made no attempt to persuade him to extend his contract and fi

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Eric Sogard and the Oakland Athletics finished off their answer to a three-game sweep by Texas on the West Coast last week. Emphatically. Jesse Chavez allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings, Sogard matched his season total with three RBIs on Wednesday night and the Oakland Athletics completed a sweep in Texas with a 12-1 rout of the sloppy Rangers. Yoenis Cespedes had two doubles, scored twice and drove in two runs for the As, who scored 10 runs combined in the third and fourth innings to complete the sweep in a series that started with the teams tied atop the AL West. "We didnt enjoy them coming in sweeping us and then losing the last two in Houston," Sogard said. "It kind of really made us wake up a little bit. Our pitching was fantastic and we were able to put some runs on the board." The Rangers matched a season high with four errors, including one of two by shortstop Elvis Andrus on what could have been an inning-ending double play in Oaklands seven-run third. Chavez (2-0) walked one and struck out eight, allowing only Prince Fielders soft line-drive single to right-centre field in the first inning. The As improved to 6-0 in his starts. "Weve seen that game a few times already this year," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "Quality stuff all the time. Mechanics are terrific. Keeps guys off balance." Robbie Ross (1-2) gave up 11 hits and 10 runs in 3 1-3 innings, the shortest outing of the left-handers first season as a starter. Just six runs were earned because of Andrus second error in Texas fourth straight loss. "It snowballed on me quick," Ross said. "This is one of those games where you want to forget about and move on. Thats what everyone tells me." Alberto Callaspo and Derek Norris had three hits each among a season-high 17 for Oakland. Two of Norris hits were infield singles on choppers to Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre and played big roles in Oakland building a quick 10-0 lead. The burly catcher hustled to beat Beltres throw for the fifth straight Oakland hit in the third. Two runs scored on the next one an inning later. Craig Gentry came home as Beltres throw skipped past Fielder, and right fielder Alex Rios got the second error on the play when his throw to try to get Cespedes at home went to the backstop. Andrus, who went 0 for 2 before coming out after five innings and has one hit in his past 28 at-bats, had his other error in the first inning when Josh Donaldsons routine grounder jumped up and hit his hand and the throw went several feet over Fielders head. "Theres going to be times either defence or offence are not on the same level," Andrus said. "Today was both." Cespedes had a two-run double for a 3-0 Oakland lead in the third before the first of Norris infield hits. Callaspo followed with an easy grounder to Andrus, but the ball went between his legs into centre field. Sogard later made it 7-0 with a two-run single and added an RBI single in the fourth as Oakland outscored Texas 25-4 in the three games. "It seems like there was carry-over every game," Melvin said. "The quality of our at-bats throughout the whole lineup. Everybody contributed. Thats when were at our best." Coco Crisp hit his third homer of the season, a solo shot to right field in the sixth for a 12-0 lead. It was the only homer of the series in a ballpark thats never had a three-game set without at least one home run. Texas ended the shutout in the eighth when Josh Wilsons double off reliever Luke Gregerson scored Leonys Martin. NOTES: As RHP A.J. Griffin had elbow-ligament replacement surgery in Houston on Wednesday, becoming the second Oakland starter lost to the season-ending procedure this year. Jarrod Parker underwent the same surgery before the season. ... Rangers manager Ron Washington said Shin-Soo Choo would return to LF on Friday at the Los Angeles Angels. Choo was DH for the second straight game after being out of the starting lineup for a week with a sprained left ankle. ... Josh Reddick walked in the third to snap Ross streak of 21 1-3 innings without a walk. Starlin Castro Jersey . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Wei-Yin Chen Jersey . -- Byron Scott is taking over the Los Angeles Lakers with the vocal support of his fellow Showtime greats. http://www.marlinsteamproshop.com/Marlins-Andre-Dawson-Kids-Jersey/ . - Robert Griffin III has a sprained throwing shoulder that limited him in practice Wednesday as the Washington Redskins prepared for their season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. JT Riddle Jersey . -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. Cameron Maybin Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson.MADRID, Spain -- Luis Aragones, the former Spain coach who shaped the teams rise from perennial underachiever to global powerhouse with a long-awaited title at the 2008 European Championship, has died. He was 75. The Spanish football federation announced the death early Saturday, saying Aragones died at a Madrid hospital. He had been battling leukemia. Federation president Angel Maria Villar said Aragones would be remembered as "very special" -- both for his contributions to Spanish football and as a person. "With him we have lived the beginning of an extraordinary phase in football as well as for Spanish society," Villar said. "This has been a painful dawn for our football." Aragones had a successful playing career as a sharpshooting international forward who earned 11 caps for Spain, and then spent the rest of his life as a much-travelled coach. However, he will mostly be remembered for what happened on June 29, 2008, when his team beat Germany 1-0 in Vienna to claim its first major title in 44 years. "Luis Aragones changed the history of Spanish football," Spain captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. "And for that we will always be thankful." The Euro 2008 triumph was the culmination of Aragones four-year reign as Spain coach, having taken over a team that for the last 20 years had earned a reputation for always coming up short in major tournaments. But Aragones instilled a new sense of belief in his players, even after losing to France in the second round of the 2006 World Cup. He also made the team adopt the quick-passing "tiki-taka" style of football made famous by Barcelona, and which his players came close to perfecting at Euro 2008. Led by Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta -- and the goalscoring of David Villa -- Spain went undefeated through the tournament, but needed a penalty shootout against Italy to advance from the quarterfinals. While Aragones stepped down after the tournament, the team went on to win its first World Cup two years later and then added an unprecedented third straight major title at Euro 2012 under his successor Vicente del Bosque. "Without a doubt, our current run of success is a result of his legacy," Del Bosque said on Saturday, after paying his respects to Aragones family. "He had a long history of coaching experience and he had a special appreciation for the game." But Aragones time in charge wasnt without controversy. He made a racist slur about France striker Thierry Henry -- who is black -- during a training session in October, 2004, and followed that remark with an outburst about Englands colonial past.dddddddddddd His comments were believed to have prompted ugly racist chants directed at Englands black players during a friendly against Spain in Madrid. The Spanish Football Federation refused to bow to pressure to fire Aragones, although it fined him 3,000 euros, a punishment which many felt was too lenient. Denying he was a racist, Aragones explained that his comment about Henry was an attempt to motivate forward Jose Antonio Reyes, and he received important backing from several black players he had coached previously. In February, 2007, Aragones won a legal appeal against the Spanish Committee for Sporting Disciplines ruling that his behaviour could have fostered "violent, racist or xenophobic acts." Spanish media also often complained about his grouchy demeanour and had regularly called for his dismissal during the two years before the teams triumph. There was another uproar toward the end of 2006 when he dropped the national teams all-time leading scorer and captain, Real Madrids Raul Gonzalez, arguing that he was past his prime. It proved a masterstroke. The team embarked on a 22-game unbeaten run which culminated with the 2008 title, making Aragones the oldest coach to win a European Championship title. Despite the victory, the Spanish federation made no attempt to persuade him to extend his contract and five days later he moved abroad for the first time to take charge of Turkish club Fenerbahce, a couple of weeks before his 70th birthday. "Im leaving because there wasnt more done for me to stay," Aragones said at the time. His playing career began 43 years earlier, when Aragones joined Atletico Madrid. He scored 123 times in 265 games for the team -- the second highest in its history -- and helped the club win three Spanish league titles and two Copa del Reys. It also reached the 1974 European Cup final, where it lost to Bayern Munich in a replay. Aragones, nicknamed "The Sage of Hortaleza" in reference to the Madrid suburb of his birth, was then appointed as Atletico coach and led the team to the 1975 World Club Championship, the 1976 Copa del Rey and the 1977 league title. He coached Atletico on a total of five occasions and he had two spells each at Mallorca and Real Betis. He was also in charge of Barcelona, Espanyol, Sevilla, Valencia and Oviedo in a career total of 757 games, a Spanish league record. Aragones is survived by his wife Pepa, five children and 11 grandchildren. ' ' '