OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Rangers impressive stretch of scoreless innings by the pitching staff ended with an emphatic thud Sunday.More importantly, manager Jeff Banisters ballclub missed a chance to hang onto its lead in the race for home-field advantage in the playoffs.Not that theres much concern in Texas clubhouse.With their final six games at Globe Life Park -- where they own the second-best home record in the AL -- the Rangers are still confident heading into the final stretch of the regular season.Its crucial, Banister said after Oakland rookie Jharel Cotton pitched seven crisp innings to beat Rangers 7-1. We need to go home and play clean baseball. We were able to get some guys rest, get some guys off their legs today, so they should be fresh going into tomorrow.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 and will close out the regular season with a pair of three-game series against Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.Things might not have been so tight had the Rangers been able to do anything against Cotton.Adrian Beltre drove in the only run for Texas with his team-leading 32nd home run in the seventh. It was the 445th career home run for Beltre. The 37-year-old also singled to move past home run king Barry Bonds on the career hits list with 2,937.Beyond that, the Rangers had just two singles and a double.Thats the first time weve seen (Cotton), 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.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.Oakland will be sitting out the postseason and had lost the first five games on this homestand, but ended it on an encouraging note behind Cotton (2-0). The rookie right-hander allowed one run, struck out five and faced two over the minimum while quieting the Rangers potent offense.Cotton 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 feel like it was a Sunday game and they wanted to get away, Cotton said of the Rangers hitters. I was on the mound like, `Thank you. Just keep swinging. That was good for me.Sean Doolittle and Ryan Dull pitched one inning apiece to complete the five-hitter.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.LEWIS BEATEN BUT ENCOURAGEDLewis, who had won four consecutive games at the Coliseum, lasted just 1 1/3 innings and allowed a season-high seven runs and seven hits. The right-hander has lost four consecutive decisions, three since a two-month stint on the disabled list.I felt great, the best Ive felt in a long time, Lewis said. Thats the way it goes. I feel like I made a lot of good pitches. They just were able to drop balls in where our defenders werent. Thats about 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.---This story corrects the spelling to Banister throughout. Cheap Buffalo Sabres Jerseys . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. 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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Nearly three years ago, James Franklin was charged with lifting a roster full of Bill OBrien holdovers and dotted with veterans from the Joe Paterno era out of the darkest period in Penn State history.It was a motley group of players, cobbled together with a handful of scholarships and a bunch of walk-on tryouts that took on added significance in the wake of harsh NCAA sanctions following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Plenty of them were skeptical about the programs future considering the penalties and that theyd be taking cues from their fourth head coach in four years.Linebacker Brandon Bell, an OBrien recruit in 2012, admitted last week that when he committed, he didnt believe hed be playing for a team that would be able to ascend the national rankings.That uncertainty has faded in Happy Valley, where No. 20 Penn State will try to win its fifth-straight Big Ten game for the first time since Paternos final season against Iowa on Saturday. The Nittany Lions (6-2, 4-1) will do so with everyone on the same page, a quality that eluded them in Franklins first two seasons.You have to have trust in any successful football team, Franklin said Tuesday. You have to have love for one another. You have to have belief. We have that right now.The Nittany Lions had to learn to do all three, especially after a pair of 7-6 seasons in which Franklins teams went 6-10 in the Big Ten.I think Coach Franklin, all the coaches, they really were working on that the past couple years, the whole family and trust thing, offensive tackle Brendan Mahon said. It took a little while for everyone to buy in, to be honest.Once they did, the bonds began to show up on the field. They helped Penn States young offense develop quicker than many outside the program thought and helped a shorthanded defense ride out a storm of injuries earlier this season.It began in the summer when players like Bell and Mahon -- two of 22 players recruited or signed in OBriens two years as coach -- began to be more vocal. Bell, who had done most of his talking wiith his shoulder pads to that point, notoriously got on teammates for lagging on a sprint, failing to touch a line during conditioning drills.ddddddddddddHe said, `No, if we want to be the team we want to be, we have to run this extra one, make up for it, running back Andre Robinson said.That kind of accountability is now commonplace and Penn State players are looking out for each other more on the field.Many of his teammates were in awe of Trace McSorleys actions immediately after he tossed a game-sealing interception against Pittsburgh. Instead of sulking, McSorley ran over to the bench and threw an arm around receiver DaeSean Hamilton, who had dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass just moments before.The love between teammates showed up against Minnesota when kicker Joey Julius was felled with a cheap shot by a Minnesota player. As Julius lay motionless on the field, teammate Von Walker -- also an OBrien piece -- immediately had to be restrained as he gave the offending Gopher an earful. The rest of Penn States sideline soon followed before Franklin shooed them back to the sideline.Many of the veterans have helped instill belief in their younger teammates, Franklin said.OBrien recruits and veterans like cornerback Jordan Smith, guard Derek Dowrey and defensive linemen Garrett Sickels and Curtis Cothran have had their playing time cut for various reasons but have continued to be vibrant presences and have made good on the snaps theyve gotten.For the older guys, for them thats kind of been the constant here with all the coaching changes and everything thats happened, the guys in the locker room have always pretty much been the same as far as the kind of people theyre hanging around with and who theyre friends with and seeing every day.---This story has been corrected to show that Franklin was Penn States fourth head coach in four years, not fifth.---More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.orgChiefs Jerseys ChinaCheap Nike Chargers JerseysCheap Nike Raiders JerseysWholesale Cowboys Jerseys ChinaCheap Nike Giants JerseysPhiladelphia Eagles Jerseys For SaleWholesale Redskins Jerseys ChinaCheap Nike Lions JerseysPackers Jerseys ChinaCheap Vikings Jerseys Free ShippingCheap Panthers Jerseys HoodiesCheap Saints Jerseys Free ShippingCheap Nike Buccaneers JerseysCardinals Jerseys ChinaCheap Rams Jerseys HoodiesCheap Nike 49ers JerseysSeahawks Jerseys ChinaBears Jerseys ChinaCheap Nike Bills JerseysRavens Jerseys ChinaWholesale Falcons Jerseys China ' ' '