OAKLAND, Calif. -- Sure, its the Texas Rangers in town. The very team the Oakland Athletics rallied to beat in Game No. 162 last October for a stunning sweep to steal away the AL West crown from the two-time reigning AL champions. The opponent hardly mattered Monday night. Oakland needed to bounce back and win. Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss hit consecutive home runs in the third inning, A.J. Griffin matched his season high with eight strikeouts and the As beat the Rangers 5-1 to start an important stretch on the heels of a really rough one. This marks Texas first trip to Oakland since losing those final three games of the 2012 regular season to give away the division title to the surprising As, whose latest victory ran their home winning streak in the rivalry to five. "It was big. It was welcomed," said manager Bob Melvin, sporting a bright yellow Golden State Warriors T-shirt under his uniform. "It just felt like we were back in sync." Back home, Oakland looked refreshed after losing six of seven on a 3-7 road trip through New York, Cleveland and Seattle. The As avoided dropping a season-low two games below .500 for the first time since Game 2 on April 2. Griffin (4-3) went seven innings and didnt walk a batter for the first time this season, earning his second victory in six outings since he won back-to-back appearances to start the year. Mitch Moreland homered to give the Rangers the lead in the second, then Eric Sogard and John Jaso hit RBI singles for the As in the bottom half. Griffin faced either the minimum or one more batter in each of his final five innings, helped by a pair of double plays. He improved to 3-0 in four starts against division opponents. "Its the best start command-wise Ive had in the pros, in the major leagues," he said. The right-hander got a scare when he ducked out of the way of Adrian Beltres sharp single up the middle leading off the seventh, and the pitcher patted his hand on his pounding heart once back on his feet. "He was keeping the fastball down and making good pitches," Texas Elvis Andrus said. "There was nothing more we could do. His breaking ball is really slow and its not that easy to adjust to so many mph lower than his fastball." Next, Sean Doolittle came in and struck out the side in order on 12 pitches in the eighth. Cespedes hit an 0-1 pitch just over the centre-field wall above leaping Leonys Martin in the third. But the Cuban slugger came out of the game in the top of the fifth with a stomach bug. "It came on during the game," Melvin said. "He threw up a couple times in the bathroom. Theyre calling it a stomach ailment, they dont think its a stomach virus. They think he should be in good shape to play tomorrow." The Rangers (24-14) arrived in the Bay Area having won seven of nine and began the day with the best record in the majors, but again ran into their division nemesis. Oakland became the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with fewer than 10 to play, beating the Rangers in the regular-season finale. Oakland trailed by 13 games on June 30. "Were not in here for any revenge," Rangers manager Ron Washington said before the game. "They beat us, we understand that, but theres nothing we can do about that. ... Im not coming up in here thinking about what happened in the past. Learn from that, but that certainly isnt fueling us. Whats fueling us is were healthy and were playing good baseball, thats it." The Rangers had their four-game winning streak snapped. They havent won five in a row since June 26-30 last year. Texas righty Justin Grimm (2-3) lost his third straight after receiving one extra day of rest between outings. He gave way to Joseph Ortiz after plunking Daric Barton to begin the sixth. Ortiz immediately allowed Derek Norris double. Moss struck out on four pitches to start the second after fanning four times on 14 total pitches in a 6-1 loss at Seattle. Then, he connected for his sixth home run with a drive to nearly the same spot as Cespedes moments before. It marked the second time this season the As hit back-to-back homers, also done by Jed Lowrie and Chris Young on April 3 against Seattle. Moss homer was the 7,000th in Oakland history. Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson hit the first on April 10, 1968. NOTES: Rangers RHP Colby Lewis, a former As prospect who had surgery last July to repair a torn flexor tendon, was examined by team doctor Keith Meister in Texas and diagnosed with mild tendinitis in his triceps. He is scheduled to throw again this weekend in Arlington and pitch his next rehab outing for Double-A Frisco as soon as Monday. ... Oakland Gold Glove RF Josh Reddick is yet to swing a bat to test his injured right wrist, but hopes to do so soon. There is no tear, so he is encouraged he can avoid surgery, which he had on the left wrist two years ago. ... As CF Coco Crisp (strained left hamstring) ran, hit and shagged flies. If all goes well, he will be activated from the disabled list Wednesday. Fellow OF Chris Young (strained left quadriceps) went 1 for 5 with a home run in an extended spring training game, but didnt feel that good. He is set to play again Tuesday. ... Announced attendance was just 11,030, a far cry from those lively sellouts to end last season.Cory Spangenberg Brewers Jersey .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Adrian Houser Brewers Jersey . 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The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger.BERKELEY, Calif. -- Jake Browning and the Washington Huskies sure made a good case that they may have been snubbed in the initial College Football Playoff rankings even if they say they werent bothered by it in the least.Browning threw for 378 yards and six touchdowns to set Washingtons single-season record for TD passes, and the fourth-ranked Huskies beat California 66-27 on Saturday night.Days after being ranked fifth in the playoff rankings behind one-loss Texas A&M, the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) took care of business in efficient fashion hours after the Aggies were upset by Mississippi State.I think its good, Browning said. Theres a lot of football left to play. Put us outside the top four and make us earn it.John Ross had 208 yards receiving and three scores. Dante Pettis caught three touchdown passes and threw another to lead the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12, No. 5 CFP) to their 12th straight win in convincing fashion.Washington is off to its best start since going 12-0 and winning a share of the national title in 1991.Its nice to get into a grove like that, Pettis said. You move the ball down the field pretty easily and things feel good. Everyone is in the mojo right there. Thats how it was today.The Bears (4-5, 2-4) had won five straight home games, including victories over ranked Texas and Utah earlier this season. But they were no match for the Huskies, who were far more potent on offense and much stingier on defense.Davis Webb threw for 262 yards and one touchdown, and ran for a second score. But he also had three second-half interceptions as the Huskies pulled away with 38 straight points after Cal cut the deficit to 21-20 midway through the second quarter.We just let the game get away from us, Dykes said. We turned the ball over on three straight possessions, we couldnt get any stops and we did not do a good job on third downs.Browning did most of the work, finding Ross and Pettis open repeatedly downfield for big plays. Ross scored on TD catches of 60 and 667 yards, eluding four defenders after backtracking 4 yards on the longer TD.dddddddddddd Pettis caught a 32-yard TD pass that gave Browning 34 TDs this season, one more then Keith Price had for the Huskies in 2011.They were kind of stacking the box, Browning said. Its high risk, high reward. Thats going to happen with those deep balls.THE TAKEAWAYWashington: The Huskies showed off their balance on offense. When Cal stacked the box to stop the run, Browning was able to beat the Bears with deep passes. When the defense rolled coverage to take away Ross, Washingtons other receivers took advantage of the opportunity. The Huskies also gained 287 yards on the ground with TD runs from Lavon Coleman and Myles Gaskin.California: Struggling on defense is nothing new for the Bears, who came into the game allowing more than 505.9 yards and 41.8 points per contest. The offense was a problem this game. Cal settled for field goals after starting in Washington territory on two first-half possessions and converted just 1 of 14 third downs.LONG TIME COMINGPettis said he had practiced his pass play a few times each week and was eager to get the chance to pull it off in a game. That opportunity came in the first quarter when he took a lateral from Browning and then hit Darrell Daniels for a 39-yard score.That was fun, Pettis said. Ive been joking to my coach that we were never going to call that paly and sure enough we called it today.WORST EVERCal tied the modern school record for points allowed in a game, matching the performance in a 66-0 loss to Alabama in the 1973 season opener.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Huskies should remain fourth in the AP poll .UP NEXTWashington: The Huskies host USC on Saturday.California: The Bears play the other top team in the division when they visit Washington State on Saturday.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '