That ranks as positive news for Oakland in whats been a gloomy three games so far at Yankee Stadium.

After falling into an early hole again, the As fought back before losing 4-3, leaving the potential tying run stranded on second base in the ninth inning.

The As have dropped three straight to the major leagues winningest team.

In doing so, theyve lost two games in the American League West standings since taking a weekend series from first-place Texas.

They trail the Rangers by 9½ games and need to win todays matinee to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees.

The Yankees are 8-1 against the As this season — their most wins against Oakland since 1998 — and send 18-game winner CC Sabathia to the hill today.

“Its a tough series.

Guys got beat up pretty good in the first two games,” As manager Bob Geren said.

“After the last two nights, to get down 4-0 early, they could have had a Here we go again attitude, and they did not, which was encouraging.”

As starting pitchers let the score get out of hand early Monday and Tuesday.

But Brett Anderson (3-6) managed to right the ship Wednesday after the Yankees took a 4-0 lead after two innings.

Still, the left-hander was kicking himself for a costly error that opened the door to New Yorks three-run second.

Anderson should have escaped the inning unscored upon.

But with two outs, he dropped an easy flip from Daric Barton while covering first base on a soft grounder from Derek Jeter.

Anderson fell, the ball squirted away, and Curtis Granderson scored.

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An undrafted free-agent cornerback, Berry suffered a hamstring pull early in camp and has not been on the field for weeks.

His has not been a memorable name for fans.

The folks in the Detroit Lions coaching offices remember him, though, and Berry is expected to see a lot of playing time as the Lions host the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in the final preseason game.

Fans need to keep their eyes on him now.

The speedy Berry ran a 4.47-second time in the 40-yard dash at his pro day at the University of Pittsburgh.

Then, after a quick elevation to the Lions No.

2 defense, he got hurt.

At the time, Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said Berry looked very good and was showing a lot of promise.

“Thats what the coaches expressed to me, Berry said.

“I can get my hands on receivers and just being able to understand the defense.

I just had a good feel.

I was in a zone.

His ability was not the reason he went uninvited to the NFL coaching combine.

That was due to off-field baggage.

At the time, Berry acknowledged he had friends who got into trouble but that he was not the type to do so.

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And the list of those under consideration is taking shape, even though formal interview requests have yet to be made.

According to major-league sources, the Diamondbacks plan to speak with at least the following six people:

• Jerry Dipoto, Diamondbacks interim GM

• Peter Woodfork, Diamondbacks assistant GM

• Kevin Towers, former Padres GM and current Yankees adviser

• Damon Oppenheimer, Yankees vice president of amateur scouting

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For Tayshaun Prince, its the two trips to Los Angeles every year to play the Clippers and Lakers.

For Rip Hamilton, its going back to Philadelphia near his beloved Coatesville.

For Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, its New York.

And for No.

1 pick Greg Monroe, its New Orleans, where he spent the first 18 years of his life before going away to college at Georgetown.

His mother, Norma, and sister, Brittany, still live in the East Bank home in Jefferson Parish that they had to abandon for a month in 2005 while they waited for both the post-Katrina flooding and chaos to ebb.

Therell be a Monroe family reunion in early December when the Pistons visit the Hornets for a Dec.

8 game.

“Im definitely looking forward to going home,” Monroe said this week after returning from last weeks NBA rookie orientation program in New York and starting to work out under Arnie Kanders supervision now that his doctor has given him full clearance to resume activity after having minor toe surgery in late July.

“I do play for the Pistons, I represent Detroit, but I represent those people down there, as well.

I grew up there.

Thats my home.

Those people look at me as representing them, so being able to go down there and play in front of them is going to be special.”

Monroes more immediate concern is getting back in basketball shape after having to shut his running down following the toe surgery, which corrected a problem that had afflicted him since high school.

Hes said that while it didnt seriously limit his effectiveness, he was conscious of the pain it would cause when planting or cutting.

And while he wont know how much more freely hell be able to move until he resumes full basketball activity, the early returns are promising.

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Instead, they found themselves on hold for another 48 hours, caught in the middle of a much broader discussion between the NHL and the NHL Players Association over long-term contracts like Kovalchuks.

The NHL and NHLPA agreed Wednesday to extend the deadline for the league to review Kovalchuks contract until 5 p.m.

Friday.

