Inland Waterways » he third quarter and delivered two

CHICAGO -- Everything was going just fine for the Oakland Athletics. And then? "The circus came to town," Josh Donaldson said. Thats one way to look at it. Avisail Garcia drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the struggling Athletics 2-1 on Wednesday night. Oakland was in line for the win after Jeff Samardzija threw seven scoreless innings, and Adam Dunn singled in a run against his former team. Instead, the As lost for the 10th time in 13 games because the bullpen failed again to protect a lead. Luke Gregerson (4-4) came on in the eighth, and things quickly fell apart. It was the third time in four games that the Athletics relievers blew a lead. Gregerson gave up a leadoff single to Carlos Sanchez, and first baseman Nate Freiman threw wildly trying to force pinch-runner Leury Garcia at second after fielding Adam Eatons grounder. The runners moved to second and third with one out when Gregerson bounced an 0-2 pitch to Jose Abreu before striking him out. He intentionally walked Conor Gillaspie to load the bases, and Garcia lined a pitch up the middle for a two-run single that made it 2-1. The late rally made a winner of Zach Putnam (5-3), who pitched a scoreless inning. Jake Petricka worked the ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances. "It does a lot for us," Eaton said. "It really does. We want to show were not dead. The White Sox are here to stay. We want to be better next year, and were going to continue to push to be better. It starts with this month." Samardzija looked sharp in his first start in Chicago since the Cubs traded him to Oakland on July 5. He gave up six hits, struck out six and walked two. "They made me battle out there, a leadoff walk, a couple of leadoff hits," Samardzija said. "So I was really grinding out there." White Sox rookie Chris Bassitt was almost as good. In his second major league start, the right-hander gave up one run and five hits. He left to loud cheers after Derek Norris led off the seventh with a broken-bat single. Dunn, recently acquired from the White Sox, gave Oakland a 1-0 lead with two out in the fourth when he drove in Coco Crisp with a single past a diving Gillaspie at third. It looked as though that would be enough before the game turned in the eighth. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: C John Jaso remains out indefinitely with a concussion after visiting a specialist on Wednesday. Oakland manager Bob Melvin was hoping he would be cleared to return after seeing Dr. Micky Collins in Pittsburgh. Instead, Melvin said Jaso will return to Oakland and stay away from baseball activities for at least a few days. ... Closer Sean Doolittle appears close to returning from a strained muscle in the rib area. He threw a side session Wednesday, and Melvin said he could be activated on Friday. ... OF Craig Gentry was improving but still was feeling symptoms after leaving Tuesdays game with a concussion, Melvin said. White Sox: Retiring slugger Paul Konerko hopes to return from a broken bone in his left hand next week. He said he might take some swings on Friday and hit some balls over the weekend. He thinks he will be ready to play during a nine-game trip to Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Detroit that starts next week. UP NEXT Chris Sale (11-3, 2.09 ERA) starts for Chicago, while Scott Kazmir (14-7, 3.42) pitches for Oakland as the White Sox and Athletics wrap up their four-game series. Kazmir got back on track in his last start even though he didnt figure in the decision, allowing three runs in 6 1-3 innings after giving up 13 runs in his previous two outings. FOR THE HIGHLIGHT REEL Donaldson made a terrific grab at third when he leaped to his left to snag Gillaspies liner in the fourth inning, and White Sox left fielder Jordan Danks made a neat catch in the seventh when he raced in and dove to rob Jed Lowrie. Lucas Biglia Jersey . Dalton completed his only pass and led the Bengals to a touchdown in his only drive -- one that took four minutes to finish -- and the Cincinnati Bengals ended the preseason with a 27-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night. Riccardo Montolivo Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. http://www.authenticshopacmilan.com/c-32-lucas-ocampos-ac-milan-fc-jersey.aspx . However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. Andre Silva Jersey . Harrison Barnes had 15 points and Reggie Bullock scored 11 for the Tar Heels (17-3, 4-1 ACC), who took the court for the first time without starter Dexter Strickland. The junior