By HOWARD ULMAN
The Oakland Athletics are hitting the way the once-powerful Boston Red Sox used to.
For the second straight night, the Athletics outslugged the Boston Red Sox, winning 8-6 on Wednesday a night after they pounded out 21 hits for a 9-8 win in 11 innings.
“It looked like they didn’t finish hitting since (Tuesday) night,” said Mike Lowell, who had five RBIs for Boston. “I guess we ran into them at the wrong time.”
July has been the right time for the Athletics. They’re batting .297 this month but still last …

Adam Kennedy started the Athletics off the same way he decided their previous game: with a big hit.
Kennedy homered on the first pitch of Oakland’s 8-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. Less than 24 hours earlier, he capped a career-best five-hit game with an RBI single in the 11th that produced the go-ahead run in a 9-8 win.
“It looked like they didn’t finish hitting since last night,” said Mike Lowell, whose five RBIs were a rare bright spot in Boston’s slumping lineup. “The first four pitches …

Phil Hughes slipped on a sport jacket and grabbed his suitcase. A few lockers down, Derek Jeter checked his phone for last-minute messages.
Fresh off their best homestand in five years, the first-place New York Yankees packed up in their plush new clubhouse Sunday and got ready to take this winning show on the road.
Jeter hit a go-ahead single, Mariano Rivera earned a four-out save and New York beat the Oakland Athletics 7-5 to complete a 9-1 homestand.
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Tim Wakefield’s next trip to the mound may be in the All-Star Game. Look out, any AL catcher trying to handle his knuckleball.
Wakefield enhanced his status as a first-time All-Star by earning his AL-leading 11th victory, and David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Oakland Athletics 5-4 Wednesday night.
“Unbelievable. I’m really happy for him, making the All-Star Game,” Ortiz said. “I’m going to park myself in front of the TV and I can’t wait until he gets in the game. It’s …

This win had been a long time coming.
For the first time since 1989, the Kentucky volleyball team went down to Gainesville, Fla., and defeated the 18-time Southeastern Conference defending champions at their own place. The Cats, despite getting hammered 25-9 in the first set and falling behind 2-1, came back to win a thrilling five-set match (9-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11).
Head coach Craig Skinner, usually a reserved and composed coach, couldn’t hide his emotions when I managed to get him on the phone a few minutes ago.
“I’m feeling pretty darn …