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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Less than eight months after finishing third in voting for the AL Cy Young award, Athletics ace Sonny Gray is mired in the longest slump of his career.There is little indication that things are going to get better any time soon, either.Gray lost his sixth consecutive decision after blowing an early three-run lead and the Athletics offense was held to one hit over the final seven innings of a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.This hasnt been his best year and hell figure it out and hell get better as the year goes on, As manager Bob Melvin said. Theres always going to be a year thats as not good as other years. So far this is the one for him. Hes been good for us.Gray was coming off two fairly decent starts before blowing up against Pittsburgh in the Pirates first trip to the Oakland Coliseum since June 27, 2010.Gray (3-7) gave up seven runs, hit a batter and threw two wild pitches in six innings while losing his sixth consecutive decision. The right-hander, third in the 2015 AL Cy Young voting, is winless since April 22.Once I got to two outs, I just wasnt able to get them out, Gray said. There were times, like in the sixth where I got two quick outs, I have to be able to shut that inning down and get back out there for the seventh . and not hit a guy and walk another. It just escalated from there.Jody Mercer homered and had an RBI single to help Pittsburgh rally from three runs down to beat. Matt Joyce added two hits, Josh Harrison drove in two runs while Andrew McCutcheon doubled and scored on a wild pitch to help the Pirates to their first win in their history at the Coliseum and just their second in 13 games between the two franchises.They did it by taking advantage of another shaky outing by Gray (3-7).We just stayed the course, Harrison said. We just put together some good at-bats as a team and it wasnt easy on him.Marcus Semien hit his 17th home run of the season for Oakland.Pirates starter Jeff Locke (8-5) also struggled early but retired the final nine batters he faced to win his third straight. He gave up three runs over five innings with three walks and three strikeouts.Three relievers combined to retire the final 12 batters and complete the four-hitter.Mercer homered in the third and added an RBI single as part of a two-run fifth.Harrisons two-out, two-run double in the sixth put the Pirates up 7-3.ALL-STAR PUSHSemiens home run was his fifth in nine games, padding his AL-leading total among shortstops. Melvin thinks Semiens offensive surge should be good enough to earn the young shortstop a trip to the All-Star game in San Diego later this month. Hopefully that merits some consideration going forward, Melvin said. You cant ignore the numbers. Not only is he doing it all offensively, he doing defensively too. He just maturing.LINEUP SHUFFLEJed Lowrie had decent results while batting leadoff for the first time this season. He drew a walk from Locke in the first before Semien homered on a 3-2 pitch. Oaklands second baseman added an RBI double in the second to make it 3-0.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Infielder Tyler Ladendorf was recalled from Triple-A Nashville before the game. Left-hander Dillion Overton, the losing pitcher against San Francisco on Thursday, was optioned down. Overton went 1-1 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts.UP NEXTPirates: Right-hander Chad Kuhl (1-0) pitches against Oakland on Saturday in his second career start in the majors after beating Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in his debut.Athletics: Rich Hill is expected to come off the disabled list to start against Pittsburgh. The left-hander had been out since May 30 with a strained groin. China Jerseys . 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Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. NAIROBI, Kenya -- The former agent and coach of banned marathon champion Rita Jeptoo appeared in separate Kenyan courts on Monday and were both released on bail as police continue to investigate them for involvement in doping.Agent Federico Rosa was charged last week with six counts related to administering banned substances to two athletes: Jeptoo and a little-known runner named Elijah Kiprono Boit. The Italian national denied the charges and was released on Monday on $5,000 bail.Jeptoo was the top female marathon runner in the world and a three-time Boston Marathon and two-time Chicago Marathon champion when it was announced she failed an out-of-competition test for the blood-booster EPO in late 2014. Court documents in Rosas case allege he conspired with others to administer a prohibited substance to Jeptoo on several occasions in August and September 2014.Jeptoo was banned for two years and is the highest profile of at least 40 Kenyan athletes to fail doping tests and be banned since the last Olympics in 2012. Her case has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the IAAF seeking a sterner punishment than the two-year ban handed down to her by Kenyan authorities.Rosa, who still represents other top Kenyan athletes, had his passport withheld when he was released on bail. The judge said he would release Rosas travel documents if the agent could prove his claim that he represented 10 Kenyan athletes who were due to compete at the Riuo de Janeiro Olympics. Rosa said he needed to travel to Europe and then the Olympics to conduct business.Rosa is the agent forr, among others, three-time 1,500-meter world champion Asbel Kiprop, marathon runners Jemimah Sumgong and Stanley Biwott, and former 800-meter world champion Eunice Sum.dddddddddddd None of those athletes have been implicated in the case, and some have spoken out in defense of Rosa, saying he is being targeted as a scapegoat for Kenyas long-running doping problems.In a twist, marathoner Mathew Kisorio, an athlete Rosa previously represented who was banned for doping, said last week in an affidavit presented to the court that he was pressurized by some people to falsely incriminate Rosa in doping.Jeptoos former coach, Claudio Berardelli, who is also Italian, has not been formally charged but is being investigated alongside five Kenyan men for conspiracy to help athletes take banned substances. Berardelli previously coached Jeptoo, Kisorio, and 800-meter runner Agatha Jeruto, who were all banned for doping. Berardelli also previously worked for Rosas athlete management company but the relationship ended after those three runners he trained failed tests.On Monday, Berardelli was also released on $5,000 bail as a judge at a separate court gave police and prosecutors more time to investigate.Three of the five Kenyan men facing doping charges alongside Berardelli were accused in a recent undercover operation by British newspaper The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD of providing and administering EPO to foreign athletes training in Kenya. ' ' '