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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The hot-hitting Oakland Athletics will attempt to continue their torrid pace in front of the home fans when they open a three-game series against the Houston Astros on Monday.When last seen in Oakland, the As were totaling just 26 runs in a nine-game homestand, losing six of the nine contests.When they take the Oakland field again Monday night, they will do so as one of the hottest teams in baseball.The As scored 43 runs in a four-game sweep at Kansas City to start last week, then added 22 more in taking two of three at Texas.That was a great trip, As manager Bob Melvin gushed Sunday after Oaklands 5-2 win over the Rangers. Beating Kansas City four in a row, losing just a really, really tough game (7-6 at Texas on Friday) and responding the next two games ...I cant say enough about the desire and commitment these guys still have to finishing out the season strong. You want to play for your team, you want to play for your job, and all these things combined. We have a lot of hungry guys.Outfielder Khris Davis became the first member of the As to reach 40 home runs in a season since 2000 (Jason Giambi) when he smacked a pair Sunday.Davis will take his cracks Monday at Astros right-hander Brad Peacock, against whom he has batted just one time in his career and struck out.Peacock (0-0, 2.70 ERA) pitched the final two innings of the Astros 6-0 home win over the As on Aug. 29, the only time he faced Oakland this season.Peacock has a miserable overall history against the As, having gone 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA in nine outings (eight starts). But that must seem like a different lifetime.He has allowed just one hit to a current member of the As (Stephen Vogt) in 18 at-bats.The As will counter with Jharel Cotton, who unlike As hitters, will attempt to duplicate what he did during the clubs last homestand.Cotton (1-0, 1.50 ERA) won his major league debut at home on Sept. 7, allowing just two hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels.He followed that up with a no-decision on the road in a 5-4 win at Kansas City on Tuesday, when he yielded three runs (one earned) in 5 2/3 innings.Cotton will be facing an Astros team that enters the final two weeks of the regular season three games out of the final playoff spot in the American League.Houston helped itself by winning two of three at Seattle, and it now looks to take advantage of an Oakland team that has struggled at home.Every series is huge now, Astros designated hitter Tyler White said after his team clinched the series win over Seattle on Saturday night. We go out every day, try to take care of the task at hand, and well see where we stand at the end.The Astros have a 10-6 lead in the season series over the As but have lost four of six in Oakland.The schedule surely gives Houston an opportunity to move up in the wild-card standings. The Astros finish the regular season with 10 of their final 13 against the bottom two in the AL West, including seven against the last-place Angels. Cedi Osman Cavaliers Jersey . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Rodney Hood Jersey . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. https://www.thecavalierslockerroom.com/Jr-Smith-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Larry Nance Jr. Cavaliers Jersey . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Kevin Love Cavaliers Jersey . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Carolina Panthers hosting the Arizona Cardinals was supposed to be a marquee matchup this Sunday.It was slated as a featured game in the late afternoon time slot, a tantalizing rematch of last seasons NFC championship game.Then the Cardinals dropped three of their first five games. The Panthers fared even worse, losing four of their first five. On Oct. 12, the game time was moved up to 1 p.m. EDT, with Atlanta-Green Bay taking its place.It was a by-product of two teams that figured to be top contenders for the NFC title now trying to revive their seasons. The Cardinals (3-3-1) are coming off a rare tie and the Panthers are 1-5 coming off a bye week.This team right now is in a totally different place than when we went over there last year for the championship, and hopefully we can go somewhere else for the championship, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. But this is next weeks game, no more, no less. Weve got to win.Panthers coach Ron Rivera said its surprising that neither team is the contender it was expected to be.Most certainly, Rivera said. Heck, the league thought that. We were the 4:30 game at one time, so we had an opportunity to do some good things and unfortunately thats not it. So the approach has to be youve got to win as many as you can going forward.ddddddddddddhe Cardinals not only have to travel across the country, they are still recovering from Sunday nights pounding during the 6-6 tie with the Seattle Seahawks. As a result, the team held a no-contact partial walk-through Wednesday.We basically played two games in one night the other night and not physically ready to do that much, Arians said. But it was a very good start to the week mentally, and well be ready physically by the time we get there Sunday.Quarterback Carson Palmer appreciated the lighter practice. He said he felt tired Monday and was glad to take the pads off Wednesday, which isnt normally the case.Youre playing a team coming off a bye. Theyve had an extra week and youve played an extra quarter of football against a division opponent, Palmer said. So I just think with their rest that they have and with us playing Sunday night and playing late, we had a good outcome of guys just really walking through most of practice and not having pads on.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '