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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kurt Suzuki couldnt have scripted his return to the Oakland Coliseum any better. A longtime fan favourite for the Athletics, he greeted his old supporters with a three-run homer in his first home game back with the club since being traded away last August, and Jed Lowrie hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. "It was pretty special," Suzuki said. "Its awesome. Just being around the guys, Ive played with the majority of the guys in this locker room last year or years before. It just seems like I never left." Lowrie extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his Oakland-record 13th double in August, off Joel Peralta. James Loney had tied it with a double in the top half for Tampa Bay. Jarrod Parker dueled with David Price to run his unbeaten streak to 17 straight starts, matching Catfish Hunters Oakland record set from June 2-Sept. 3, 1973. The As pulled within two games of the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West, and moved ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild-card race. Price (8-6) had his five-game winning streak snapped, losing for the first time in nine starts since July 12 against Houston. Parker came out for the eighth at 100 pitches, but gave way to winner Ryan Cook (6-3) after allowing the first two hitters to reach. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 36 chances, leaving the tying run aboard a day after blowing a save at Detroit by allowing four runs. "Ill take that," Balfour said. Parker received a couple of early pep talks from Suzuki, who later delivered with the timely home run, which he said "for it to be off a pitcher like Price, whos arguably one of the best pitchers in the game right now, was pretty neat." Suzuki is living in a hotel, stilly carrying a Nationals bag, and eagerly awaiting his familys arrival to the Bay Area on Monday. He had more than 15,000 people to help lift his spirits Friday. "You couldnt write that, you couldnt make that stuff up," Parker said. "Hes huge to us." Oakland beat the Rays for the first time after being swept in Florida from April 19-21. Tampa Bay outscored the reigning AL West champions 17-4 in that series. With the Bay Bridge closed all weekend, the Rays team bus left San Francisco at 2 p.m. Friday and didnt arrive to the Coliseum until 3:45. Price opted to take a cab before his start Friday, and it cost him a whopping $202, then tweeted he would take a helicopter Saturday. Manager Joe Maddon plans to take the BART train Saturday. Friday got stranger for the Rays when reliever Fernando Rodney briefly got stuck in the dugout bathroom during the game. "It was a kind of a fun moment," Maddon said. "We kind of rallied then -- we should have kept him in there. A lot of the commotion in the dugout in the eighth inning and part of the rally was someone beating on the door. Finally someone broke the door knob with a bat to get him out. I dont even know who the hero was getting him out. I say he was in there a solid 15 minutes." For Suzuki, rejoining the As for a pennant race has worked out well so far. He was cheered at every chance despite his light pregame remarks that he expected "a bunch of boos." Yunel Escobar hit an RBI single and Matt Joyce a sacrifice fly as the Rays kicked off a stretch with 13 of 16 games on the road. Second baseman Ben Zobrist had his Rays record 81-game errorless streak end on a wild throw in the fifth. His previous error came May 11 against San Diego. The Rays ended a 14-inning stretch without a run when they scored in the second, but they are 0-for California in four tries this year after dropping three at Dodger Stadium. NOTES: The Rays recalled RHP Brandon Gomes from Triple-A Durham and optioned RHP Jake Odorizzi to Double-A Montgomery. ... As C Derek Norris, on the disabled list since Aug. 21 with a fractured left big toe, is set to join Triple-A Sacramento at Tacoma on Saturday for a three-game rehab assignment. He is eligible to come off the DL on Sept. 5. ... Oakland RF Josh Reddick received an injection in his sprained right wrist Wednesday and is now using a splint. "We hope that does the trick," manager Bob Melvin said. ... Rays LHP Matt Moore (left elbow soreness) allowed eight hits and four earned runs in four innings of his first rehab outing Thursday night for Triple-A Durham at Gwinnett (Ga.) He is set to start in Anaheim either Tuesday or Wednesday and expects to have a pitch count of 90-100. "Im happy how my arm felt," Moore said. "Im warming up a little slower with my changeup. It really felt good to get back out there."... Maddon is yet to announce his Sunday starter, but did say likely Sunday additions that day will be: OF Delmon Young, DH Luke Scott, and C Chris Gimenez. Wholesale Jaguars Jerseys . Campbell, playing on loan with Greek club Olympiacos, found the net with a left-footed shot in the 44th minute off a pass from second-half substitute Jorge Rojas to open the scoring at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica. Quincy Williams II Jersey . