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OAKLAND, Calif. - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore. Eric Sogard drove in two runs and threw out a runner at the plate, Scott Kazmir pitched another gem and the Oakland Athletics stayed focused after a delay caused by a malfunction with the outfield lights to beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Saturday night. "Thats the Coliseum for ya," Sogard said. "Thats why we love this place. Never know what youre gonna get." The game was stopped for 38 minutes in the middle of the fourth inning because of an outage to the panel of lights above left field. Players from both sides said that the lights never initially turned on. The As said the circuit breaker turned off and had to be manually reset. "Maybe some carry over from Friday the 13th the night before. I dont know," As manager Bob Melvin said. New Yorks four-game winning streak ended because of its own errors. Two passed balls by backup catcher John Ryan Murphy, who was inserted in the lineup after Mark Teixeira was scratched with what he called a spasm in his midback, helped Oakland score twice in the fifth. But the delay surely didnt help Hiroki Kuroda (4-5), who compared the stoppage to a rain delay. He allowed four runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings. That included a perfect fourth after the delay before he lost his rhythm in the fifth — and so did his catcher. "The fact that I couldnt protect (the lead) was really frustrating," Kuroda said. Kazmir (8-2) allowed one unearned run and three hits in six innings for his third straight win. Dan Otero pitched two perfect innings before Sean Doolittle closed out the Yankees in the ninth. Kazmir stayed warm in the clubhouse during the delay and then threw a simulated inning in the bullpen, which wrapped up just as the lights came back on. "It worked out perfectly," Kazmir said. Brian McCann was switched from catcher to first base after the Yankees took Teixeira out about 30 minutes before the game. Murphy moved into the catchers spot. Sogard walked, advanced to second on Coco Crisps single and moved to third on Murphys first passed ball. Sogard scored on John Jasos groundout, and Crisp came home on Murphys second passed ball to put the As up 4-1. After being held out of Friday nights game to rest his sore right ankle, Sogard came through at the plate and in the field. Sogard lined a two-out, two-run single to centre to give the As a 2-0 lead in the second, and he cut down Kelly Johnson at home after fielding a grounder by Jeter in the fifth. New York scored its only run in the third when shortstop Andy Parrino sailed his throw to first on Derek Jeters grounder. Parrino got the run back when he hit an RBI double in the sixth. But the latest maintenance issue at Oaklands dual-purpose ballpark overshadowed the Kazmirs latest gem and anything else the As did on the field. The aging Coliseum, which is shared with the NFLs Oakland Raiders and is the only stadium in the country still home to teams from both leagues, has had multiple plumbing problems the past two years. The As have been trying for years to move to a new ballpark, including in San Jose, which the San Francisco Giants contend is part of their territory. The As are in the process of negotiating a new lease at the Coliseum, which opened in 1966, though its unclear what — if any — facility upgrades will be included in a potential deal. NOTES: Josh Donaldson was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Hal Gibson at the end of the seventh inning. Donaldson is in an 0-for-31 skid after going hitless in all four plate appearances. ... Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsubury had his 17-game hitting streak snapped after going 0-for-3 with a walk. ... Yankees 2B Brian Roberts (sore right knee) sat out and DH Carlos Beltran had the day off. ... The Yankees send lefty Vidal Nuno (1-4, 4.97 ERA) to the mound opposite Oaklands Jesse Chavez (5-4, 3.04 ERA) in Sundays series finale. Oliver Bjorkstrand Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Wild getting Matt Moulson from Buffalo. The Wild Get: LW Matt Moulson and LW Cody McCormick. Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys .com) - The Denver Nuggets snapped a losing streak last time out and will try to carry that momentum Saturday night when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to the Pepsi Center. http://www.cheapbluejacketsjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-cam-atkinson-jersey . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. David Savard Jersey . - The first sign that Kansas Speedway was going to be a heartbreaker for Hendrick Motorsports should have come during qualifying when Jimmie Johnson inexplicably spun and earned one of his worst starting spots since 2005. Matt Calvert Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics have finalized an agreement on a 10-year extension to play at the Coliseum through the 2024 season.CHICAGO - The young man with broad shoulders and a bright smile leans back, relaxed in his chair, and crosses his muscular arms, because young men like him, with broad shoulders and bright smiles dont have much to worry about. Theyre big enough for every moment. The world and its opportunities should belong to him: Hes 23, 6-foot-6, and a recent graduate of Iowa State — and oh, this Brampton boy is headline news in Des Moines, Iowa. And if this was Des Moines, and the young man was sitting inside the Hilton Coliseum - where the Iowa State Cyclones play - hed be affectionately crushed by so many wearing so much cardinal and yellow, because they know him. Hes Melvin Ejim: No one has played more basketball games for Iowa State (135). Few Cyclones have ever been as successful on a basketball court (12th in scoring with 1,643 points). But this isnt Des Moines, this is a big gymnasium on Chicagos west side. Its the second day of the NBA combine and in this large gym are plenty other large, young men with huge reputations from other corners of America. And they want to steal Melvins dream. Because in front of NBA general managers and scouts there are no pep bands to proclaim Ejims college achievements; all he has are his broad shoulders and a basketball - his tools to answer the crucial question: Who is Melvin Ejim? But dont they not know him already? "I dont think they knew as much about me," Ejim says, and his smile turns into a sneer. "If anything, people knew about me more in the Big 12 (NCAA conference), and everybody appreciated what I did, but it was still kind of downplayed. "But I think once I got the Big 12 Player of the Year, and I beat out Andrew Wiggins - who is a phenomenal player - people started to realize: Wait, Wiggins was in that league? Marcus Smart was in that league? Joel Embiid was in that league? And THIS guy got the Big 12 Player of the Year? It solidified for people: Well he might actually be pretty good, but it still left some doubt in people." Doubt? What kind of doubt? There was Ejim on Day 1, fluttering along the true NBA 3-point line, hitting more shots from distance than any other prospect. Then on Day 2 hes screaming on the court, communicating, waving his arms, exploding from one end to the other, making himself too loud and too energetic to be forgotten. Meanwhile, his fellow high-ranked Canadians, Tyler Ennis and Nik Stauskas, decided to participate in only selective drills. And Wiggins, Embiid, and Jabari Parker, the provisional Top three prospects ahead of June 26s NBA draft, decided to skip the event entirely. Doubt? There cant be any doubt of Melvin Ejims passion and potential. Does he really have to sell himself so hard to get drafted? "I think he does," says Matt Kamalsky, director of operations for the college prospect website DraftExpress. "When you look at guys getting drafted who are significantly older than their class, its very rare for guys over 23/24-years old to get picked at all, let a lone make a team, and then be successful at all in the NBA. "But just because it hasnt happened doesnt me it wont work for him." Its not a unique perspective: Too old and too small are ubiquitous descriptions of Ejims flaws in most scouting reports. He spent four years at Iowa State, while Wiggins, Ennis and Stauskass immediate talent created immediate hype. The highest Ejim is projected to be selected is somewhere in the mid-to-late second round. After the Top 30 draft picks, however, there are little-to-no guaranteed contracts. But criticism and long odds wont blunt Ejims smile. Defiance somehow makes it brighter. "People say Im too old, because on the paper it says Im 23 and the other guy is 22 and were born in the same year— its silly," Ejim says. "They say stay in college for four years, and I wasnt going to get any younger by staying. Its part of the process. "The undersized thing, Ive been hearing that from Day 1. That has kind of been overplayed now. Theyre saying Im undersized because they have to, because there is nothing else to say.dddddddddddd. Can you say I cant shoot well enough because I think I proved that [on Day 1 of the combine]. What are they going to say? That I didnt do well enough on the perimeter? Thats what they do here, they criticize—they want to evaluate." And Ejim wants to be evaluated. He wants to be poked and prodded and tested, again and again. He graduated with a history major and business minor, and in the future he wants to go to law school. But thats tomorrow. Today, he measures his growth with every shot he attempts, and every defensive challenge. He can feel himself growing into an NBA player. "A lot of people dont think I can shoot from the perimeter, and a lot of people dont think I can defend the perimeter," he says. "Im just trying to prove them wrong, and I think that is just the first step. Letting them know I can be a knockdown shooter. I can space the floor. I did it in college and being able to translate that to the (NBA) 3-point line — just showing people that I have the capability to do that, the capability to play on the perimeter as a [small forward] and it was gratifying." "Just listening to him talk its very obvious - and its not with all these guys - he knows what he needs to do in order to put himself in the best position to get drafted," Kamalsky says. "Guys dont have that kind of degree of self-awareness and maybe that maturity is a positive." And maturity, and perspective are Ejims greatest strengths. He came to the combine not just to show, but to tell. He wonders: Why would a general manager just obsess over a freakish, young talent that needs constant work? When here he is, learning, adapting, and thriving. Ejim remembers those early, early mornings - sometimes 6 am - walking or biking or busing to the Brampton or Mississauga YMCA. Sometimes hed have to bring his brothers health card and pretend to be someone else, because money was too tight for a membership, and one person can only have so many guest passes. And most of the time young Melvin wouldnt even get on the court; hed be off to side with a ball, watching his uncle and his uncles friend play, listening whenever he was told to: "Melvin, work on your handles." And he grew bigger and stronger and better, but he was still often an inch or inch and a half shorter than many others. So he worked and worked, from Amateur Athletic Union basketball to the NCAA. He counts his uncle, David, AAU coach Mike George (now his agent) and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, as part of his inner circle because they ingrained in him the everlasting directive; and if you listen to older, wiser Melvin long enough the mantra hits you like his smile: "I still think I can do a better job of being a better player. Solidify in peoples mind that Im a player, that Im good, that Im good enough." Those ranked higher than Ejim completely agree. "Ive worked out with him," says Ennis, projected to be selected in the Top 20. "I think he really shoots the ball better than people expect. At Iowa State he was playing more (small forward), going forward I think he has the ability to dribble the ball well enough to move to the wing." "We (Michigan) played Iowa State this year - Melvins a beast," says Stauskas, also potentially a Top-20 pick. "Hes a little bit undersized. Hes a guy I feel is going to go to workouts and really impress some people." Only when asked about workouts and meetings with NBA teams does Ejim become skittish. Dig deep enough and he reveals a meeting with the Utah Jazz next week, and then maybe three or four other teams after that. But each session is like a little secret, meant only for him. "My dream is to play in the NBA, to be a contributing part of a NBA team and continue to work, and be a solid player - the best player I can be. However I get there, time will tell." Maybe its why hes smiling: This is Melvin Ejims moment, after all. His big shoulders can bear it. ' ' '