OAKLAND, Calif. -- Its been 40 days since Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano won a game. Hell try to end that drought Sunday afternoon against the Oakland As and impressive rookie pitcher Daniel Mengden.Liriano had ERAs of 3.38 or lower in each of his past three seasons with Pittsburg and went a combined 35-25. This year, hes 4-8 with a 5.33 ERA, more than a full run higher than his career mark of 4.05.A mysterious lack of command has been a key to Liarianos struggles. In his previous start, he walked five and lasted only 4 1/3 innings in a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers on Monday. He gave up four hits and five runs (four earned).Over his past six starts, Liriano is 0-5 with a 7.12 ERA with 24 walks in 30 1/3 innings. Hes allowed five home runs and 36 hits during that stretch. He hasnt won a game since May 24 against Arizona.Ive been here before, Liriano said after his loss to the Dodgers. Ive just got to stay positive and keep working.Liriano went 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA in 2012, pitching for the Twins and White Sox, before signing with the Pirates as a free agent on Feb. 8, 2013. In his first season with Pittsburgh, he went 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA. He walked 63 and struck out 163 in 161 innings.I would never have called him a pinpoint pitcher his whole career, Pirates catcher Chris Stewart said Saturday before the Pirates 4-2, 10-inning victory. I think this year is a little more out of the zone with certain things, falling behind a lot of hitters and putting guys on base, and it seems like guys are getting big hits against him when theyre on base.Its just a matter of him going out, trusting his stuff, attacking the strike zone, establishing the fastball command early, and that way hell get the chases on the other stuff.Mengden is 1/3 in four starts, but he has a 2.81 ERA and is coming off his first career major league victory. He allowed two hits and four runs over a career-high 7 2/3 innings in an 8-3 victory Monday against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.Mengden started the season with Double-A Midland, was promoted to Triple-A Nashville then was called up to the As on June 11. He has 26 strikeouts and nine walks over 25 2/3 innings. With each major league start, his confidence has grown.Every time you step on the rubber and get out there you gain experience and confidence and trust in yourself, as well, said Mengden, who will try to prevent the Pirates from sweeping the three-game series. Getting used to the atmosphere, the type of hitters youre facing. The more and more you do it, the easier it gets, and I guess the more confidence youll get. And Ive been throwing well, so that always helps with the confidence and trusting my stuff. Its a lot of fun.Mengden scouted the Pirates hitters on Monday in the series opener and again on Tuesday. He knows what to expect when he takes the mound in the series finale.They have a lot of balance to their whole lineup, Mengden said. Speed, power. Theyre a good team. ... Its always nice seeing a few guys face a team before you face them. NFL Jerseys Cheap . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. Sale Nike NFL Jerseys From China . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. http://www.cheapnflnikejerseyschina.com/ . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. This story appears in ESPN The Magazines August 22 College Football Preview Issue. Subscribe today!On a late-June morning, Oregon Ducks junior wide receiver Devon Allen practices his starts in the 110-meter hurdles at Hayward Field. In two weeks, on July 9, he will take his mark on the same starting line when Oregon hosts the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. On that day, to become one of the few active college football players ever to make an Olympic team, hell have to beat some serious competition in Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson, the 2012 gold and silver medalists. You cant be starstruck when you run against them, Allen says. Hopefully theyre worried about me too. If he makes the team, Allen will face a tough decision: Play with the Ducks or go pro in track post-Rio. But Allen isnt one to get ahead of himself, and The Mag is there as he approaches his first hurdle-: earning a ticket to Brazil.Double teamHis football teammates say hes a track star who plays football, but Allen insists hes a two-sport athlete who isnt ready to sacrifice one for the other. After winning his first U.S. outdoor title in the 110-meter hurdles in 2014, Allen led Ducks receivers with seven TD catches as a redshirt freshman before tearing his ACL at the 2015 Rose Bowl. It took me 12 months to feel 100 percent and confident again, Allen says, crrediting his football training with helping his track.dddddddddddd We train for explosiveness and strength, and that plays into hurdling.With the trials only two weeks away, Allen refuses to allow fear of injury to keep him off the gridiron. You can get hurt doing anything. These guys come to my track meets, and I like to be around the team. Besides, he adds, after the injury, I got faster.Running homeOver the past two weeks, Haywards green-and-yellow decor has given way to red, white and blue. I practice here every day, Allen says. Its a definite advantage. At the July 9 final, the crowd offers Allen deafening support during his strong start; with three hurdles to go, he is even with the other leaders. Thats when I knew, he says. My last hurdles are really strong.As he crosses the line in a personal-best 13.03, Allen realizes he has booked his trip to Rio de Janeiro, where he will be favored to medal on Aug. 15. He bolts toward the crowd and leaps into the stands, where Ducks right guard Cameron Hunt hugs him and points him toward his family, uniformed in Team Allen T-shirts. Afterward, Allen says it all feels surreal. I knew I could run that time. I knew it was in there. [But] it still hasnt set in. ' ' '