guard tore his right ACL last Thursday at Virginia Tech and will miss the rest of the season. Gabriel Jersey .C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla.MIAMI -- Something about facing the Miami Heat still brings out the best in Paul Pierce. Jason Kidd isnt half-bad against them, either. Pierce scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quarter and delivered two crucial scores late, Shaun Livingston created a turnover on the games final play and the Brooklyn Nets topped the Heat 96-95 on Wednesday night -- moving to 3-0 this season against the two-time defending NBA champions, two of those wins coming by a single point and the other in overtime. "We havent had any success," Kidd said of Brooklyns perfect mark against the Heat. "Weve just been lucky to win some games." Maybe, maybe not. In Kidds past 24 games against the Heat as a coach or player, his teams are 19-5. And this was just the latest entry in Brooklyns surge, with the Nets now an Eastern Conference-best 23-9 since Jan. 1. Mirza Teletovic scored 17 off the bench. Livingston finished with 13 points and Andray Blatche scored 11 for the Nets. Chris Bosh scored 24 points for Miami, giving him 15,003 for his career. Dwyane Wade scored 22, LeBron James finished with 19 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat, who gave up 22 points off turnovers and were hit with two technicals (on Wade and Chalmers) for arguing calls within a 92-second span of the third quarter. "Its competition," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team has dropped four of its past five games. "Its survival of the strongest right now. ... We still feel confident about our game. We just need to put it together." Miami had a chance at the end. Deron Williams missed a jumper with about 8 seconds left, and Wade grabbed the rebound. He took a couple steps downcourt, then called time out with 3.5 seconds remaining, and Miami had to burn another one in order to advance the ball into the frontcourt for the final play. Whatever Spoelstra drew up never got off the ground. Bosh tried to get the ball to James in the lane, but Livingston knocked it away and time expired. "Losing four of five," James said, "thats pretty bad." Pierce was 5 for 5 from the field, 3 for 3 from 3-point range and got fouled on another try from beyond the arc in the third quarter, his biggestt-scoring period of the season.dddddddddddd. "Im sure his antenna is raised in games like this, against us," Spoelstra said. Chalmers made a 3-pointer to get Miami within 84-81 with 6:57 left, but Teletovic -- who hadnt had a double-digit scoring game in exactly a month before Wednesday -- answered from several feet beyond the arc on the next Brooklyn possession to restore a six-point lead. Miami never got the lead back. Pierce had a 3 to make it 90-86, then a drive to snap a 92-all tie with 1:45 remaining. "Pauls got too much left in the tank to be a role player," Williams said. The Nets were without Kevin Garnett (back) and Andrei Kirilenko (ankle). Garnett is expected to miss at least one more game, while Kirilenko tested his ankle in a morning shootaround practice before the Nets figured he wasnt ready to play. Miami beat every other team in the league last season, and still could repeat the feat this year. The Heat entered Wednesday having beaten 26 of the 29 opposing clubs, the three holdouts being Houston (who visits Sunday), Memphis (who Miami hasnt faced yet) -- and the Nets, who won the first two meetings against the Heat this season in Brooklyn. Now theyve won in Miami as well, and are 31-1 when leading after three quarters. "If we had the answer, we would have won," James said. The Heat fell two games behind Indiana in the East race, as well as one game behind the Pacers in the loss column. It was also the fifth straight game where Miami failed to shoot better than 50 per cent from the field, and the Nets kept James from getting any shots from the field in the fourth quarter. "We do need to execute down the stretch," Wade said. "We need to be able to at least get the ball up to the rim, so were going to have to work on that a little bit. Weve got something to work on as a team. Thats not a bad thing." NOTES: James took a pair of free throws 3:07 into the game. He didnt take any in games earlier this week against Chicago and Washington. ... Joe Johnson had a 22-point first quarter against Miami in January; he was held to eight Wednesday. ... Brooklyn was staying in Miami overnight, a perk since it doesnt play again until Saturday in Washington. 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