ast year, I missed a great opportunity, (I have) a new chance now," Monaco said. "

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Matt Shoemaker is off to a successful start in the major leagues. Just ask a select group of baseballs best pitchers. The rookie right-hander won his fifth straight decision, C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun homered in the fourth inning against Yu Darvish, and the Los Angeles Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Sunday night. Darvish is the latest in a group of top-of-the-rotation pitchers that Shoemaker has opposed this season, including Cliff Lee, David Price, James Shields and Chris Sale. The 27-year-old Shoemaker is 3-0 in those starts with a 2.83 ERA. "Its definitely something Ill savour," he said. "As a pitcher, your focus is huge, so I think that can definitely help a little bit more. I mean, it doesnt really come into play for me -- but in the aftermath, its pretty cool. Those guys have done a lot for this game, and hopefully I can be in their shoes one day down the road." Cron went deep for the third straight game, helping the Angels pull within five games of AL West-leading Oakland. Calhoun was credited with the first run of the game on a replay reversal in the first inning that led to the ejection of Texas manager Ron Washington by plate umpire Bill Miller. Shoemaker (5-1) allowed a run and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings with six strikeouts and two walks. The only run against him came in the sixth, when his attempted pickoff throw to first hit Elvis Andrus and rolled away from Cron, allowing Leonys Martin to score. Joe Smith allowed Brad Snyders two-out homer in the ninth before Chris Gimenez grounded out to end the game. Snyder entered in the fourth after first baseman Donnie Murphy left because of soreness in his left knee. Darvish (7-4) allowed five runs and five hits through six innings, striking out nine and issuing four walks -- three of them to No. 7 hitter Hank Conger. This was the fourth time in 75 major league starts that Darvish allowed two homers in one inning -- and the third time against the Angels. He came in 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 starts against the Halos, including six straight victories. The injury-decimated Rangers remain a season-worst 11 1/2 games behind Oakland after losing for the fifth straight time and 10th time in their last 14. The play that resulted in Washingtons second ejection of the season began when Martin charged Albert Pujols hit-and-run single to centre field, and then missed the cutoff man as the ball sailed into foul territory between third base and home. Darvish alertly backed up the play and threw to Gimenez for the tag on Calhoun, who tried to score all the way from first. But Gimenez took the throw while standing in front of the dish, leaving Calhoun no clear path. And according to the new rules instituted this season by Major League Baseball to cut down on collisions, that was a violation. So when Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out to challenge Millers original ruling, the replay was checked and Calhoun was declared safe. Gimenez was charged with an error. "I saw Darvish up the line and I knew he had to make a tough play," Calhoun said. "To his credit, he put it right on the money and I didnt have anywhere to slide. I couldnt go inside or outside because there was no lane, which the catcher is supposed to give now due to this new rule. So I slid right into him. You hope you make that contact and put it in their hands and make them overturn it. And they made the right call." Washington, who lost Alex Rios and Michael Choice to ejections in Saturday nights extra-inning loss for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Vic Carapazza, came out of the dugout yelling at Miller -- who motioned to him that he wasnt allowed to argue a replay reversal. But the argument continued, and Washington was tossed. "What got me thrown out was the call that was made out of New York," Washington said. "Youre not supposed to come out and question that, but you cant stop instincts of the game from happening. And to me, that was an instinctive play. There were no intentions of blocking the plate. The ball took him there." NOTES: Shoemakers only loss came in relief against the New York Mets, when he gave up a home run to Anthony Recker in the 13th inning on April 12 at Angel Stadium. ... Darvish has allowed just three first-inning runs in his 14 starts this season. The other two also were by the Angels, on home runs by Aybar and Pujols on May 4 at the "Big A" in his 14-3 victory. ... INF Howie Kendrick, whose RBI double off Jason Frasor in the 10th inning Saturday gave the Angels a 3-2 win, got the day off. He is 0 for 19 against Darvish with seven strikeouts. ... Rangers closer Joakim Soria hasnt pitched since his last save on June 14. Theres nothing physically wrong with him. Its just that the Rangers have lost six of seven since then, and the lone victory was by a 14-8 score. Black Friday Nike Shoes . The Brewers finalized a US$36 million, three-year contract with free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez on Wednesday, adding a much-needed bat to their lineup. Fake Nike Shoes For Sale . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. https://www.fakenikeshoeswholesale.com/ . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. Cheap Nike Shoes . Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3. Nike Shoes Outlet . - Josh Sterk scored twice to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 7-1 rout of the Ottawa 67s in Mondays Ontario Hockey League action.PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- With Argentina missing leading player Juan Martin del Potro, defending champion Czech Republic has high hopes of winning their Davis Cup semifinal this weekend and reaching the final for a third time in five years. Also bolstering the Czechs confidence is the reunion of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek for the first time this year. Moreover, both have been in good form recently. Berdych climbed to his career-highest world No. 5 place in August while Stepanek won the U.S. Open doubles together with Leander Paes of India, a huge confidence boost for the 34-year-old veteran who had to undergo a neck operation earlier this year. "Were the favourite," Berdych said. "We play at home, we play on the surface which we like. We have our home crowd which helps us a lot and we have the strongest team possible. For us the goal is to make three points." Berdych, who lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the U.S. Opens fourth round, missed the 3-1 quarterfinal victory at Kazakhstan due to an injury, while Stepanek was not available for the first-round 3-2 victory in Switzerland. Lukas Rosol and Jiri Vesely are also on the team but unlikely to play if Berdych and Stepanek remain fit. They played all five rubbers in last years final in Prague, beating Spain 3-2 to give their country its first Davis Cup title as an independent nation.. Stepanek clinched the title with a 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3 upset victory over Nicolas Almagro in the last reverse singles. "Im 100 per cent fit and ready to play all three days," said Stepanek who only returned from New York City on Monday. But even without the absent del Potro, Argentina wont be a pushover. Led by Juan Monaco, the team reached the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year, thrashing Germany 5-0 in the first round before overcoming nine-time chhampion France 3-2 in the quarterfinal.dddddddddddd "We have chances for sure," Argentine captain Martin Jaite said with confidence. "Davis Cup is always difficult competition. Weve come here to win. So were working very hard to try to beat the Czechs and go to the finals," Jaite said. Argentina has never won the Davis Cup. Carlos Berlocq, Horacio Zeballos and Leonardo Mayer will play alongside Monaco, the highest ranked Argentine at No. 30. Del Potro skipped the Davis Cup this year. The Czech Republic won its last two encounters with Argentina, handing the South Americans particularly bitter 3-2 defeat in last years semis in Buenos Aires on clay. In the second opening singles match, Monaco took a 2-1 lead before Berdych rallied to win. "Last year, I missed a great opportunity, (I have) a new chance now," Monaco said. "On this kind of court, it will be harder for me, but its Davis Cup, you never know, every point is totally different," Monaco said. He also lost to Berdych in five sets in the Czech Republics 2009 victory at home to Argentina in the quarterfinals and is 0-6 overall against the Czech. With plenty of support from a capacity crowd of more than 13,000, who will see their team for the first time since last years triumph, the Czechs have another advantage. As in the final against Spain, they elected to play the series on their favourite fast surface to counter Argentinas clay court specialists. Monaco said he would like to emulate the success of his friend Rafael Nadal, having watched his U.S. Open victory over Novak Djokovic on television in Prague. "It was a match of high intensity. I was happy for him. He really deserved to win," Monaco said. "If youre close to him, you learn things all the time. Every day, you can learn something." ' ' '