, they agreed to amend th

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Matt Shoemaker is off to a successful start in the major leagues. Just ask a select group of baseballs best pitchers. The rookie right-hander won his fifth straight decision, C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun homered in the fourth inning against Yu Darvish, and the Los Angeles Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Sunday night. Darvish is the latest in a group of top-of-the-rotation pitchers that Shoemaker has opposed this season, including Cliff Lee, David Price, James Shields and Chris Sale. The 27-year-old Shoemaker is 3-0 in those starts with a 2.83 ERA. "Its definitely something Ill savour," he said. "As a pitcher, your focus is huge, so I think that can definitely help a little bit more. I mean, it doesnt really come into play for me -- but in the aftermath, its pretty cool. Those guys have done a lot for this game, and hopefully I can be in their shoes one day down the road." Cron went deep for the third straight game, helping the Angels pull within five games of AL West-leading Oakland. Calhoun was credited with the first run of the game on a replay reversal in the first inning that led to the ejection of Texas manager Ron Washington by plate umpire Bill Miller. Shoemaker (5-1) allowed a run and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings with six strikeouts and two walks. The only run against him came in the sixth, when his attempted pickoff throw to first hit Elvis Andrus and rolled away from Cron, allowing Leonys Martin to score. Joe Smith allowed Brad Snyders two-out homer in the ninth before Chris Gimenez grounded out to end the game. Snyder entered in the fourth after first baseman Donnie Murphy left because of soreness in his left knee. Darvish (7-4) allowed five runs and five hits through six innings, striking out nine and issuing four walks -- three of them to No. 7 hitter Hank Conger. This was the fourth time in 75 major league starts that Darvish allowed two homers in one inning -- and the third time against the Angels. He came in 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 starts against the Halos, including six straight victories. The injury-decimated Rangers remain a season-worst 11 1/2 games behind Oakland after losing for the fifth straight time and 10th time in their last 14. The play that resulted in Washingtons second ejection of the season began when Martin charged Albert Pujols hit-and-run single to centre field, and then missed the cutoff man as the ball sailed into foul territory between third base and home. Darvish alertly backed up the play and threw to Gimenez for the tag on Calhoun, who tried to score all the way from first. But Gimenez took the throw while standing in front of the dish, leaving Calhoun no clear path. And according to the new rules instituted this season by Major League Baseball to cut down on collisions, that was a violation. So when Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out to challenge Millers original ruling, the replay was checked and Calhoun was declared safe. Gimenez was charged with an error. "I saw Darvish up the line and I knew he had to make a tough play," Calhoun said. "To his credit, he put it right on the money and I didnt have anywhere to slide. I couldnt go inside or outside because there was no lane, which the catcher is supposed to give now due to this new rule. So I slid right into him. You hope you make that contact and put it in their hands and make them overturn it. And they made the right call." Washington, who lost Alex Rios and Michael Choice to ejections in Saturday nights extra-inning loss for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Vic Carapazza, came out of the dugout yelling at Miller -- who motioned to him that he wasnt allowed to argue a replay reversal. But the argument continued, and Washington was tossed. "What got me thrown out was the call that was made out of New York," Washington said. "Youre not supposed to come out and question that, but you cant stop instincts of the game from happening. And to me, that was an instinctive play. There were no intentions of blocking the plate. The ball took him there." NOTES: Shoemakers only loss came in relief against the New York Mets, when he gave up a home run to Anthony Recker in the 13th inning on April 12 at Angel Stadium. ... Darvish has allowed just three first-inning runs in his 14 starts this season. The other two also were by the Angels, on home runs by Aybar and Pujols on May 4 at the "Big A" in his 14-3 victory. ... INF Howie Kendrick, whose RBI double off Jason Frasor in the 10th inning Saturday gave the Angels a 3-2 win, got the day off. He is 0 for 19 against Darvish with seven strikeouts. ... Rangers closer Joakim Soria hasnt pitched since his last save on June 14. Theres nothing physically wrong with him. Its just that the Rangers have lost six of seven since then, and the lone victory was by a 14-8 score. Kole Calhoun Jersey . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List. Rod Carew Jersey . The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning and boosted Cincinnatis struggling offence by hitting a double and scoring as the Reds ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday night. http://www.cheapangelsjerseys.com/. Kuper, a fifth-round pick in Denvers 2006 draft, started 79 games at guard over eight seasons. He dislocated his left ankle in the last game of the 2011 regular season, and though he started another seven games after that, he never returned to his previous level. Andrew Heaney Jersey . Switzerland faces Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April. Serbia dropped into the World Group playoffs in September. A confident Chiudinelli and Lammer defeated veteran doubles player Zimonjic and young Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Garrett Richards Jersey . After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports.On Wednesday, Wild forward Matt Cooke had a disciplinary hearing with the NHL after his knee-on-knee hit on Avalanche defenceman Tyson Barrie. As a result of the hit, Colorado has lost its top offensive defenseman for 4 to 6 weeks with an MCL injury. The CBA sets out the procedure for supplementary discipline. Its found at Article 18 of the CBA and is called "Supplementary Discipline For On-Ice Conduct". Article 18.2 of the CBA provides a list of the factors the league will consider when determining supplementary discipline. They are as follows: (a) The type of conduct involved: conduct outside of NHL rules; excessive force in contact otherwise permitted by NHL rules; and careless or accidental conduct. Players are responsible for the consequences of their actions. (b) Injury to the opposing Player(s) involved in the incident. (c) The status of the offender and, specifically, whether the Player has a history of being subject to Supplementary Discipline for On-Ice Conduct. Players who repeatedly violate League Playing Rules will be more severely punished for each new violation. (d) The situation of the game in which the incident occurred: late in the game, lopsided score, prior events in the game. (e) Such other factors as may be appropriate in the circumstances. So the league will look at all these factors when determining the length of Cookes suspension. One factor that will be the focus will be Article 18.2(c) – Cookes history of violating league rules. To say the least, Cooke has quite the NHL rap sheet. Since 2009, hes been suspended a total of 25 games for hits on Scott Walker, Artem Anisimov, Fedor Tyutin and Ryan McDonagh. Hes also injured other guys with reckless hits, like Sam Gagner, Valeri Niichushkin, Adam McQuaid, Alex Ovechkin, Steve Montador, Evander Kane, Keith Yandle, Erik Karlsson and Rick DiPietro.dddddddddddd And of course he ended Marc Savards career. By the way, the bolded language at 18.(c) is not my doing; the NHL CBA has it bolded so you know its important. The talk about being a repeat offender doesnt apply to the length of the suspension. A repeat offender refers to someone that commits a violation of the league rules within 18 months of another violation. A player that was a repeat offender could get a tougher punishment. Under the old 2005 CBA, repeat offenders were treated more harshly as far as length of a suspension goes. However, the new CBA has some changes in it, including doing away with the repeat offender consideration when assessing length of a suspension (its still around when dealing with suspension compensation – see Article 18.5). Presumably, the NHLPA and NHL were in agreement that the "repeat offender" provision did not capture players who spaced out their transgressions by more than 18 months but were still a threat to player health and safety. On that basis, they agreed to amend the CBA. You have to wonder if this change should be dedicated to Raffi Torres and Matt Cooke as they were likely part of the inspiration for the amendment. As far as length of Cookes suspension, its tough to know since past suspensions have not always been predictable. That being said, given Cookes history of violence, a suspension of at least 15 games would not be a surprise. Frankly, it could easily be more given the reckless and dangerous manner in which he plays the game. Indeed, he may get a high suspension given that Cooke Fatigue has undoubtedly set in. ' ' '