Aktuelle Giftwarnungen » Now that Cano is blocking Franklin at second ba

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. The right-hander has been so effective in his first season with Oakland that Melvin might need to break out a thesaurus when talking about the veteran pitcher. Kazmir pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight start, Yoenis Cespedes hit his 14th home run and the As beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Thursday night. "Its a broken record talking about him because were seeing basically the same game out of him," Melvin said. "I had heard last year maybe this is a 100-pitch guy top, six innings maybe. Hes been anything but. Hes been absolutely terrific." Kazmir (9-2) went into the game with the second-lowest ERA among qualifiers in the AL and extended his streak to 18 1-3 innings without allowing an earned run before Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run in the sixth. He struck out eight and didnt walk a batter. Over his past five starts, Oaklands right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA. "Probably one of the best (games) I felt this year, for sure," said Kazmir, who has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last five starts. "I was able to get ahead most of the time with my fastball and expand the strike zone with my breaking balls and my changeup. Didnt really use too many breaking balls. Just relied mainly on fastball location." Stephen Vogt had two hits and two RBIs, Jed Lowrie scored twice and John Jaso singled in an insurance run in the seventh to move the As a season-high 17 games over .500. Its the best record in the majors and continued Oaklands best start since 1990. Cespedes had not homered against the Red Sox until his two-out, solo shot off Jake Peavy in the third. Boston had played five straight one-run games heading into the series opener with Oakland. This one was tight as well. The As led 3-0 after Vogts single scored Lowrie in the fourth. Kazmir, who hasnt lost since May 23, took a shutout into the sixth that Pedroia ended with a two-out home run. It was the only mistake Kazmir made. "We faced a tough pitcher," Pedroia said. "To be honest, our at bats werent that bad. We have to find a way to have a big inning and get some momentum." Luke Gregerson pitched the eighth and Dan Otero worked the ninth for his first career save. Peavy (1-5) had a second straight strong outing but remained winless over his past 10 starts. Peavy allowed five hits over 6 1-3 innings, retired eight of the final nine batters he faced and struck out four with three walks. It wasnt enough to prevent the Red Sox from ending their three-game winning streak. Vogt hit an RBI groundout off Peavy in the second and singled in another run in the fourth. Lowrie, who walked and doubled, scored both times. Cespedes homered with two outs in the third. The Cuban slugger is batting .343 with four home runs and 12 RBIs through 17 games in June. Cespedes has driven in 49 runs already this season and could soon join teammates Brandon Moss (55) and Josh Donaldson (52) in the 50-RBI club. "When you look at the runs that weve put up this year, a lot of it has to do with those guys in the middle of the order," Melvin said. "Its pretty amazing." NOTES: Otero was in the closers role because Sean Doolittle had pitched in the previous two games. ... Cespedes has now homered against every team in the AL except Tampa Bay. ... RHP Clay Buchholz (hyperextended knee) pitched six scoreless innings during his second rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket. ... LHP Brad Mills starts Friday in his Oakland debut. Mills was acquired in a trade from Milwaukee earlier this week. LHP Felix Doubront (2-4) pitches for Boston. Fake Yeezy . The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-3 in front of 6,769 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. Cheap Fake Shoes . George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ . INJURIES - Cardinals 1B Matt Adams has been put on the DL with calf tightness, resulting in some lineup shifting, with Allen Craig moving from right field to first base, so that the Cardinals could bring up top prospect Oscar Taveras, who was the No. Fake Sneakers . Thats what he did over the past 2 1/2 years with the Washington Wizards. Wittmans approach helped turn the Wizards from pushover to playoff winners. Fake Nike Shoes . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid.For once, the New York Yankees lost out on the bidding for one of their high-priced free agents. Numbers Game looks at the Mariners landing Robinson Cano. The Mariners Get: 2B Robinson Cano. Cano, 31, has been an elite second baseman, leading the offensive parade at the position. Sicne 2006, his 190 home runs ranks second, as does his .868 OPS and 36.9 fWAR. Clearly, hes been a top tier performer, so its no surprise that he was able to command a lucrative contract as a free agent. In addition to having a pretty sweet swing, Cano has been incredibly durable, missing a total -- total -- of 14 games in the last seven seasons, with more than 650 plate appearances in six of the last seven seasons. Naturally, Cano wont remain this productive as he heads into his late thirties, but the more immediate concern ought to be about park effects, moving from a lefthanded-hitters haven, Yankee Stadium, to cavernous Safeco Field. Over the course of his career, Cano has hit .309 with an .837 OPS in 40 games at Safeco, about the same as his career marks (.309/.860), but four home runs in those 40 games is below Canos career home-run rate (which is one every 6.7 games). While offence is his calling card, Cano has become an asset in the field as well. Since 2009, his 38 Defensive Runs Saved ranks fourth at the position and his Ultimate Zone Rating is above average for that span. The issue, of course, is that Cano is 31 and doesnt figure to be increasing his range as he gets olders so, at some point over the life of this deal, hes pretty much assured to be a liability at second base and then it could be a matter of finding him another position. Where all of this leads is to a certain point of inevitability, that by the time Cano is 37, 38-years-old, on a contract that pays him through age 41, hes not going to be productive enough to warrant $24-million per season. Since 1960, among second basemen that were at least 37--years-old, there are a total of four (Joe Morgan, Davey Lopes, Jeff Kent and Craig Biggio) that recorded a fWAR of at least 5.dddddddddddd.0, total, after that point in their careers, so its asking a lot for Cano, even if he is going to be a Hall of Famer, to be overly productive through that age. That leaves the potential for 3-5 years of marginal production at the end of the deal. Given the annual cost, thats a pretty steep premium for the Mariners to pay. With Cano in the fold, the Mariners have more moves coming. Nick Franklin, their 2009 first-round pick, showed some promise last season, hitting a dozen home runs with a .225 batting average and .686 OPS in 102 games. Hes just 22 and hit .287 with an .819 OPS in five minor-league seasons, an indication that he should be able to hit at the major league level. Now that Cano is blocking Franklin at second base and Brad Miller is at shortstop, it seems likely that Franklin will be part of another transaction for Seattle, possibly to improve the pitching staff. From the Yankees perspective, they have signed Kelly Johnson, who offers respectable power -- his 79 home runs since 20010 ranks fourth among second basemen -- to a one-year deal and hes a fine stopgap solution. If there is a benefit to be gained by losing the leagues best second basemen, its in the financial flexibility that is gained and how the Yankees might spend money they had earmarked for Cano. If thats merely the Jacoby Ellsbury signing, then its hard to see this as a net gain, but if the Yankees turn around and add more pieces because they have room in the budget to do so, then it becomes easier to justify a fiscally-responsible decision, even if thats the last thing to expect from the Yankees. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '