Josh McGuire will get belted by NSW on Wednesday night for his socia

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics got a morale boost from ace Sonny Grays return Wednesday night, but it wasnt enough.Kole Calhoun homered, Alex Meyer earned his second major league win and the Los Angeles Angels held off a late rally from the As to sweep the three-game series with an 8-6 win.Gray was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to his start. Gray, who was sidelined with a right forearm strain from Aug. 7-Sept. 27, was limited to only one inning and threw 18 pitches, 13 of them for strikes. He gave up one hit and faced four batters in his first start since Aug. 6.As manager Bob Melvin said his return made a noticeable difference in the clubhouse culture.Thats our guy, Melvin said. It was sort of an off season for him, but he went out there and was healthy and looked like the old Sonny. Psychologically, hes good for the whole ball club.Khris Davis, who played at nearby Cal State Fullerton, hit his 41st home run and his sixth against the Angels this season in the sixth inning, making the score 8-3. Marcus Semien brought the As to within two runs with a three-run homer, also his sixth against Los Angeles, in the eighth.But J.C. Ramirez pitched a perfect ninth to convert his second save.Thats a big blow for us right there, Melvin said. You feel like, now were back in the ballgame and hold them down. We thought going into the ninth wed have a chance.Mike Trout was hit by a John Axford fastball in the back of his left shoulder in the eighth inning and was removed from the game. Hell have imaging done Thursday to determine whether or not he can play through the weekend against the Houston Astros.Trout said the pitch his his shoulder blade and left him with a sizable, sore welt.I want to (play), Ill tell you that, Trout said. Weve got three games left, so Im going to try to grind it out. After going down 2-0 early, the Angels rallied for eight runs in the fourth inning. Ross Detwiler (3-3), who replaced Gray in the second, got the first out but then put then put the next four batters on and gave up two runs before getting the second out.Meyer (2-3) limited the As to two runs on five hits over four innings and struck out five.I think theres no doubt that Alex is moving forward in many ways, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. I think first and foremost, I think his delivery is getting more consistent. Hes able to repeat it, his arm angle is where hes working towards getting it, and hopefully hell continue to improve with his consistency.With runners on the corners, Shane Robinson cleared the bases with a double to left and took third on the throw. Calhoun homered for the 17th time this season to give Los Angeles a 6-2 lead and Mike Trout singled to keep the inning alive.Detwiler was finally replaced after giving up a double to C.J. Cron, the 10th batter of the inning. Reliever Chris Smith couldnt end the threat as he walked the next two batters to walk in a run and Stephen Vogts failure to throw to first on a grounder by Jett Bandy allowed Cron to score for the eighth run of the inning.Gregorio Petit, the 14th batter, finally ended the inning by grounding out to Smith.Early on, it looked like he had good stuff, Melvin said. The ball was down, the ball was moving, it looked like he had good nicks right away. But then he left some balls up and got into some funky counts.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: RHP Garrett Richards threw off the mound to hitters for the first time since tearing his ulnar collateral ligament May 1. Richards, who has been throwing for a month after stem cell treatments showed significant healing in the ligament, will throw another bullpen this weekend before continuing his season in the instructional league.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Kendall Graveman will start the As final series of the season, Thursday in Seattle. Graveman is 0-3 with a 5.28 ERA in his last five starts and has posted similar numbers against the Mariners, going 1/3 with a 5.40 ERA in seven career appearances.Angels: Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia declined to name a starter for Fridays series-opener against the Houston Astros. RHP Daniel Wright or RHP Jhoulys Chacin are likely candidates. Wholesale Air Jordan . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Cheap Jordans . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. http://www.wholesaleairjordanfromchina.com/ . 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 boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Cheap Jordan From China . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. FARGO, N.D. -- About the only thing that can stop the Bison buzz is a bye week.North Dakota State has a break in its schedule after enjoying an unprecedented three-day stretch on the national stage. The Bison first knocked off another big-time football power when they defeated Iowa on the road with a last-second field goal in a nationally televised game. The next day, they nearly became the first Football Championship Subdivision team to crack the Top 25 .And finally, the Bison faithful watched their prized alumnus, Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, dominate both the airtime and the Chicago Bears in a Monday night win.I was trying to count how many times North Dakota State was uttered during the Monday night broadcast, said Bison athletic director Matt Larsen, but there were so many that I lost track.Wentz, of course, has been watching his Bison and he saw the Iowa upset.I had it recorded, he said. I got home and watched the whole thing. I was pretty excited. Pretty excited for those guys. You know, a lot of those guys are my best friends so I was really excited for those guys and at the same time I really wasnt surprised.No one should be, not by now.The 23-21 victory at Iowa was North Dakota States sixth in a row over a Bowl Subdivision team and the fifth over a Power Five conference school. While college football pundits have for years been warning FBS teams about scheduling the five-time defending FCS champion, this one came against a ranked team that had playoff hopes.Larsen, Bison coach Chris Klieman and others associated say beating the Hawkeyes is the high-water mark of FBS wins for the Fargo school.Given where their program is, the year they had last year coming off the Rose Bowl appearance, and being ranked as high as they were, and it was televised in over 100 million homes ... all those things combined, really does make it the biggest FBS win that North Dakota State has had to date, Larsen said.Mike Kern, associate commissioner of the conference, said the game had the look and feel of the teams previous signature win, over Kansas State in 2013. Both times, the Bison used ball control and a dominating fourth quarter to come from behind.The K-State game was ann eye-opener in that it announced to the world that Bison nation has arrived, Kern said.dddddddddddd This past weekends game was more of a statement of, `We are still here and as good as ever.The Bison received 74 points in the AP poll, the 27th highest total for the week and most ever for an FCS program. Ten FCS teams have received votes in the poll since 2007, after Appalachian States victory at Michigan prompted the AP to declare that voters could include teams playing in what was once called I-AA.It was also only the fourth time that an FCS program has beaten an FBS team -- and the first time for the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which last season sent five teams to the playoffs that have long been a staple in the FCS.With the Bison entering conference play, they likely wont have a chance for another eye-popping win this season. Still, Larsen said it was humbling to receive the recognition and called it more of a bonus than anything.It also revived the usual round of questions.Are the Bison considering a move up to FBS? They are not. Have the FBS teams on the Bison schedule -- Oregon in 2020 and Colorado in 2024 -- asked to buy out their contracts? Not yet. And will this allow the Bison to steal a bevy of recruits from FBS teams in the region?Probably not, Klieman said.Lets be real on this. Were still not beating Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin on recruits, the coach said. You would like to think were in the conversation, but its still difficult. Its just hard to beat a Big Ten school. You hope it allows us to compete better with the people we need to compete with, which are the high level mid-majors.For now, though, Klieman and his team will enjoy the weekend off -- and the hoopla.From a football standpoint, its as big as its been, he said. Not as big as the Carson Wentz of last year, throughout the winter and the spring and the draft. But obviously our players and our coaches deserve all the attention theyre getting because of how well the plans were and how well the guys played.---AP freelance writer Patrick Rose contributed to this report. ' ' '