Fussball » league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BM

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Oakland Athletics waited until the last day of the regular season to finally clinch their third consecutive playoff berth.Adam Dunns wait to make the post-season for the first time lasted much longer: 2,001 games over 14 seasons.Its what you work for your whole career, said Dunn, who was traded to Oakland from the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 31. I dont know how fair it is that I get to enjoy kind of the fruit of their labour, but beggars cant be choosers.Sonny Gray threw a six-hitter to win for the first time in five September starts, Josh Reddick had an RBI triple and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 4-0 Sunday to clinch the American Leagues second wild card.The As play the win-or-go-home wild-card game Tuesday night at Kansas City, which won five of the seven games in the season series against Oakland (88-74).Manager Bob Melvin stood in the middle of the clubhouse and gathered the team around him.Were in. Thats three in a row, he said before being showered with champagne and beer.After winning the AL West the past two seasons, the As finally got in this time after a prolonged slump.The As lost 30 of their previous 45 games before winning game No. 162.Now the pressures off, and now we just go out there and play, said Gray, the 24-year-old right-hander who struck out five with no walks in his second career complete-game shutout, both this season against Texas.That was a huge, said Jon Lester (16-11), the midseason addition who pitched in two World Series for Boston and will start will start the wild-card game. Thats one of the more impressive games Ive gotten to watch in a while.Dunns 2,001 career games with the As, White Sox, Cincinnati Arizona and Washington were the most by any active player before getting into the post-season. The 34-year-old slugger has said he plans to retire after this season when his contract is set to expire, and waived his no-trade clause for the White Sox to send him to the As less than a month ago.Dunn got doused repeatedly during the celebration, and at one point dived onto the already-soaked floor after encouraging shouts from his teammates, who then showered him again.I played scenarios of this day out in my head probably a thousand times, Dunn said. I just want to celebrate with this team.After winning the AL West title the past two seasons, Oakland went into its game Aug. 10 with a 72-44 record that was the best in the majors. That was good for a four-game lead in the AL West and an 11-game edge in the wild-card standings.Grey (14-10) was 12-3 at the end of July, but was 1-7 in his 11 previous starts before Sunday.Nick Martinez (5-12) finished his rookie season allowing two runs and four hits over 5 2-3 innings. He struck out two without a walk.Brandon Moss led off the Oakland second with a double to centre, and Reddick followed with a triple over the head of centre fielder Leonys Martin. Reddick scored on Stephen Vogts bloop single to make it 2-0. Jed Lowrie had a two-run single in the ninth.Texas had two runners on with no outs in the fifth after Tomas Telis doubled and Ryan Rua got an infield single on a ball that ricocheted off Grays left foot. Trainers checked on Gray, who then got out of the inning by striking out Luis Sardinas and getting Adam Rosales to ground into a double play.Oakland lost five of seven down the stretch to the Rangers, who finished 67-95 overall for their most losses since 99 in 1985. But they were 14-8 under interim manager Tim Bogar after Ron Washington resigned Sept. 5 for personal reasons.We played some really good teams down the stretch and we were pretty competitive and thats all I can ask out of my club, Bogar said. If you ask Oakland, I think theyll understand that they had to beat a pretty good team.UP NEXTAthletics: Lester (16-11 overall, 6-4 in 11 starts for Oakland) is set to start Tuesday night at Kansas City against James Shields.Rangers: For the first time in five seasons, the Rangers are done after 162 games. Next is the off-season, when the first order of business will be to determine if Bogar will be their manager next season.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Melvin didnt even check with 3B Josh Donaldson before putting him in the lineup. Donaldson is still sore after awkwardly banging his left knee diving for a ball Friday night, but stayed in that game and played Saturday, when he homered and had a nice defensive play. There is a lot of character involved in that, Melvin said.Rangers: Texas used the disabled list 26 times this season for 21 different players who missed a combined 2,011 games. 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Those who impressed in each of the three events were asked to attend the main CFL Combine which begins Friday in Toronto.WEST BROMWICH, England -- West Bromwich Albion gave new manager Alan Irvine a one-year rolling contract on Saturday. Irvine, the manager of the academy at Everton, replaces Pepe Mel, who was fired a day after leading West Brom to 17th in the English Premier League and securing topflight football for a fifth straight season. West Brom technical director Terry Burton says, "Allan was at the forefront of our thoughts," and "he has a vast knowledge from grassroots up thanks to the roles he has performed during his decades in the game.dddddddddddd." It is the 58-year-old Irvines third job as a manager, after stints at Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End in the English second tier. Under him, both teams were relegated. ' ' '