OAKLAND, Calif. Authentic Air Max 97 Sale . -- Jeff Samardzija has waited for another chance to pitch in the playoffs, and he is enjoying every part of being in a pennant race again. Hes doing his part to extend Oaklands season into October, too. Samardzija tossed seven strong innings and received some rare run support, and the Athletics kept hold of the top AL wild-card spot by beating the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels 8-4 Monday night. The As moved one game ahead of Kansas City for the first wild card. "This last months been fun for me. Its a new situation for me, and something Ive been asking for for a long time," Samardzija said. "I got in this situation and I want to take advantage of it. Opportunities arent guaranteed and they dont come around too often, so you dont want to waste them." Geovany Soto hit a two-run single to highlight a six-run first inning as the As chased C.J. Wilson after just two outs for the second-shortest start of his career. Stephen Vogt added a two-run single in the seventh. Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Los Angeles, giving him 1,602 RBIs for 33rd on the career list. Samardzija (5-5) beat the Angels for the first time in three career starts and won for the first time in five starts since a victory at Houston on Aug. 25. Samardzija struck out three and didnt walk a batter while working at least seven innings for the sixth straight start. "Hes been terrific, and really emotional," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "You get that kind of lift when you play behind him knowing hes so into it." When Samardzija has pitched this year, his teams -- the Cubs and As -- have been shut out six times and held to one run or fewer 10 times. The early run support sure helped this time. Some snazzy defence, too. Josh Donaldson stopped a sharp grounder by Chris Iannetta that flipped up off his glove, and the All-Star third baseman made a barehanded catch and threw to first to end the seventh. Samardzija walked off shaking his head in disbelief. "I think he was bored and wanted to make things interesting," Samardzija said. Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia made it clear before the game that he wants his team to treat the remaining games with the same urgency even though the Angels clinched their first division title since 2009 last week. "I think its important to play and keep your edge," he said. "Naturally, these games have bearing on all the teams." Among his four free passes, Wilson (13-10) allowed bases-loaded walks to Derek Norris and Nate Freiman in the first that put the As ahead. Soto then singled up the middle to make it 4-1. "If youre missing your spots all over the place, its a mechanical thing," Wilson said. Before Sotos single, Oakland was hitless in 18 plate appearances with the bases loaded since Sept. 9. Wilson, the first of three straight southpaws scheduled to start in this series, had his three-start winning streak snapped. His only shorter start was one-third of an inning on May 11, 2012, at Texas. "Thats a rough one for C.J.," Scioscia said. "Weve looked at C.J. from every angle possible. Hes prepared, he knows what hes trying to do, he has terrific stuff. At times it works and hes on top of the game. Sometimes the games on top of him and we saw that tonight." Oakland scored eight or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since July 23-24 against Houston. The As hold a 9-8 lead in the season series, dropping the Angels to 1-6 at the Coliseum. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: OF Josh Hamilton hit off a tee as he tries to work his way back from pain in his upper body that sidelined him for the 17th time in 18 games. ... 2B Howie Kendrick was rested as a precaution a day after he was pulled late in the game with minor tightness in his hamstring. ... RHP Matt Shoemaker, making progress in his recovery from a strained left oblique, played light catch and is still giving Scioscia enough "encouraging" signs that he could make the post-season roster. Athletics: SS Jed Lowrie, who left Sundays game after four innings with a bruised left foot, and C Derek Norris (shoulder) returned to the lineup, though Norris was the DH after requiring an injection. UP NEXT Angels: LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 5.24 ERA) makes his third start and 10th appearance, carrying a scoreless stretch of 10 1-3 innings over his last five outings. LeBlanc has faced the As twice in relief this year. Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray (13-9, 3.28) looks to snap a five-start winless stretch with what would be just his second victory in 11 starts since a 5-0 July that earned him AL pitcher of the month honours. Cheap Air Max 97 From China . On Thursday, a judge said Varlamov could be released if he posted $5,000 bond and be allowed to travel with the team but he was ordered to stay away from his girlfriend, among other restrictions. Discount Air Max 97 Shoes . How foolishly wrong I was. Forget the now inherent corruption and back handed favours that plague the beautiful game. Goal Line Technology? Youre having a laugh. As for them penalty cheating bandits, footballs lawmakers upend them by awarding the penalty to the opponent each time a player attempts to con the referee into awarding ghost penalties. http://www.airmax97discount.com/ . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team.PHILADELPHIA -- Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo are gone, but the goaltending position has not been forgotten by the Vancouver Canucks. With their second-round pick in Saturdays NHL draft at No. 36, the Canucks took the highest-ranked goalie on the board, Thatcher Demko, as new general manager Jim Benning begins the process of replenishing the organizations goaltending depth. "I believe youve got to have a succession of goalies coming through the system," Benning said Saturday afternoon. "Goaltending is the most important position in an organization. ... I believe to be a top, contending team in the league, you need good goaltending. You can never have enough good goalies." Benning believes Demko, who plays at Boston College, is capable of developing into a No. 1 goaltender. He immediately becomes the Canucks goaltender of the future, especially considering the uncertainty that comes with Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom. "Hopefully theres an opportunity for me," said Demko, a native of San Diego, Calif., who brushed off the idea of pressure. "I think once I get there, youll start to feel it a little bit more with the Canucks fans and how passionate they are." It was at last years draft when ex-GM Mike Gillis traded Schneider -- coincidentally also a Boston College product -- to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth pick, which Vancouver used on London Knights centre Bo Horvat. Just before the trade deadline, the Canucks sent Luongo to the Florida Panthers for Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Markstrom started just three games for the Canucks since the trade. Demko, who has the option of playing one to three more years at Boston College, isnt worried at all about the microscope that goalies are under in Vancouver. He cant wait to see what its like to play in a Canadian market. "Im going to thrive in it," he said. "Youve got to play in pressure and thats kind of just the nature of it. Youve got to thrive in those situations or youre not going to have success." Demko might get a taste of a pressure situation at the world junior championship because hes a candidate to start for the United States in the tournament that takes place in Montreal and Toronto. &quoot;Obviously you want to be the starter at world juniors, (it) is a goal," he said. Clearance Air Max 97 Online. "But theres a lot of other guys that could easily have that position." Part of drafting Demko was Bennings familiarity with him from living in Boston and watching him play often. The same can be said for winger Linden Vey, whom the Canucks acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday for the 50th pick. At 22, Vey has just 18 games of NHL experience and five assists in that time. But Benning watched him play with the Kings AHL affiliate in Manchester and said hell make the Canucks next season. "Hes ready to play in the NHL now," Benning said. "Hell start out as a third-line guy. I think once hes up and going, maybe it takes a year, maybe it takes a year and a half but I think hes got the skill to be a second-line centre at some point." It doesnt hurt that Vey also played for new coach Willie Desjardins with the WHLs Medicine Hat Tigers. Derek Dorsett, acquired from the New York Rangers on Friday, also was in Medicine Hat with Desjardins. That No. 50 pick wasnt the Canucks until they traded defenceman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday afternoon. The Kings used it on Victoria goalie Alec Dillon. Vancouver took six-foot-seven Russian defenceman Nikita Tryamkin 66th, Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling 126th, Erie Otters centre Kyle Pettit 156th and Prince Albert Raiders defenceman MacKenzie Stewart 186th. Those players join the Canucks youth movement along with first-rounders Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann. But the most intriguing addition on Day 2 was Demko, who has prototypical NHL goalie size at six-foot-three. "My size is a tool, but I dont like to rely on it," Demko said. "I can use it, but I still like to react to pucks and kind of play athletic. Its something Im still working on, but its one of the biggest pieces of my game." Demko isnt just confident in himself but also in his ability to withstand the heat in Vancouver. He grew up considering Martin Brodeur a role model but ultimately might want to get some advice from Luongo. "Hopefully I can appeal to the fans up there and make them love me instead of hate me," Demko said. ' ' '