Although the collective bargaining agreement stipulates that the league has five days to approve or reject a contract after it is submitted – a period that would have expired at 5 p.m.

Wednesday – the league and players union can agree to override a CBA rule.

It is believed that league and union officials are discussing amending the CBA to change the guidelines for long-term contracts.

Tension over that issue has been building for more than a year because of front-loaded contracts given to players like Chicagos Marian Hossa and Vancouvers Roberto Luongo, but it has been brought to a head by the Devils and Kovalchuk.

The NHL rejected a 17-year, $102 million contract that Kovalchuk signed with the Devils on July 19, saying that it circumvented the salary cap because it would have paid the two-time 52-goal scorer $98.5 million in the first 11 years and just $3.5 million in the last six.

That rejection was upheld by arbitrator Richard Bloch in an Aug.

9 ruling following a grievance hearing.

After multiple discussions with the league over other proposed contract structures, the Devils and Kovalchuk submitted another signed contract Friday.

That one would pay Kovalchuk $90 million over the first 10 seasons and $10 million over the last five.

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Tonight he will be looking to keep that job from whichever quarterback might become available in the next dew days.

Bomar will play the bulk of the final exhibition against New England at New Meadowlands Stadium.

Sorgi, who probably will need surgery on his injured right shoulder, is out of the picture since he was placed on the injured reserve list Tuesday.

So far, Bomar has done well enough to earn a passing grade, but this will be the final exam.

He cant afford an “F” and still maintain his spot on the depth chart.

“Rhett is No.

2 on the staff right now, and well keep working with him,” said Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

“Hes talented.

Well see how far we can go with it.”

With Eli Manning missing the Pittsburgh game while recovering from the forehead gash he suffered against the Jets, and Sorgi injuring his shoulder in that opener, Bomar has played a lot this summer.

He has completed 29 of 53 passes for 374 yards and two touchdowns with one interception for a decent quarterback rating of 81.8

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Betting Outlook: The Inspin Simulated betting line on this game is Braves -174 which is higher than the current line listed at Wagerweb.com of -166. The simulator shows value in betting the Braves at this current price.

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Betting Outlook: The Over has won 10 out of 12 times when the Yankees were listed as a favorite. They will play today against the Oakland Athletics at 1:05PM ET at the Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees are currently listed as a -230 favorite so the game fits the above trend. The current total on the game is 8 over -120.

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Before any game, you will see players out on the field working any variety of the games fundamentals.

On Wednesday, catcher Adam Moore was out early catching pop flies in foul territory with catching coordinator Roger Hansen.

But that simple task almost turned into a trip to the 15-day disabled list.

For a second it appeared that Moore might have injured himself while chasing down one a pop-up near the Mariners dugout in front of interim manager Daren Brown.

“It wouldnt be the first time I had to scratch a catcher after early work with Roger,” Brown said.

Will it be the last?

“It may not be,” Brown said, laughing.

Moore went for a foul ball right near the opening of the dugout.

“I heard Brownie and Chris (Woodward) yell, stairs, stairs, ” Moore said.

“Right when I looked up it was too late, so I gave up on the ball and just tried to keep my balance.”

Moore leaped down into the dugout and disappeared out of sight.

It did help that Moore was wearing tennis shoes and not his spikes.

“I would have probably destroyed both ankles,” he laughed.

Moore stayed down in the dugout for a while, trying to bluff Hansen into thinking he was hurt.

“I was trying to milk it and hope that we would shut it down,” Moore said.

Hansen, who was feeding the pop-ups through a pitching machine, never flinched.

He stood next to the machine with arm resting on it, hollering at Moore to get back out and take another turn.

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The Rockies recalled infielder Chris Nelson, who was with the team on two occasions earlier this season, and activated Taylor Buchholz from the 15-day disabled list.

Nelson, 24, is 2-for-5 and has scored two runs scored in four games with the Rockies in 2010.

He spent 12 days with the team in June and was recalled again in August, but he did not play during his three games with the team.

He played mostly second base, shortstop and third base at Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he hit .313 with 12 home runs and 55 RBI in 85 games.

Buchholz was first activated from the disabled list in late July after missing all of last season and the start of this season following Tommy John surgery.

In seven games with the Rockies, Buchholz was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA before returning to the disabled list on Aug.

17 with lower back stiffness.

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