OAKLAND, Calif. -- Jharel Cotton is off to a historic start to his career with the Oakland Athletics.Hes still not satisfied.Cotton pitched seven crisp innings and the Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 7-1 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep.He became the first As pitcher since at least 1913 to start his career with four consecutive starts of five innings or longer while allowing one earned run or less.I wish I could give up no runs, he said. I feel like in all my starts I give a home run, but theyre good hitters, big league guys.Ryon Healy had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Stephen Vogt drove in three runs to help the As win after being shut out in back-to-back games.Cotton (2-0) struck out five and allowed three hits and no walks. He faced two over the minimum while quieting the Rangers potent offense, and threw just 70 pitches.I guess I have surpassed my own expectations, but just coming to ballpark in the big leagues and just going out there and seeing who I am, its fun to see for myself, Cotton said.It was no fun for the Rangers.Thats the first time weve seen (Cotton), Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. Hes got a special changeup, something we had not seen. When hes got that working for him it does present a challenge when its the first time these guys have seen him.Oakland had lost the first five games on this homestand. The As avoided their first winless homestand in Oakland history.I was nervous coming into today, As manager Bob Melvin said. That wouldve just been a cherry on top of a bad season. Its nice to be able to go out there and score some runs and have a good-feeling game.(The fans) all stayed for the entire game, theyre all waving and staying afterwards to wish us farewell and so forth. Its a great group of people and Im glad we won today for sure.Sean Doolittle and Ryan Dull pitched one inning apiece to complete the five-hitter.Adrian Beltre hit his 32nd home run for Texas.The Rangers, who clinched the AL West on Friday, fell into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for home-field advantage in the playoffs. Texas (92-64) holds a slight tiebreaking advantage based on division record.Beltre homered off Cotton in the seventh, the 445th of his career. The 37-year-old also singled to move past home run king Barry Bonds on the career hits list with 2,937.Coming off consecutive shutout losses in the first two games of the series, the As did all of their scoring in the second to chase starter Colby Lewis (6-4).Bruce Maxwell blooped an RBI single just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Hanser Alberto. Marcus Semien scored on a groundout and Vogt lined a three-run double to right before Healys 12th home run, a towering shot that put Oakland up 7-0.That ended a streak of 23 consecutive scoreless innings by Texas pitchers.MALRBORO MANRookie Matt Olson collected his first major league hit and impressed with his defense, making a leaping catch against the wall in right field.He never looks like anything really bothers him, Melvin said. The first ball that was hit to him it looked like he was smoking a cigarette out there and then he catches it no problem, which made me feel a little better because Ive never seen him play the outfield. And then the last one, I dont know that we have anyone as tall as he is who couldve jumped up there and got it.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Sonny Gray will come off the disabled list to make his first start in nearly two months against the Angels on Wednesday. Gray has not pitched in a game since Aug. 6 because of a forearm strain.UP NEXTRangers: LHP Martin Perez (10-10) faces the Brewers on Monday when Texas begins its final homestand of the regular season. Perez owns a 2.65 ERA at home, tied for the lowest in the AL among qualifying pitchers.Athletics: Sean Manaea (6-9) starts against the Angels in Anaheim on Monday. The left-handed rookie has not allowed a run in 11 consecutive innings since missing more than two weeks with a sore back. Ozzie Smith Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-albert-pujols-jersey/ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Whitey Herzog Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Randal Grichuk Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. When a season starts to slip away, as it has for many teams around the league right now, it breaks your soul as a player. The energy level in the building dips, the attention to detail falls off, the game prep starts to feel like homework. You start looking toward the offseason, just hoping to make it through the rest of the games healthy.I experienced it firsthand back in 2003 as a member of Steve Spurriers Washington Redskins. After a 3-1 start that included a win over Tom Brady and the Patriots, we were talking big at the beginning of October: playoffs, Super Bowl, Pro Bowls. Hey, everyone wanted in on this thing. Jump on the train.But success in the NFL can be so fleeting. We lost the next four games and never recovered. From 3-1 to 5-11. Brutal.Theres a reason coach Hue Jackson got visibly emotional while trying to describe how the Browns still havent won a game this season. Remember, these dudes on bad football teams -- coaches, players, executives -- theyre all human. And when the wheels start to loosen on a season and eventually fall off, theres nowhere to hide.I still remember a Sunday night game down in Miami when we blew a big lead. It was our sixth loss in seven games. The winning touchdown? The Dolphins caught us in a blitz, and I was left to make the tackle on Ricky Williams. But that didnt happen. Nope. Instead, I took a stiff-arm to the face as Williams walked in for the score. Good-bye.I still remember traveling to Chicago in Week 16, with Spurrier promising us an extended Victory Monday if we won that game -- three days off heading into the final week of the season. He threw a carrot out there for us, doing anything to buy a win. Didnt work. Paul Edinger kicked a game-winning field goal with five seconds left to beat us.I still remember Week 17, when we got shredded in our final home game by the Eagles. 31-7. In my opinion, Andy Reid called off the dogs in that one. He took it easy on us. Philly couldve scored 40 or maybe even 50 if they wanted to.That Eagles team went to the NFC Championship Game. Our squad? We went home.Yeah, we had some injuries. But so did everyone else. Thats life in the league. Talent? There was enough in our locker rroom to win.ddddddddddddCoaching? I loved the defensive staff. And while Spurriers stock as an NFL coach never recovered, Im not going to blame him. No way. Sure, I didnt agree with some of the structure of his program or the style of practices we had late in the season, but Spurrier didnt get stiff-armed by Ricky or smoked by Keyshawn Johnson on a post route in a blowout loss to the Bucs. Nope. That was me.A lot of us had an idea that Spurrier wouldnt be back the next season once the calendar flipped to December. And a lot of us were right. Owner Dan Snyder replaced Spurrier with Joe Gibbs in the offseason. And I would say uncertainty surrounding the head coach had an impact on the locker room, practice and our overall game prep as we finished out the year.Things just started to drag a bit. The pace of practice slowed down, the film study slipped and the game plans got lighter. We became that team sleepwalking through the daily routine. It was now work at the facility. That excitement of getting a fresh game plan? Thats for the playoff teams, the contenders. Ive experienced that excitement. And its great.But we didnt have that anymore. It was gone. Just like the energy in the building. That stuff quickly evaporated over the last month and a half of the season. Now we were just football zombies throughout the week. Clock in and clock out. Take some notes, and head home.Game day? Yeah, we still played hard because you have to in order to survive an NFL Sunday. You go out there soft, and youll probably end up on the cart with an injury. This game is too fast and too physical to walk around on that field like you dont care. Plus, we all knew we were basically auditioning for next season and the next head coach in Washington. Better put something good on tape, right?I often say that NFL seasons are fragile. And when the team breaks -- or shatters into a thousand little pieces like it did in 2003 -- you dont recover as a player. You just try to survive.ESPN.com NFL analyst Matt Bowen played seven seasons as a defensive back in the NFL. 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