OAKLAND, Calif. Cheap Sports Jerseys . -- 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. Tom Brady Jersey Retro . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. Michael Jordan Jersey 45 . - Ronda Rousey realizes shes finishing up one of the biggest years for any fighter in the young history of mixed martial arts at UFC 168, and the UFCs bantamweight champion intends to go out on top. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/michael-jordan-jersey/ . Siddikur, who led on all four days and took a four-stroke lead going into the final day, bogeyed four out of six holes starting at the sixth and continued a forgettable last round in which he returned a three-over 75 to finish with a 14-under 274. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Vancouver Canucks are at the point in the season where every loss could end their playoff hopes. Those hopes are still alive after a big road win over Minnesota. David Booth scored two unassisted goals and Eddie Lack made 29 saves to lead Vancouver over the Wild 5-2 on Wednesday. Zack Kassian, Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver as the Canucks try to make a late push to overtake Phoenix and Dallas for the Western Conferences final wild-card playoff spot. "Its huge, were in a do-or-die position," Alexandre Burrow said. "If we would have lost this game we probably would have been out of the race." Minnesota outshot Vancouver 31-19 and got goals from Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter, but lost its third straight at home. Booth scored for the second consecutive game after going scoreless in his previous 32. On his first goal, Booth took the puck the length of the ice after a faceoff and fired it past Darcy Kuemper. Booths second goal broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and came after Jared Spurgeon whiffed on a pass in the Wild zone, leading to a bad turnover and a point-blank look for Booth. "We didnt generate a ton of shots, but we were able to capitalize on the ones we did," Booth said. Minnesota, currently holding the first wild-card spot in the West, controlled play for most of the first two periods, but failed to capitalize on four power plays and fell behind 3-1. Even though his team was generating chances early, Wild coach Mike Yeo was nervous. "Especially in that first period, were out chancing them, were outshooting them, but still. Just didnt quite have the right feel," he said. Ilya Bryzgalov took over for the slumping Kuemper after two periods. Kuemper allowed three goals in 12 shots, the fifth time in his last seven start hes allowed at least three goals. "Dont feel good about that one," Kuemper said. "Obviously we were controlling the play and to finnd ourselves down 3-1, yeah Ive got to help the guys out a little bit better. Michael Jordan Jersey Chicago White Sox. quot; The switch didnt get Minnesota going. Vancouver killed an early third period power play, and then put the game away on Sedins goal at 11:12 to make it 4-1. "I didnt think we played great, but we stuck with it and at the end we came out with a big win," Sedin said. "For sure, its something to build." The goal was Sedins first in his last 23 games and his first point in his last 13. Coyles goal was his third in three games. The centre had scored only once in his previous 24 games. Lack got a little help in the second period from Alexander Edler. Zach Parise stuffed the puck between Lacks pads, but just before it crossed the goal line, Edler swept it away. "We know its do-or-die now and we got to come up with the same kind of effort tomorrow," Lack said. Vancouver has won six of its last nine after losing 11 of 12. Both Phoenix and Dallas were idle on Wednesday. The Canucks now have 78 points, Dallas 79 and Phoenix 82. Henrik Sedin missed the game with a leg injury and didnt make the trip. As Minnesota tries to hang on to its playoff position, Yeo has to answer questions about his goaltending situation. "I want to be careful on that one. Im not saying that we cant be any better between the pipes, but at the same time theres some quality chances that were giving up," he said. "Obviously, we have to do our part to make sure those guys are in the right frame of mind." NOTES: Wild G Niklas Backstrom and F Jason Zucker each underwent successful surgeries yesterday and should be ready for the start of the 2014-15 season. Backstrom had core muscle surgery and Zucker had a tendon in his left quadriceps repaired. ... F Alexandre Burrows played for Vancouver after missing Sundays game with a hand injury. ... The Sedins have only played in two games together in March. ... The Wild beings a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Thursday. ' ' '