lzs postgame comments about his players resolve evolved into a rant in which he blasted what he considers an entitled culture.Right now, the generation of kids

SEATTLE -- Mike Zunino picked a perfect time to snap out of his slump. Sonny Jackson Jersey .Zunino delivered the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and Seattle held on for a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night, keeping the Mariners on the edge of the AL wild-card chase.Its nice to be in that spot and its nice to come through, said Zunino, whose last home run was Sept. 11. Its nice when you go through struggles and work through it and get that opportunity and they go in your favor.Seattle is two games behind Baltimore and Toronto with three games to play. The Orioles defeated the Blue Jays 4-0 to pull even atop the wild-card race. Detroit, which was rained out against Cleveland, is a half-game ahead of the Mariners.We can only control what we do here, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. We need help. We know that. I think everybody thought the way Toronto was playing, theyd probably win two out of three at home. Didnt happen. The way we look at it, were still alive. Weve got to win tomorrows game and again, pray for a little help.Zunino, hitting .139 over his last 25 games, opened the seventh with his 12th home run, sending a 2-2 pitch from Liam Hendriks (0-4) deep over the wall in left.Seattle added a run in the eighth on a two-out single by Leonys Martin, a walk to Zunino and Ketel Martes RBI single.Steve Cishek (4-6) came on to stifle an Oakland threat in the seventh with an inning-ending double play and added a perfect eighth. Rookie Edwin Diaz notched his 18th save, despite allowing a run and three hits in the ninth.I need to control emotions, try to make pitches and try to help the team win, to give us a chance to make the playoffs said Diaz, who had blown two of his three previous save opportunities. We are so close right now.The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on three consecutive singles before running themselves out of the inning. Kyle Seager reached on an infield single when Kendall Graveman couldnt find the handle on his two-out dribbler along the first-base line. Adam Lind followed with a single to center. Martin singled through the right side, scoring Seager from second. Martin continued for second, but was caught in a rundown. Lind was thrown out at home trying to score on the play.Chad Pinder brought Oakland even in the sixth with his first career home run, a leadoff shot to left for the only run off starter Ariel Miranda.Oakland had runners on first and third with one out in the seventh, but failed to score. Danny Valencia singled to open, but was forced at second on Brett Eibners fielders choice groundout to short. Yonder Alonso then singled Eibner to third. Cishek relieved and enticed pinch-hitter Max Muncy into an ending double play grounder.It came down to situational at-bats, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. We had runners at third with less than two outs, then we hit into a double play and two strikeouts . Our situational at-bats hurt us tonight.GOOD MONTH FOR MIRANDAAlthough he did not get the decision, Miranda allowed just one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six. Miranda, acquired from Baltimore on July 31 in exchange for LHP Wade Miley, is 4-1 with a 2.62 ERA in six September starts. Over his last four starts, Miranda has held opposing batters hitless in eight consecutive at-bats with runners in scoring position.UP NEXT:As: RHP Raul Alcantara (1-2, 5.75 ERA) makes his fifth career start since being called up from Triple-A Nashville on Sept. 5. He faced Seattle on Sept. 11, giving up two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings without a decision.Mariners: RHP Taijaun Walkers (7-11, 4.35 ERA) up-and-down season seems to be back on the upswing. Walker was 2-0 with 1.44 in four April starts, then went 0-5 in May and eventually was sent to Triple-A. Hes 3-1 in his last four starts. Chad Sobotka Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Ralph Garr Jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. http://www.custombravesjersey.com/custom...large-327z.html . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- With Maryland playing shaky and facing a possible first loss, freshmen Destiny Slocum and Kaila Charles steadied matters with poised contributions that got the fifth-ranked Terrapins past Louisville.Charles scored the go-ahead basket with 2:20 remaining, and Slocum followed with seven points to help Maryland beat Louisville 78-72 on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.The Terrapins (7-0) seemed in control with a 62-53 lead entering the fourth quarter before Louisville rallied to lead twice, including 67-65 with 3:15 left. Charles followed Brionna Jones game-tying layup with another before Slocums three-point play provided a 72-67 edge that she added to with four more free throws in finishing with 13 points. Charles scored all eight points after halftime.You know, its just playing basketball, said Slocum, who made six of her final seven free throws after missing her first two. I mean, Ive been in this moment before. I have two veteran players on our team that really led us. We knew what to do because they told us what to do. ... And in that moment we needed to lock in, play defense, have good offense, and I think thats what we did.Indeed, those newcomers followed good examples set by Marylands upperclassmen.Senior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (26 points) made two free throws with 4 seconds left to seal Marylands victory in the first regular-season meeting between the schools. Jones, another senior, added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Terps, who made 23 of 28 from the foul line.I thought our vets, Shatori and Bri, really led us in the first half so we could settle in and see all these new players from game to game, Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. Kaila Charles took until about the third quarter to be able to step up. Kristen Confroy (six points) gave us great minutes, her boards. ... Youre going to see that with our depth all season where different players (are) ready when their number is called.Asia Durr scored 20 points and Myisha Hines-Allen 16 for Louisville (6-2), which lost its second game in five days against a Top 5 team. They also fell for the third time in four games against Maryland.The sad thing about it is we came up with like six stops, seven stops in a row, starting the fourth quarter, said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, a former Maryland aassistant. Gary Matthews Jersey. But then when it becomes crunch time, you take a two-point lead and God forbid, thats when you have to get one. And we just refuse. Its our upperclassmen, unfortunately.THE BIG PICTUREMaryland: The Terrapins shot at least 50 percent in the first three quarters before cooling off to 31 percent in the fourth and allowing Louisville to rally. They still finished at 48 percent. Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones combined for 10 unanswered points during a game-changing run in the second quarter and led by as many as 10 twice in the second half. The Terps offset 18 turnovers by owning the boards 48-35 and keeping their main players in the game despite foul trouble.Louisville: The Cardinals stayed close by forcing 10 Maryland turnovers in the first half, but fouls were a concern with four having at least two at the break. Mariya Moore eventually fouled out after scoring 13 points. The Cardinals shot 39 percent overall and just 36 percent in the final quarter. Their lone bright spots were a 44-32 edge in the paint and 20 points off turnovers.POLL IMPLICATIONSMaryland figures to stay near the top five, while Louisville could take a tumble out of the top 10. The Cardinals still have to face No. 17 Kentucky on Sunday.MORE TO SAYWalzs postgame comments about his players resolve evolved into a rant in which he blasted what he considers an entitled culture.Right now, the generation of kids that are coming through, everybody gets a damn trophy, OK? Walz said. You finish last? You come home with a trophy. You kidding me? Whats that teaching kids? ... Its OK to lose. And, unfortunately, its our society. Its what were building. And its not just in basketball; its in life.Everybody thinks they should get a job. Everybody thinks they should get a good job. Thats not the way it works. But unfortunately, thats what we are preparing for.UP NEXTMaryland: Returns home from its four-game road swing for an intrastate meeting against UMBC on Sunday.Louisville: The Cardinals challenging stretch continues Sunday at home against in-state rival and No. 17 Kentucky, which has won the last five in the series.---More AP College Basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '