Vorschläge » . 3B David Freese was held out of the lineup aft

The life of a professional athlete can be a lonely one at times. Countless solitary hours spent in the gym, pushing your body to its limit, striving for just the slightest improvement in your game. While those hours in the gym can be lonely, the light at the end of the tunnel - being able to walk onto the pitch to compete along with your teammates - is always there for you, pulling you through the pain. No one knows that pain better than Kara Lang. For the past year, Lang has been been working day and night to re-train her body; to break it down so that she could build it up again, in the hopes that she could resume a career she was forced to end in 2011. It was then, at the age of 24, that she retired from the game. "I have come to the very difficult decision to retire from soccer and step down from the national team," she said. "I have always held myself to a very high standard — as it is demanded at the international level. Regrettably, I am physically incapable of maintaining that standard and fulfilling my role as a player." Lang has twice torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, the first occurring in 2005 and the second in 2009. Early Thursday morning, Lang revealed that her knee has once again suffered serious damage. 2 days after being cleared to train w/ #CanWNT my knee literally exploded yesterday. Ive torn just about everything you can in a knee. — Kara Lang (@Kara_Lang) February 13, 2014 While the extent of the damage is not yet known, the chances of Lang recovering in time for next summers womens World Cup look remote. Lang is one of the most decorated players in the history of Canadas womens national team program. She made her debut for Canada at the age of 15, and has scored 35 goals in 92 appearances for her country. She won a silver medal with Canada at the 2002 FIFA U20 Womens World Cup, and competed in both the Olympic Games (2008) and the Womens World Cup (2007, 2003). Not only has she made her presence felt on the field for Canada, she has become an integral part of the womens national team program itself. When Lang was re-introduced to her teammates in Edmonton back in October, where the team was set to play South Korea, it was as if the prodigal daughter had returned. Players and staff alike accepted her back into the fold without skipping a beat, and it was like shed never been away. When she announced her retirement back in January 2011, Lang said, "For the past ten years, this team has been my second family and this program my second home." You can be sure that her "family" is hurting just as much as she is right now. Over the course of her career, Lang has become a role model for young players - both male and female - across the country. She has become the face of womens soccer in Canada, and her inspirational message of battling through adversity transcends gender. Kara Lang will recover from her knee injury, and will continue to inspire soccer players young and old across the country - regardless of her role within the game. OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics are tired of squandering chances, especially in late September and on a night Sonny Gray more than earned a positive result. Gordon Beckham homered for the division champion Los Angeles Angels, who dropped the As into a tie for the top AL wild card with a 2-0 win Tuesday night. Grey fanned Mike Trout three times among his career-best 12 strikeouts, one month to the day after Jon Lester struck out the Angels slugger three times at the Coliseum. But Gray had nothing to show for it as Oakland was shut out for the seventh time since Aug. 1. "Its one of the major themes of the last month, month and a half," left fielder Sam Fuld said. "Weve had opportunities. Youve got to take advantage of those opportunities." Oakland and Kansas City are tied for the two wild-card spots at 86-71, three games ahead of Seattle with five to play. The Royals beat Cleveland 7-1 earlier Tuesday night and won the season series with the Athletics 5-2, giving Kansas City the tiebreaker. That means if the Royals and As win the wild cards and finish with identical records, Kansas City would host their one-game playoff next Tuesday. Wade LeBlanc (1-1) ran his scoreless stretch to 15 2-3 innings over his last six outings, allowing five hits in 5 1-3 innings for the AL West champions. LeBlanc is the second of three straight left-handers the Angels are throwing in this series. He is making his case to be on the post-season roster. "Any time players perform well, its going to help you to be stronger and help you make decisions," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We havent made any decisions yet but these are two strong starts from Wade." Gray (13-10) is 0-3 in his last six starts. The right-hander has one victory in 11 starts since a 5-0 July that earned him AL pitcher of the month honours. Of Trouts 13 games with three or more strikeouts, three are against the As. Gray struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced. "That was terrific," manager Bob Melvin said. "He was up for it today. You could see when he came in the dugout there was a look in his eye he was going to get after it." The As had a chance to tie the game in the fifth after Josh Reddicks one-out double. Eric Sogard grounded out two batters later on an off-balance throw by second basemann Howie Kendrick that just beat Sogard, who slid headfirst.dddddddddddd Los Angeles went ahead in the second on an unearned run when Erick Aybar scored from third during a rundown. Efren Navarro was caught stealing at second on a 2-6-3-4 double play after Hank Conger struck out swinging. Beckham hit his ninth homer leading off the sixth. "We lost. Whatever I did wasnt good enough tonight. It doesnt matter," Gray said. The As loaded the bases in the eighth against Joe Smith, who retired Stephen Vogt on a shallow fly to right to escape unscathed. Huston Street finished the three-hit shutout for his 16th save with the Angels and 40th overall. "I left a small village of runners in scoring position," Vogt said. Oakland was shut down after scoring 16 runs over its previous two games. That outburst came after the As totalled only 19 runs in their previous 10 contests. "We had some opportunities, and one or two more hits and its a different game," Melvin said. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: Jered Weaver (18-8) had the flu for a second straight day and left the ballpark. Scioscia said there is flexibility to push Weavers next start from Friday to Saturday if the right-hander needs an extra day. ... 3B David Freese was held out of the lineup after he experienced tightness in his upper back earlier in the day. ... OF Josh Hamilton hit off a tee for the second straight day. He missed his 18th game in 19 because of pain in his upper body. ... Scioscia said RHP Matt Shoemaker is "symptom-free" from a strained left oblique but wont pitch again in the regular season. He still needs to throw off a mound. "You dont want to jump over a step and risk setting yourself back," Scioscia said. Athletics: C Derek Norris was the DH for a second straight day after requiring an injection in his troublesome shoulder. He is slated to start Wednesdays series finale. UP NEXT Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (5-9, 3.98 ERA) has pitched two or fewer innings in each of his past two starts -- both losses -- after winning his previous three. He had no-decisions with a 1.00 ERA in his first three outings against Oakland this season. Athletics: Lester (16-10, 2.41) looks to improve on his 3-1 September record and beat the Angels for the first time in three starts this year. ' ' '