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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Athletics middle reliever Liam Hendriks pumped his fist and did a little spin as he came off the mound after striking out Baltimore Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo to end the seventh inning.Ryan Madson wasnt as demonstrative but was equally pumped up after getting Chris Davis to strike out looking to end the game with the tying run on first base.Manager Bob Melvins ballclub might have the third-worst record in the AL but they clearly are still having a good time.Jake Smolinski singled and scored the deciding run in the third inning, rookie Zach Neal earned his first career win as a starter and Oakland held on to beat Baltimore 2-1 on Tuesday night.Youre going to go through waves and were on a good wave right now, Madson said. Everybodys feeding off each other, and its fun when everybodys doing that.Danny Valencia and Khris Davis drove in a run apiece as the As won consecutive games for the first time since July 26-27 to keep Wade Miley winless in an Orioles uniform.Smolinksi finished with two hits and two walks while Marcus Semien singled and scored as Oakland won its second straight one-run game from AL East-leading Baltimore.The Orioles remain percentage points ahead of Toronto, which lost earlier Tuesday night.Like they did in the series opener, the As got strong starting pitching, solid relief and just enough hitting.Neal (2-1) allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and retired 16 of the 18 batters he faced to win his second career start and first since May 25. He gave up Adam Jones home run in the fourth and a double to Jonathan Schoop leading off the sixth.Boy that was impressive, Melvin said. For a guy thats thrown 39, 40 pitches tops for us in relief here recently, to give us 75, 80 is what I was looking for from him and he was terrific.Neals only other win in the majors came in relief against San Francisco on June 28.Its not like he struck us out, Jones said. He just kept getting ground balls and balls right at people. Tough luck. Same thing as last night.Hendriks retired five batters and punctuated his night by striking out Trumbo. John Axford pitched the eighth and Madson worked the ninth for his 24th save to complete the three-hitter.Jones singled leading off the ninth but Hyun-Soon Kim hit into a 1-6-3 double play. Madson walked Manny Machado before Chris Davis struck out looking.Its a lot of fun to be a part of, Madson said after the As bullpen combined for 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Thats what its all about for us in the bullpen.The As did all of their scoring in the third off Miley. Valencia doubled in Semien, and Smolinksi singled and scored on Davis sacrifice fly.Miley (7-10) pitched well but remained winless since arriving from Seattle a day before the trade deadline. The lefty allowed two runs over six-plus innings and struck out two.NEAR PERFECT PROSPECTJharel Cotton, one of three prospects acquired when the As traded Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to the Los Angeles Dodgers, came within one out of a perfect game while pitching for Triple-A Nashville against Round Rock on Tuesday night. Cotton retired the first 26 batters he faced before Greg Bernier tripled on a 2-1 pitch. The right-hander finished with a one-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts. Impressive outing, Melvin said. When you make a trade like that we certainly like to see our guys do well when they get here.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: T.J. McFarland had his scheduled rehab start in the Gulf Coast League rained out Tuesday. McFarland, on the DL because of inflammation in his left knee, will pitch on Wednesday instead and the team will decide where he goes after that.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Yovani Gallardo (4-3) pitches the third game of the series Wednesday and is seeking to win consecutive starts for the first time this season.Athletics: Ross Detwiler (0-0) will be called up from Triple-A Nashville to make his debut with Oakland. The lefty was obtained in a trade from Cleveland two weeks before the trade deadline. Cheap Air Max 1 . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Nike Air Max 1 China Wholesale . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. http://www.cheapnikeairmax1.com/ . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Wholesale Nike Air Max 1 Cheap . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Cheap Nike Air Max 1 China . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Michael Phelps is back for a sequel to his Olympic farewell.This time, he insists, it really is goodbye.After retiring and then un-retiring, Phelps will be in Rio as the first U.S. male swimmer to compete in five Olympics. He is already the most decorated athlete in the history of the games, with 18 golds and 22 medals overall, and at age 31 remains the biggest star in a sport that will also feature teen sensation Katie Ledecky and an increasingly diverse pool of potential champions from around the world.Look for Phelps to add significantly to his medal total. He qualified for his three best individual events and will likely be part of all three mens relays on the powerful U.S. team.Just dont expect another comeback.This is it, Phelps said. No more.Sure about that?Im done, he reiterated. The body is done. This is my last one.Phelps initially retired after the London Games, only to backtrack on that decision about 18 months later.Looking back to four years ago, Phelps said he didnt really want to be at the Olympics and wasnt in top condition, even though he was still good enough to capture four golds and two silvers. He came back with a rekindled passion for swimming, only to run into another major challenge when he was arrested for the second time on drunken driving charges.That led Phelps to completely overhaul his personal life. He went into therapy, gave up alcohol, got engaged, made peace with his estranged father and, in the biggest change of all, became a father for the first time when son Boomer was born in May.No matter what happens in Rio, this is how he really wants to go out.Here are some other things to watch at the swimming competition in Rio, which includes open water and the synchronized events:THE KATIE SHOW: Ledecky has gone from a surprise gold medalist in London to one of the worlds most dominant swimmers at age 19. She is the world-record holder and huge favorite in both the 400- and 800-meter freestyle, and could bring home another gold in the 200 free. In addition, she will anchor the 4x200 free relay for the Americans, making them the team to beat.AUSSIE COMEBACK: Australia has traditionally been the second-strongest swimming nation behind the U.S., but the team from Down Under endured a dismal showing in 2012 with only one gold medal and no individual victories. Look for a big comeback in Rio. The Aussies returned to form at last years world championships with seven golds and 16 medals overall. Sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell lead the way, along with Emily Seebohm and Mitch Larkin.NOT SO BUSY: Missy Franklin was one of the big stars in London, winning four golds and a bronze while competing in seven events. The 21-year-old American will have a lot more free time on her hands this time after a disappointiing performance at the U.ddddddddddddS. trials. Franklin qualified for only two individual events and her relay duties will be limited to the 4x200 freestyle. Its a similar story for another U.S. great, Ryan Lochte. The 11-time Olympic medalist sustained a groin injury on the first day of the U.S. trials and managed to qualify for only one individual race -- a far cry from the six events (four individual, two relays) he had in London.SHADOW OF DOPING: Gold medalists Sun Yang of China and Park Tae-hwan of South Korea will both swim in the Olympics after serving suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. And several Russians were implicated in a huge state-sponsored doping ring. American Elizabeth Beisel said she is worried the competition in Rio wont be clean.HOME TEAM: While Brazil will field its largest swimming squad ever and have the crowd on its side, the home team will be missing its biggest star. World-record holder Cesar Cielo, a three-time Olympic medalist, stunningly failed to qualify at the Brazilian trials. Even so, the local fans should have plenty of reasons to cheer. Established swimmers such as Thiago Pereira, Bruno Fratus and Joana Maranhao are joined by up-and-comers Larissa Oliveira and Etiene Medeiros.LATE NIGHTS: For the second time in three Olympics, the schedule has been altered so the swimming events can be televised live in the U.S. during prime time. The change isnt quite as drastic as eight years ago in Beijing, when preliminaries were held in the evening and the finals the following morning. In Rio, the prelims have been moved back to 1 p.m. local time, while the finals wont begin until 10 p.m. -- both about three hours later than most meets.DIRTY WATER: The 10-kilometer open water races, a part of the Olympics since 2008, will be held against the gorgeous backdrop of Copacabana. The state of the water is not so pretty. There are major health concerns after Brazilian officials failed to live up to their pledge to clean up an ocean contaminated with raw sewage and potentially dangerous bacteria.RUSSIANS IN SYNC: Russias the overwhelming favorite in synchronized swimming, a sport known for hair gel, nose plugs, garish suits and dazzling showmanship. The Russians have not been beaten at the Olympics since 1996, and their only loss at the last three world championships came in a mixed-gender event that is not part of the Rio program. The only drama was whether theyd be cleared to compete. With that out of the way, Russia is good as gold.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '