he played in a high-school game for the first

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Oakland Athletics can win a lot of different ways, as evidenced by their two-year hold on the AL West division title. Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. "When were swinging well, we feel like we have a deep lineup," As manager Bob Melvin said. Cespedes has been hobbling around the last few days with the injury, but the team wasnt worried enough about it to hold him out. The Cuban slugger followed a leadoff walk to Brandon Moss by crushing a double in the second inning for the first run against Kevin Correia (0-1) and hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Moss added a two-run single in the third and Derek Norris homered in the sixth. "Everyone knows their strengths and they dont go outside of their game, and I think thats what makes us a great overall ballclub and very deadly down the stretch of the whole season," Norris said. Jed Lowrie hit what the As believed was a home run down the right-field line in the third inning, but the call on the field was a foul ball and the umpire-initiated review, which lasted more than four minutes, upheld the ruling. Lowrie took a walk instead and later scored. Kazmir (2-0), who stymied with Twins in five starts against them last season for Cleveland, completed six innings with six hits, three runs and four walks allowed. He struck out five, and RBI doubles by Aaron Hicks and Jason Kubel were the only damaging hits against him. This wasnt his best, but Kazmir got enough quick outs to stay in there. "Not very efficient with my pitches, but theres going to be days like that so I need to be able to battle. To get six out of that, thats something you can build on," he said. The 30-year-old Kazmir dazzled in his As debut with 7 1-3 scoreless innings last week against his old team, the Indians. He did the same against the Twins in 2013, going 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings with 36 strikeouts. With Jarrod Parker, a 12-game winner last year, out for the season following elbow ligament replacement surgery and A.J. Griffin not yet ready because of a spring arm injury, the rotation took a hit. Kazmir, then, is that much more valuable. Oh, and so is the lineup. "All the way through, guys are taking quality at-bats and really working the starting pitcher early in the game. That goes a long way as far as getting the win," Kazmir said. Correia came out with two outs in the sixth. He yielded nine hits, six runs and two walks while striking out three. "He started pounding inside a bit better and his last couple innings were better because of that," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But you cant just stay out and over the plate on these guys." Alberto Callaspo and Josh Reddick also drove in runs for the As, who played without centre fielder Coco Crisp because of a sore left wrist. Norris, Callaspo and Josh Donaldson each had two hits. "I just threw a couple bad pitches in situations where I had a chance to get out of a jam," Correia said. "Thats what Ive been able to do the last couple years." NOTES: Lowrie was hit by a pitch on the lower right leg in the seventh inning and was in too much pain to stay in the game. Nick Punto, who played seven seasons for the Twins, entered as a pinch runner and eventually scored on a balk by Sam Deduno. ... The Athletics made a bullpen shuffle before the game, reinstating RH Ryan Cook from the disabled list and sending RH Evan Scribner to Triple-A Sacramento. Cook, who was out with shoulder tendinitis, struck out two in a hitless ninth. ... Attendance was announced at 35,837, more than 3,000 below official capacity. .... The Twins had left fielder Josh Willingham (left wrist) and right fielder Oswaldo Arcia (right wrist) both out of the lineup. ... The three-game series resumes on Wednesday afternoon, with RH Jesse Chavez (0-0, 1.50 ERA) pitching for the As against Twins RH Phil Hughes (0-0, 7.20 ERA). Joe Torre Jersey . -- Two out of three aint bad. Aaron Hicks Jersey . The Asheville, N.C. native, who signed as a free agent with the CFL club last May, didnt see any action with Edmonton this season after opening the year on the injured list. https://www.cheapyankees.com/381g-gleybe...ey-yankees.html. Cabrera-Bello shot a 1-over-par 73 and was caught by Webster, who carded 70 at Doha Golf Club for three-round totals of 12-under 204. They were only one stroke ahead of Adrien Saddier of France, the biggest mover with six birdies in his opening seven holes in a round of 64, South African Thomas Aiken (70) and Denmarks Thorbjorn Olesen (68) on a packed leaderboard. Chance Adams Jersey . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. Roger Clemens Yankees Jersey . - Vince Carter, heading into his 17th NBA season, doesnt consider age a big issue anymore.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss J.R. Smiths antics, Dennis Rodmans trip to North Korea, Toronto FCs spending and the inspiring story of a California high-school basketball player. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is down to J.R. Smith, the illegitimate clown prince of basketball. The New York Knicks are their own unique brand of farce, but Smith takes it to a different, dumber level. This week he was fined $50,000 for trying to untie an opponents shoelace again, after being warned by the NBA, hey, dont try to untie an opponents shoelace again. This had literally never happened before. He had already been suspended in his career for fights, for drugs, and even for reckless driving causing a death, and he has said over and over, "Ive learned." But he never learns. Hes a player with talent, no desire to shape it, no thoughts of consequences, and the brain of a slow-ish ostrich. Someone should tie his shoelaces together, and be done with it. Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun: My thumb is down to Dennis Rodman and his bizarre egotistical nonsensical attempt at diplomacy with his latest visit to North Korea. This isnt the Richard Nixon days, when ping-pong began to unfreeze the relationship between the United States and China. This is today, and this is the clown Rodman, trying to look serious in a political arena. The situation becomes all the more troubling when you consider Rodmans patty-cake friendship with dictator and admirer Kim Jong-un. While in North Korea, Rodman suggested that American tour guide, Kenneth Bae, jailed 15 years for state subversion, was at fault for being held captive and after saying that, bllamed his verbal outburst on drinking too much.dddddddddddd Dennis Rodman is, was, and remains something of a sporting embarrassment. The fact he is playing a more difficult game here only makes it worse. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Toronto FC for its showy efforts at ending its culture of failure. This week the club repatriated Canadian midfielder Dwayne De Rosario. It then made a global splash by acquiring striker Jermain Defoe from Tottenham and signing another midfielder, American international Michael Bradley, who had been languishing at A.S. Roma. MLSEs $100 million moves faintly echo President Tim Leiwekes investment in David Beckham when Leiweke was in Los Angeles, although labeling MLS most dismal team a "super club" is wildly premature. The last Toronto team to "win" an offseason was the blue jays last winter. Howd that turn out? Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to California high-school basketball player Austin Hatch, and this story will explain itself. In two airplane crashes eight years apart that killed his father, mother, stepmother, brother and sister, Austin Hatch narrowly escaped death himself. The most recent crash in 2011 left Hatch in a coma for two months. 10 days earlier, he had committed to a basketball scholarship at the University of Michigan. This week, he played in a high-school game for the first time since the crash - his first shot was a three-point attempt, he made it - his schoolmates roared and his teammates jumped from the bench and stormed the court, causing an emotional celebration....and a technical foul. Hatch still looks forward to Michigan, where his scholarship will be honored. Thumbs up all around. Indeed. ' ' '