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. http://www.cheapjaguarsjerseysauthentic....nshew-ii-jersey. But defending champion Elena Vesnina of Russia held off a strong challenge to beat Shuai Peng of China 6-3, 6-4, and there was another hard-fought victory for 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Alison Riske of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-4. Ryquell Armstead Jersey . Louis Cardinals for the National League Wild Card, are in the drivers seat as they open the final series of the regular season, but they face a large task in the form of the Philadelphia Phillies. Jaguars Jerseys China .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers.Its a return to tradition, as three schools which boast rich histories along with multiple NCAA Division I championships and one program which shouldnt be treated like the new kid on the block, comprise the field for the 2014 Frozen Four, set to kick off today at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Three of the four programs vying for supremacy -- Minnesota, Boston College and North Dakota -- account for 65 of 67 collective appearances in the final weekend of the college hockey season. The other one, Union, entered the tourney as the No. 1 program in the nation after spending the majority of the season climbing up the top 10. In the early semifinal, the Hockey East regular-season champion faces off against the pride of the ECAC. Watch it live NOW on TSN2 and TSN GO. UNION (30-6-4) HEAD COACH: Rick Bennett (78-27-16); Captain: Mat Bodie Newcomers to the Frozen Four two years ago, the Dutchmen were taken down by upstart Ferris State in the semifinals, but that only served to stoke their competitive fires. Last year in Pittsburgh, Union shocked the college hockey world by posting an easy 5-1 victory over defending champions and 2014 semifinal foe Boston College in the opening game of the East Regional before they were vanquished by the same score in the regional final by eventual national runners-up Quinnipiac. This season, fueled by senior forward Daniel Carrs team-best 48 points, a junior defenseman in Shayne Gostisbehere who got a taste of national hype machine as a Philadelphia Flyers prospect and Hobey Baker Award finalist, and junior backstop Colin Stevens (26-4-2, 1.93 GAA, six shutouts), Union simply has been on the warpath. It finished the year having claimed the Cleary Cup and Whitelaw Cup as ECAC regular-season and playoff champions, then ousted Vermont and Providence to win the East Regional to reach Philadelphia unbeaten in 15 games (14-0-1). After taking down Dartmouth, Cornell and Colgate in the conference playoffs, the Dutchmen earned a well-deserved honor, vaulting over the two programs which checked their rise to the top spot in the country for most of the season. With Minnesota and BC having bowed out early in the Big Ten and Hockey East playoffs, respectively, Bennetts kids gained the first No. 1 ranking in program history and the heads that wear the crown have not grown heavy just yet. Union has its work cut out, though, if it wishes to claim the programs first hockey championship. The last time the ECAC boasted back-to-back national titles, Boston University won under legendary coach Jack Kelley in 1971 and 72. It also must contend with BCs lingering memory from last years premature exit. BOSTON COLLEGE (28-7-4) HEAD COACH: Jerry York (963-576-102); Captain: Patrick Brown The Mighty Mites of the Heights invade the Quaker City looking to uphold a bit of a recent successful trend. BC has won four national championships since 2000 and three in the last six years, all starting with regional play in nearby Worcester. The Eagles have triumphed in each of the last three even numbered seasons (2008, 10, 12) when their path to glory began at DCU Center, and this year was no different as the Maroon and Gold bounced back from a best-of-three quarterfinals loss to budding hockey rival Notre Dame by downing Denver and slipping past UMass- Lowell. Yorks squad has also gained a Frozen Four berth in eight of the last nine even-numbered seasons going back to 1998, when the program burst onto the scene with an overtime title-game loss to Michigan in Boston. Powering the ride is the countrys highest-scoring line of Hobey Hat Trick member and prohibitive favorite Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold and Kevin Hayes. The trio has combined for 76 goals and 192 points along with a plus-115 rating in 39 games, including a mammoth 13-point, plus-15 effort in a tourney-opening 6-2 decision over the Pioneers where Gaudreau -- the nations leading scorer -- picked up six points (3G, 3A). The Eagles didnt reach this point solely on offense. Their defense tied with the Fighting Irish for fewest goals allowed in-conference with 40, and have given up only 89 tallies all season, third-lowest among the final four schools. Freshman phenom and expected 2014 first-round draft choice Thatcher Demko (16-4-3, 2.16 GAA) along with junior Brian Billett (12-3-1, 2.42) have done their due diligence, racking up