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OAKLAND, Calif. -- With a little more playing time these past few days, Athletics slugger Billy Butler is finally getting comfortable at the plate.It might not be enough to get him out of a part-time role in Oakland. Still, its a step in the right direction for the former All-Star first baseman.Butler hit a tiebreaking home run off Erasmo Ramirez with one out in the eighth inning and the As held on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep.Ive shown it my career, I can come through in those situations day in and day out, Butler said after helping the As complete a 7-3 homestand. Its one of those things where I really havent had any opportunities to be frustrated. I just havent had my number called a lot. Coming through in those situations, maybe Ill get my number called more.Oakland won the first two games of the series on walkoff hits and led 2-0 until Logan Forsythes tying two-run homer in the top of the eighth.Ramirez (7-8) retired Khris Davis on a fly ball before Butler hammered an 0-1 pitch over the wall in center. Its Butlers third home run of the season and first since June 7.Butler also had an RBI single in the first, giving him 18 RBI over his last 35 games.Its tough for a guy that plays every day to try to get himself into a rhythm if hes not, but thats a big hit today, As manager Bob Melvin said. Hes staying positive . but this has been a tough year for him, based on the fact hes asked to do something hes not used to doing.Davis added two hits while Jake Smolinski doubled twice and scored for the As. Oakland improved to 7-3 since the All-Star break.Ryan Dull (4-2) retired two batters for the win despite giving up Forsythes home run. Ryan Madson pitched the ninth for his 21st save.Home runs have beat us up a lot this year, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Obviously when you give up that many, theyre coming at the wrong time.Forsythes home run in the eighth ruined an otherwise stellar day for As starter Jesse Hahn.Called up from the minors before the game, Hahn faced just two over the minimum through six innings and allowed only one runner to reach second base before leaving with a 2-0 lead with two outs in the eighth. The right-hander walked one and matched his season-high of five strikeouts.Oakland jumped on Tampa Bay rookie left-hander Blake Snell early and strung together four consecutive one-out hits in the first. Davis had an RBI double and Butler added a run-scoring single to put the As up 2-0.Snell allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.THIN BENCHWith only one fully healthy player (Matt McBride) available off the bench Melvin was asked if he had any pitchers hed consider using as positional players if the need arose. Ive got a couple of guys that would like to do it, Melvin said, specifically mentioning Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman. I hope I dont get to that point. Position players always think they can pitch . and pitchers who are athletic always think they can play positions.TRAINERS ROOMRays: Desmond Jennings (strained left hamstring) ran the bases and took batting practice without a setback during a minor league rehab appearance. ... RHP Brad Boxberger threw 22 pitches in a rehab outing and is hopeful of rejoining the big league club in Los Angeles.Athletics: Coco Crisp was a late scratch because of neck soreness. He joined Josh Reddick (lower back soreness) on the bench. ... Rich Hill threw 30 pitches while wearing a protective covering on the middle finger of his left hand. Hill, who left his last start after five pitches because of a blister, will continue to throw bullpens for conditioning until the blister heals. ... Arismendy Alcantara was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.UP NEXTRays: RHP Chris Archer (5-13) pitches against the Dodgers in the opener of a two-game series on Tuesday. Archer entered the weekend leading the AL with 147 strikeouts.Athletics: RHP Daniel Mengden (1-1) returns to his native Texas to face the Rangers on Monday. Mengden was born in Houston and attended Texas A&M. Cheap Mets Jerseys . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Wholesale Custom Mets Shirts . DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. http://www.custommetsjersey.com/ . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Mets Jerseys China .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Cheap Custom Mets Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. SAINT PAUL, Minn. --The Arizona Coyotes wrap up a four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a stop in snowy, frozen Minnesota to face one of the leagues hottest teams before returning to The Valley of the Sun.Minnesota is riding a six-game winning streak overall after a 5-2 win in Nashville on Thursday night to give the Wild at least a point in 11 of their last 12 games (8-1-3).Much of the credit for Minnesotas recent success goes to former Coyote and current Wild goaltender, Devan Dubnyk. The league leader in goals-against average and save percentage, Dubnyk is 8-0-2 in his past 10 starts with a 1.65 GAA and .944 save percentage.We werent at our best but our goalie was, Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said after Dubnyks 34-save performance against Nashville. It seems like he gets into that zone there and he says that nothing else is going to beat him.The Wild survived on three first-period goals and a pair of late empty netters against Nashville, relying on Dubnyk in between as the Predators outshot Minnesota 23-9 over the final two periods.Weve got a solid team and a great goalie right now, said veteran Minnesota center Eric Staal who scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season on Thursday. We got the job done, now weve got to keep going, big one on Saturday.It appears as though Arizona may catch a break as Wild backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to get the nod from Boudreau in Saturdays matinee match-up. Kuemper is 2-2-1 this season and was in goal for Minnesotas last regulation loss on Nov. 29 in Vancouver.Not that it would necessarily matter to Arizona, however, as the Coyotes have played well of late in St. Paul. While Minnesota has had the upper hand in the last 11 overall meetings between the clubs (8-1--2), Arizona is 7-2-2 in its last 11 visits to Xcel Energy Center.ddddddddddddBoudreau knows full well what his team is up against.Ive played that team a lot and theyve always, always been a tough team to play against and I dont expect anything different, Boudreau said. (Arizona coach Dave Tippett) is a very structured coach and they will play their game. Its not going to be a cakewalk. If anybody thinks it is then theyre vastly mistaken.After dropping six in a row, the Coyotes have won three of four and two straight on this road trip after Thursdays 3-2 shootout win over Toronto. Much like the Wild, goaltending has been a huge factor in Arizonas surge.Coyotes starting goaltender Mike Smith stopped 125 of 129 shots in that trio of wins, including 44 against a Maple Leafs team whose offense has proven to be quite potent at Air Canada Center.He was really good, excellent, Tippett said. Thats what youve seen from him the last little bit here. Were still giving up too many chances but hes been there to clean a lot of it up.Smith has indeed had a lot to clean up for an Arizona team allowing a league-high 35.8 shots per game. Despite playing just 16 games due to a knee injury costing him a dozen potential starts, Smith has faced 40 or more shots six times which leads the NHL.Smith set a career-high and a franchise record for saves in a game when he stopped 58 of 60 Columbus shots in a Dec. 3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets. The 58 saves were also the most saves in a game by any NHL goalie this season and it was only the 4th time in the last 25 years a goalie had 58 saves or more in a regular season game. ' ' '