them at the end of a 19-2 run that turned an 11-point deficit into a 48-42

HOUSTON -- Jed Lowrie had plenty to say about the Houston Astros after he was hit by a pitch that led to the ejection of Paul Clemens in Oaklands 10-1 win on Thursday night. The Astros were swept by the As in a three-game series in Oakland last week and there still seemed to be some animosity between the teams from an 11-3 loss in the first game of that series. In that game, Clemens appeared to try to hit Lowrie with a pitch in the third inning after Lowrie had attempted a bunt in the first with Oakland up by seven runs. Houston manager Bo Porter came out of the dugout to scream at Lowrie after he hit a fly out after two inside pitches. On Thursday night, Clemens was tossed after hitting Lowrie on the backside with the first pitch of the at-bat with Oakland leading 8-1. Lowrie had doubled off of him in the fifth. "Its flat-out embarrassing," Lowrie said of the incident. "Theres no other way to say it. Every perspective, every angle you look at it its embarrassing. That kind of conduct shouldnt be condoned." The Astros denied that Lowrie was hit intentionally. "There was no carry-over on my end," Clemens said. "What happened in Oakland was squashed in Oakland. Bad pitch there. It just so happened I cut a fastball. We wanted to go inside on him." Lowrie got a bit of justice when Donaldson hit his second home run after the plunking. "I love it. I love it," Lowrie repeated when asked about the homer. Porter was evasive when asked if Clemens hit Lowrie on purpose. "I think the game of baseball takes care of itself," he said. "George Springer got hit tonight and its part of the game." Lowrie said hes never seen anything like this and that he holds Porter responsible for what happened. "At the end of the day the buck stops with him so if you look at it that way, yes, hes the one thats responsible for players conduct," he said. Josh Donaldson hit a pair of two-run homers to help Athletics cruise to the victory. It was the first career multihomer game for Donaldson, who connected in the first inning and pushed the lead to 10-1 with a second shot in the seventh. Alberto Callaspo added a two-run homer in the third and Lowrie had three hits for the As, who improved to 24-5 against Houston, which joined the American League before the start of last season. Scott Kazmir is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in his career after allowing five hits and a run with seven strikeouts in six innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.62. The Athletics jumped on Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer (0-4) early and tagged him for a career-high six runs on and eight hits, which tied a career-high, in just 3 2-3 innings. Houstons only run came on a bases-loaded walk in the first inning and they had trouble stringing any hits together. They had a terrible night on defence, committing five errors after entering the night leading the majors with a .992 fielding percentage and just seven errors. Donaldsons towering 389-foot homer, which clanged high off the foul pole in left field, gave Oakland a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Houston cut it to 2-1 when Chris Carter drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the inning. The trouble continued for Oberholtzer in the second inning when Craig Gentry doubled with one out. He then plunked Brandon Moss before a two-out RBI bloop single by Coco Crisp. Crisp advanced to second on an error by Springer on the play. Donaldson hit a leadoff double in the third and scored on a single by Derek Norris with one out to make it 4-1. Callaspo followed with his two-run home run to the Crawford Boxes in left field to push the lead to 6-1. Gentry ended up on second base after a fielding error and a throwing error by Matt Dominguez on the same play. Moss added an RBI single in the fifth inning and Lowrie had a run-scoring double later in the inning to push the lead to 8-1. NOTES: As left fielder Yoenis Cespedes left the game in the seventh inning with a strained left hamstring and manager Bob Melvin said he expects him to be out a couple of days. ... Athletics RHP Jesse Chavez opposes RHP Brad Peacock in the second game of the series on Friday night. ... Oakland RHP A.J. Griffin, sidelined since the start of the season with an elbow injury, will visit Dr. Thomas Mehlhoff in Houston on Tuesday for a second opinion. ... Houston reliever Matt Albers wasnt available for a third straight game on Thursday because of tightness in his right shoulder. Porter said he doesnt think the problem is serious. Cheap Green Bay Packers Jerseys . Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 after opening with a 77 -- his worst score of the season -- on TPC San Antonios AT&T Oaks Course. Lefty was 11 strokes behind leader Steven Bowditch, the Australian who had a 67 to reach 8-under 136. Wholesale Packers Jerseys . Tyutin has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury which occurred while playing for Russia at the Olympics. The top-two defenceman has four goals and 20 assists, 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with Columbus this season. http://www.cheappackersjerseyselite.com/ . On a hot, sweaty day, the Hall of Famer looked cool and comfortable. Cheap Packers Jerseys . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies. Cheap Packers Jerseys Authentic . Completely. Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favourites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Steve Blake scored 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter, Pau Gasol and Nick Young each had 16, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 111-106 Friday night in the preseason finale for both teams. Gordon Hayward led Utah with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Alec Burks had 18 off the bench. Rudy Gobert got 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz keep it close. A moment of silence was observed at Honda Center for Hall of Famer Bill Sharman, who coached the Lakers to their first NBA championship in Los Angeles in 1971-72 -- when they won a franchise-record 69 games and a league-record 33 in a row. Sharman died Friday at age 87 after suffering a stroke last Saturday. He had been a special consultant with the organization for the previous 23 seasons. Trailing by 15 points after three, the Jazz got as close as 100-96 on Lester Hudsons 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining. Hayward led Utah to a 53-51 halftime lead with 16 points, eight of them at the end of a 19-2 run that turned an 11-point deficit into a 48-42 advantage with 2:27 left in thhe second quarter.dddddddddddd But the Lakers opened the third with a 20-6 run that put them ahead 71-59, and they increased the margin to 88-73 on Blakes 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds left in the quarter. The Lakers finished the preseason 4-4. It was their first training camp under coach Mike DAntoni, who was hired five games into last season after the team started out 1-4 under Mike Brown. The Lakers open the regular season Tuesday night against the Clippers, who won all four meetings last season. Utah will host Oklahoma City in its opener on Wednesday night after finishing its exhibition schedule a league-worst 1-7. "Im looking forward to it," coach Tyrone Corbin said. "Weve made some great strides in the exhibition season. Were starting over in some ways, so performance and consistency is going to be a key for us, along with how were going to perform in certain situations. "Its going to be different and theres going to be a lot of adjustments, so we have to make sure we stay on top of it and keep ourselves growing as much as we can." ' ' '