identical .920 save percentages and combining for three shutouts. Hockey East and the WCHA have battled for supremacy since the dawn of the new Millennium, and if BC should win once more, it will pull the former even with the latter conference for the best in the game. The Chestnut Hill-based school has already snagged a piece of history in reaching this point, tying Michigan with 24 all-time Frozen Four berths.dddddddddddd. The nightcap features geographic neighbors and former fierce conference rivals which found themselves in different locations this season for the first time in a long time. Watch it live tonight on TSN GO at 8pm et/5pm pt MINNESOTA (27-6-6) HEAD COACH: Don Lucia (650-343-94); Captains: Nate Condon, Kyle Rau Motivated by being knocked off the No. 1 perch it held for most of the regular season and an unexpected exit in the inaugural single-elimination Big Ten playoffs authored by Ohio State, Minnesota has roared back to life with a pair of dominating victories to reach the Frozen Four for the 21st time in program history. The Gophers powered past AHA champion and tournament newcomers Robert Morris and then whitewashed former conference foe St. Cloud State to pull within two victories of their first national championship since winning back- to-back in 2002-03. Lucia led his charges to the seasons final weekend two years ago, only to be toppled by an upstart BC club by a 6-1 count, and then ended up on the wrong side of an NCAA record for the quickest goal scored in overtime in a 3-2 defeat to eventual champion Yale in the first round of the West Regional one year ago. Minnesota began the year in the top five, hit the ceiling soon after, then cemented its place there thanks to a 14-1-4 stretch mid-season and rolled to the Big Ten regular-season crown. Theyve done it with balance: five players have scored at least 10 goals, and while no player recorded more than Raus 37 points, 14 players have sported double-digit point totals. Defense has also been a premium, in sharp contrast to their years spent in the high-speed WCHA. Sophomore stalwart Adam Wilcox, another Hobey Baker finalist, finished 25-5-6 with a 1.89 GAA, .935 save percentage and four shutouts, while he and his fellow blueliners combined to allow a paltry 78 goals in 39 games, by far the lowest total and percentage of all four of this years entrants. Owing to their separate paths, for the first time in 66 years, the Gophers and Fighting Sioux did not play each other in the regular season. In their 284th all-time meeting, the stakes have never been higher for these two upper Midwestern schools, their respective rabid fan bases and bragging rights, since a 1979 NCAA championship meeting saw Herb Brooks Minnesotans take down Gino Gasparinis Dakotans in Detroit. NORTH DAKOTA (25-13-3) HEAD COACH: Dave Hakstol (260-132-40); Captain: Dillon Simpson The solid, but unspectacular Sioux arrive in Philadelphia without the bona fides of the other three combatants, yet still hold a place in college hockey lore. UND has reached the national semifinals for the 20th time -- and first since 2008 -- thanks to sweeping the Midwest Regional as an at-large bid and lowest seed by taking down top-seeded Wisconsin and then outlasting Ferris State in double overtime. Despite holding a late-season lead in the brand-new NCHC, North Dakota conceded the regular-season title to St. Cloud State on the final weekend, then needed three games to take out Colorado College in the conference quarterfinals before bowing to Miami-Ohio in the semis. Sophomore winger Rocco Grimaldi can lay claim to the tournaments first hat trick, which he recorded in a 5-2 win against the Badgers, and also sits atop the club in scoring with 39 points (including a team-best 17 goals and a team- high 156 shots on goal). Behind him, the largely-ignored Flyers prospect Michael Parks, a junior and projected senior leader of the squad with 12 goals and 30 points. Like their border brothers, the Sioux have made it this far thanks to 14 players who have tallied at least 10 points, a defense which did not allow more than six goals in any game, and a unique adaptability to opponents playing styles. North Dakota faced a known quantity in long-time WCHA rivals Wisconsin, going shot for shot and stride for stride in victory, then showed uncanny patience in outwaiting the molasses-in-January pace of the Bulldogs. The Big Green will have to shift into yet another mode, as Minnesota can stretch the ice like few teams and turn forechecking schemes into taffy. Hakstol reached the national final in his first year at the helm of 2004-05, eventually coming up short as Denver completed its consecutive championships, but hasnt been back since. The Sioux havent won it all since 2000, beating Boston College in Providence. A berth in Saturdays terminal contest, and a victory, will go a long way towards securing his legend and long-term viability in Grand Forks. Saturdays national final is set for a 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt puck drop on TSN2 and TSN GO. 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