Tuesdays semifinal as the Germans scored five times in the span of 18 minutes in the first half on their way to the dominant win. Nick Hardwick Jersey . -- Untapables dominant effort in the Kentucky Oaks gave Rosie Napravnik big momentum in her bid to become the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. http://www.jerseyfootballchargersonline.com/ladainian-tomlinson-chargers-jersey/ . Can it be repeated? The Roughriders are fairly well positioned heading into the off-season. Yes, they have some big ticket free agents to deal with but ones they should be able to retain. Denzel Perryman Chargers Jersey . LOUIS - Matt Adams hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the St. Branden Oliver Jersey . -- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke was scheduled to undergo treatment after straining his right calf after four pitches during his first spring training start. ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Top-ranked Serena Williams breezed past Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 to open her bid for a fourth ATP Championships title on Tuesday. Williams, the defending champion, had no trouble against Kerber, who also lost to the American 6-4, 6-1 in the round-robin at this event last year. Kerber was the only player to beat Williams last year - in Cincinnati - after the Americans first-round ouster at the French Open. "Today she was playing unbelievable, and I had actually no chance. I mean, she was serving great and also returning unbelievable," Kerber said. "So I was just giving all I could, but yeah, its tough to play against Serena like this." Williams was particularly effective with her backhand return, the shot she also used on her first match point. Kerber, who had two straight double-faults to surrender the first game of the second set, produced another to give Williams three match points. Although she is 32, considered a ripe age in tennis, Williams is enjoying the finest season in her career, having already won 10 titles. She added the French Open and U.S. Open titles to bring her Grand Slam record to 17 championships and is 74-4 for the year. Earlier, second-ranked Victoria Azarenka overcame an erratic performance to beat an ailing Sara Errani 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the opening match of tournament. "I was a little rusty at the beginning. I think its a little bit expected after a break, and playing right away against a top player always makes it a little bit difficult," Azarenka said. Williams, making her eighth appearance in the event, is looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. If she achieves the feat, she would equal Chris Evert for third most WTA Championships with her fourth. Henin was also the last to win 10 titlees in a season, in 2007.dddddddddddd Williams has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in her career after 2002 and 2009. Errani hurt her right calf in the third game of the second set and took a medical timeout to have it treated. Several times after that she seemed to be bothered by the injury and to favour her right leg, although she returned after the medical timeout to break Azarenkas serve to level at 2-2. She did not win another game though. "In the tiebreaker I felt a pain in my calf on serve," Errani said. "The first set was very tough, very long. I was running a lot." Errani served for the set three times -- and dropped serve each time as both players produced sloppy play with little rhythm. Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, managed to hold her serve only once through the first eight games but seized her chance when it came. She won four straight points in the tiebreaker to take a 5-3 lead, then faltered when she served her sixth double-fault. But an error by Errani gave Azarenka two set points. Errani then committed a double-fault and Azarenka had the set. "I think, overall was important to take that first set. It was a big turnaround point," Azarenka said. Azerenka, who was runner-up in the event in 2011 and a semifinalist last year, finished with eight double-faults but she also had 51 winners for Erranis 28. Azarenkas win was her first since losing the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams. Azarenka lost both of her opening matches in Tokyo and Beijing, where she had 15 double-faults. The tournament brings together the top eight players in the world. Third-ranked Maria Sharapova dropped out with a shoulder injury. The players are split onto two round-robin groups, with the top two finishers from each pool advancing to the semifinals. cheap nfl jerseys authentic jerseys nfl wholesale wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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