OAKLAND, Calif. -- Every time he found himself in trouble, Athletics pitcher A.J. Griffin tried to channel teammate Bartolo Colon. Having seen Oaklands lone All-Star selection keep his calm all season no matter the circumstances, Griffin simply followed suit. Even when he lost a chance at a complete game. Griffin and Grant Balfour combined on a seven-hitter for Griffins third straight victory and the As beat the Boston Red Sox 3-0 Saturday night. Griffin (8-6) wasnt crisp but still went eight scoreless innings to remain unbeaten in his last five starts. The Oakland right-hander pitched with runners on base in each of the first six innings and twice had to work out of two-on, two-out jams. "I just tried to act like number 40 in situations like that," said Griffin, who walked one and struck out three. "Just not show they have me in a situation or they have the upper hand. Thats something Ive learned a lot just watching Bartolo pitch." That was in stark contrast to Griffins previous start against the Red Sox, when he was shelled for nine runs (seven earned) over four innings on April 22. Hes come a long way since then, particularly since his last loss on June 15. Over Griffins last five starts, he is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA. "(He) really made some in-game adjustments, then the command was all of a sudden there," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "He was even lobbying for the ninth, but I wasnt going to have him throw 120-plus pitches." Griffin got help from the As defence. Rkie second baseman Grant Green turned an unassisted double play in the second inning after Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked, then shortstop Jed Lowrie made an impressive recovery and throw to get Dustin Pedroia in the eighth after initially bobbling the ball. Balfour pitched the ninth for his 25th save this season and 43rd consecutive save dating to 2012. The As sputtering offence managed only one extra-base hit off Boston starter Jon Lester (8-6) and one reliever, but made them hold up behind Griffins stellar outing. Since opening the season 6-0, Lester has gone 2-6 with a 6.27 ERA over his last 11 starts. "(Lester) just happened to pitch on the wrong day given how effective their guy was," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "We had a number of opportunities. Unfortunately we couldnt get anything going." Derek Norris homered and Yoenis Cespedes added an RBI single to help the division-leading As end a two-game losing streak and maintain their one-game lead over Texas in the West. Oakland reached 55 wins before the All-Star break for the first time since 1975. Shane Victorino singled twice for Boston, which had won four straight. Norris homered off Lester with two outs in the fifth. Cespedes, mired in a 6-for-37 slump, singled in Jed Lowrie in the sixth to make it 2-0. It was Cespedes first RBI this month. Lester beat the As on April 24 when he allowed three runs over 5 2-3 innings and lked sharp early. Bostons left-hander allowed only one runner to second until Norris homered, and faced just three over the minimum through five innings. Coco Crisps RBI single off reliever Junichi Tazawa in the seventh drove in Josh Reddick for the As final run. NOTES: Colon (12-3) will make his final start for Oakland in the series finale. Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who manages the AL, has said he wont use any pitcher who is used on Sunday. ... Reddick has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games. ... Newly acquired Red Sox LHP Matt Thornton arrived in Oakland before the game and was in uniform. ... Boston RHP Brandon Workman will make his first major league start on Sunday. ... The crowd of 36,067 marked the As ninth sellout of the season. ... Umpire CB Bucknor, who was hit in the side of his facemask by a pitch from Oaklands Jarrod Parker on Friday night, did not suffer a concussion but remains hospitalized for observation. Mike Muchlinski was brought in to replace Bucknor.Site Adidas Pas Cher . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. Chaussure Adidas Original Pas Cher . 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. http://www.pascheradidaschaussures.fr/ . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Vente Adidas Pas Cher . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive bst and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and ftball knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Adidas Pas Cher Chine . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shtaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over .The Chicago Cubs are not only starting Kyle Schwarber in Game 1 of the World Series, but theyre also benching big offseason acquisition Jason Heyward.Schwarber was thrown right into the fire, batting fifth and playing designated hitter against the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night. In another surprise move, Chris Coghlan tk over for Heyward in right field against Cleveland right-hander Corey Kluber. Both Heyward and Coghlan are left-handed hitters.After batting .230 with seven homers and 49 RBIs during the regular season, Heyward is 2-for-28 with no homers and one RBI this postseason. The 27-year-old Heyward signed an eight-year, $184 million contract with the Cubs this offseason.There is no time left in the year to get him back in the grve like we were trying to do earlier this year, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. Well see what it lks like tonight. Well let it play out tonight and then make our determination for tomorrow.Even though Heyward has struggled at the plate, however, he is known as one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. Leaving him out of the lineup is especially surprising because?Jon Lester will be on the mound for the Cubs. The left-handers struggles holding runners on base have pushed Maddon to play more defensive lineups behind the starter. Heyward started behind Lester in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers -- a Cubs win.Coghlan is not known for his outstanding defense, but hes a .268 lifetime hitter against right-handers. He has one hit, a double, in three plate appearances against Kluber. Heyward is 0-for-3 against Kluber.The 23-year-old Schwarber returns to the team a little morre than six months after having surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee.dddddddddddd Doctors cleared him Oct. 17 to hit and run, but he wont play the field.He said that he thought it was realistic to return this season only about six days ago. He has been seeing the doctor every month or two and the timetable was always for a spring training return.Then this past doctors visit I had right before we went to L.A. for the CS he lked at my knee, hes like, Man, its great. Youre strong. Im not going to hold you back from doing anything, Schwarber said. So then we went from there.Schwarber takes the roster spot of lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny, who was needed in the NLCS because of a heavily left-handed-hitting Dodgers lineup. The Cubs will employ 11 pitchers and 14 position players for the World Series, the same numbers they used in the NLDS. There were no other changes to their roster from the previous round.Schwarber is the franchises postseason home run leader after hitting five in 2015. He made his first career start against the Indians in June 2015, going 4-for-5 at Progressive Field. Hes also an Ohio native.He said appearing in the World Series hasnt sunk in yet.Id say probably once I hit that line, that a lot of emotions will come pouring out, he said. Ill probably cry at some point today. It was a long road, but once we stepped in between those lines, its game time. Im going to be locked in. Im going to be ready to go and go out there and try to win this.Information from ESPNs Jesse Rogers was used in this report. ' ' '