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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Getting the chance to play first base for the first time, Tim Beckham figured he might as well hit like a slugging first baseman instead of a middle infielder.Beckham made the most of his emergency position switch by hitting a homer and sparking a four-run inning with his eighth straight hit over three games to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.Thats not an easy thing, manager Kevin Cash said. Thats uncomfortable to go play somewhere in a big league ballgame. You can imagine theres probably some nerves and anxiety.With Logan Morrison sidelined by an injured right forearm and Steve Pearce needing a day off, Beckham was Tampa Bays best option to play first despite never having played the position.He took infield before the game and got some quick lessons from bench coach Tom Foley before taking the field with one of Pearces gloves.I just told myself I trust in my ability, Beckham said. Just trust in my ability and be comfortable over there. It helped out.While he played error-free defense and made a nice play on a forceout in the ninth, it was his bat that did the biggest damage.He followed up a five-hit game in Colorado on Wednesday by hitting a solo homer in the second against Sonny Gray (4-9) and then adding a leadoff single in the big fifth inning that gave Tampa Bay the lead for good.Beckham, who started the streak with a single in his final at-bat Monday, was finally retired when he popped out to end the sixth but by then he had done his damage. His eight hits in eight at-bats -- he walked in his other plate appearance -- were one more hit than he had in 41 at-bats in all of June.Corey Dickerson homered and drove in three runs, and Logan Forsythe, Brad Miller and Evan Longoria added RBI hits in the fifth inning to back a solid start by Matt Moore (6-7).Moore allowed a three-run homer to Jake Smolinski in the second but nothing else in seven innings to earn his first win in eight road starts this season.I think that kind of woke me up, Moore said of the homer. It was early in the game. We were just trying to set the tone by throwing strikes, pounding the zone early.Alex Colome got three outs for his 21st save in as many chances to give the Rays their first three game winning streak since June 12-15. Tampa Bay has won four of five following a 3-24 stretch that was the worst in franchise history.Gray, who snapped a seven-game losing streak last Saturday against Toronto, was unable to build on that success. He allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings.That game kind of went how my years been, giving up the home run then having the big inning, Gray said. I thought at the start of the fifth inning I made some pretty good pitches, and suddenly its first and second with nobody out and then it didnt go well from there.TRAINERS ROOMRays: Morrison got an injection in his injured forearm and is expected to be fine in a day or two.Athletics: LHP Rich Hill (blister) played catch before the game with protection on his middle finger. He is still not ready to throw curveballs or pitch off the mound. ... RHP Zach Neal was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and LHP Patrick Schuster was optioned to Nashville.TRADE TALKAs RF Josh Reddick said hes tuning out any talk about a possible trade before the Aug. 1 deadline, saying the game is hard enough without worrying about things out of his control. But Reddick did say he is upset there hasnt been more progress on a long-term deal to keep him in Oakland past this season.Its kind of disheartening to know something hasnt been worked out so far, and weve been four months into it, he said.UP NEXTRays: Jake Odorizzi (4-5) snapped a six-start winless streak last Sunday against Baltimore when he allowed two runs in six innings for his first win since June 8.Athletics: Sean Manaea (3-5) faces the Rays for the first time in his career in the second game of the series. Clearance Shoes China . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Cheap Asics Shoes China .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. http://www.cheapshoeschinaonline.com/cheap-new-balance-shoes-china-133a.html . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Adidas Shoes China . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Cheap Salomon Shoes China . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. HOOVER, Ala. -- Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said Thursday that he and his staff could have done a better job monitoring the actions of those inside and outside his program that led to NCAA infractions and added to a lengthy NCAA investigation.During the final day of SEC media days, Freeze was asked why he and his staff werent thorough enough with the recruitment of the high-profiled prospects they signed and what they did after those players got on campus.Could we have done better -- obviously we could, Freeze said. We will learn from where we made mistakes, of course, but theres a lot of things we did right also. ... I know how much time we spend into educating our young men of the dangers that they could face, and still, sometimes kids make mistakes, but we look forward to that day -- we really do -- where we can say heres our program, heres what brought us to this allegation, and we will accept the ruling when it comes.In January, Ole Miss received a notice of allegations from the NCAA which listed 28 violations against the schools athletic department. Thirteen of those involved the football program, nine of which were alleged to have occurred under Freezes watch. Most of those nine revolved around All-America left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who on draft night admitted to taking money from an Ole Miss coach and sparked a continued investigation by the NCAA.Freeze said he hasnt spoken to Tunsil at all since draft night, but he said hes heard from counsel that Tunsil would be willing to speak the with NCAA.Freeze has faced a plethora of criticism about this investigation and his staunch backing of his and his staffs actions. That criticism related to a Freeze tweet that he sent out in February of 2013 after many accused Ole Miss of cheating after landing its historic, top-five recruiting class in 2013 that featured Tunsil, Robert Nkemdiche and Laquon Treadwell. All were ranked No. 1 at their respective positions.If you have facts about a violation, send it to compliance@olemiss.edu, Freeze wrote in that now-deleted tweet. If not, please do not slander these young men or insult their family.Amid the allegations facing his program, Freeze said Thhursday that he regretted sending out that tweet.ddddddddddddSometimes you make decisions that probably arent the sharpest, Freeze said. ... Do I regret doing it? Absolutely.While Freeze understands that head coaches are being held more responsible by the NCAA for improprieties that could take place involving other members of their staffs, Freeze said that its tough for any head coach to monitor every aspect of his program, both inside and out.It is what it is, and we have to be over every aspect of our program, he said. I can tell you I have absolute zero interest in cutting corners for success. I have a lot of failures and a lot of stuff thats not real great ... but me wanting to cut corners is not one of them. Having said that, if mistakes are made, were held accountable to a certain standard, unless you can prove youve set the proper atmosphere with compliance, which I think I have.I dont think theres any head coach at our level that can control everything that happens in this day and time.Freeze added that he hasnt been given any timeline on any sort of resolution from the NCAA on its current investigation. When its come to recruiting, Freeze said the investigation hasnt greatly impacted Ole Miss current class. According to ESPNs RecruitingNation, the Rebels 2017 class is currently unranked, but four of Ole Miss 10 commitments are ESPN 300 members.Im probably too candid, but were doing really well because people know us for who we are, Freeze said. If you look at all the top top guys in the nation -- a good percentage of them -- were in it [for them]. Some of them are waiting to see [what the NCAA does with its investigation of Ole Miss], which is very reasonable to me. Ive been very candid with all the recruits and the commits that we have. I dont know what the end game exactly is going to be -- I dont. I have confidence that were going to handle whatever it is and move forward, but I have no idea, its not in my control.I think wed have a few more commitments right now if it wasnt for [the investigation]. ' ' '