ld medalist Claressa Shields did the honors on Monday, it was Ca

The popular refrain is that Oklahoma has nothing to play for after losing two of its first three games.Sooners coach Bob Stoops isnt the least bit interested in advancing that theory.Stoops feels winning the Big 12 title would rate as a big accomplishment and Oklahoma begins its hunt for the conference crown when it visits No. 21 TCU on Saturday (5 p.m. ET, FOX) at Fort Worth, Texas.Weve won a lot of championships around here with a couple losses, said Stoops, who has won or shared nine conference titles since becoming coach in 1999. Keep fighting, keep improving. The better teams improve through the year and thats what we have to do. We have to keep improving this week to next week.The Horned Frogs (2-1, 1-0) also find themselves in must-win mode if they want to have a chance at becoming part of the College Football Playoff discussion.TCU suffered a home loss to Arkansas earlier this season and there isnt any remaining wiggle room.Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson has been selling his team on the importance of the Big 12 title since the nonconference loss to the Razorbacks and his message only increased this week.There is also the matter of starting a new home venue winning streak. TCU had won 14 straight at home prior to the Arkansas loss.One of the things you cant take for granted, the home crowd can give you emotion, but it cant be your emotion, Patterson said. Thats one thing as a young football team youve got to learn. You can feed off of it, but you already have to have it.The Horned Frogs certainly are proficient on offense again this season -- averaging 42.8 points per game -- and junior quarterback Kenny Hill has led the way.The Texas A&M transfer has been a solid passer by completing 66.1 percent of his throws for 1,487 yards and six touchdowns. He has topped 400 yards passing in two of his four games for TCU.Hill also has been a potent force in the running game with 166 yards and six touchdowns. His rushing yards are second behind junior Kyle Hicks (314).Another SEC transfer, junior John Diarse, has also made an impact. The former LSU wideout caught six passes for a career-high 139 yards in last Fridays victory over SMU, including a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown.He has caught 16 passes already this season after totaling 28 in two seasons at LSU.Diarse has been in big ballgames at LSU, and he transferred here because he wanted to catch more balls, Patterson said. The bottom line is hes done a great job.The Sooners have also been productive offensively while averaging 35.3 points. Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield has passed for 793 yards and seven touchdowns against two interceptions.Mayfield sees the potential to do more individually. Hes also got the same view as Stoops when hearing all the naysayers pontificating about how Oklahoma has nothing to play for.I mean, we can still end up playing in a New Years Day bowl in one of the big-time bowl games, Mayfield said. Its not discouraging at all. If you can go end up and play in something like the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl again -- I mean, I know the playoffs are in Atlanta and Arizona -- but other than that, yeah, one of the other big-time bowl games is obviously a big accomplishment that we can go do.The Sooners have been suspect on defense and are one of seven teams nationally without an interception. Oklahoma is allowing 31.7 points and was drilled for 33 and 45 points in losses to Houston and Ohio State, respectively.TCUs defense just got its first two interceptions of the campaign in the 33-3 rout of SMU. The Horned Frogs have allowed just 23 points over their last two games and getting torched for 82 over their first two.Sophomore outside linebacker Ty Summers leads TCU with 39 tackles after recording a combined 29 over the past two games.Oklahoma leads the series 10-5 and has won five of the six previous matchups in Fort Worth.The Sooners won 30-29 at home last season and led by 17 points in the fourth quarter before the Horned Frogs staged a rally.Wholesale Chargers Jerseys . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Authentic Derwin James Jersey . 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Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville.DETROIT -- Matt Boyd has quietly been one of the Detroit Tigers most consistent starters in the second half of the season.Coming into Tuesday night, he was 5-1 since July 1 with a 2.56 ERA in 11 appearances, 10 of them as a starter. He hasnt gotten the same attention as Justin Verlander or Michael Fulmer, but hes been a big reason the Tigers have been able to stay in the wild-card race.Thats why it was surprising when everything blew up in his face against the Minnesota Twins.Boyd gave up seven runs, eight hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings as the Tigers lost 8-1.I was just out of sync, Boyd said. I wasnt right physically. I feel great, but my mechanics were off. I couldnt repeat my delivery, and thats a recipe for disaster.That cant happen at this time of year.The Tigers lost for the third time in 14 games against Minnesota, costing them precious ground in a crowded race for the AL wild-card spots. They are now two games behind the Blue Jays and the Orioles and tied with the Yankees.Kyle Gibson went eight innings for the Twins and didnt allow a run after Miguel Cabreras first-inning single. He did have to navigate one major jam. In the fourth, with the Twins up 7-1, he walked Tyler Collins and Erick Aybar to load the bases with two out.After a conference with pitching coach Neil Allen and catcher John Ryan Murphy, he threw three straight changeups to Jarrod Saltalamacchia. After two swinging strikes, Gibson got a routine pop fly to end the inning.Thats an offense that can put up runs in a hurry, he said. I wanted to limit them to zero or, at worst one. I had missed on seven straight heaters, so when Murph suggested the changeup, it sounded good to me.Gibson (6-9) threw a perfect fifth inning and never looked back. The win ended a four-start winless streak, including when Gibson allowed five runs in five innings to Detroit on Aug. 23.Jorge Polanco homered and drove in four runs and Brian Dozier added three more hits to his torrid second half.Dozier entered hitting .318 with 26 homers since the All-Star break. Hes hit safely in 17 consecutive games.Buck Farmer saved Detroits bullpen by pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings, but nnow the Tigers long reliever will be unavailable for starts by Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey on Wednesday and Thursday.dddddddddddd. Sanchez has struggled all year, while Pelfrey will be pitching for the first time since July and is expected to be on a low pitch count.He was outstanding, and it helped us a ton, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. That frees up the rest of the bullpen for the next couple days.Boyd got into trouble quickly, allowing two runs before recording an out. Dozier led off with a base hit and Polanco blooped a double down the right-field line. Robbie Grossman lined Boyds 11th pitch of the night into center for a two-run single, but the Tigers defense prevented further damage.Kennys Vargas hit a hard grounder up the middle, but Jose Iglesias fielded it behind second and got off a backhanded flip toward the bag. Ian Kinsler caught it in his bare hand and threw in one motion to turn the double play.After Cabrera got the Tigers on the board, Polancos two-run homer gave the Twins a three-run lead in the third. Grossman followed with a double, giving the top three in Minnesotas order six hits in six plate appearances, including three doubles and a homer.Polanco had two shots at the triple he needed for the cycle but popped out and walked.TRAINERS ROOMTigers: Justin Upton didnt play after aggravating a calf injury on Monday. Upton, one of Detroits hottest hitters over the last three weeks, hopes to return within a day or two.OLYMPIAN IN THE HOUSEFor the second day in a row, a medalist from the 2016 Summer Olympics threw out the first pitch. After boxing gold medalist Claressa Shields did the honors on Monday, it was Canadian Shelina Zadorsky, who won bronze as a member of the womens soccer team after a college career at the University of Michigan.UP NEXTThe teams play the third of a four-game series Wednesday night, with Sanchez (7-13, 5.69) facing Minnesotas Tyler Duffey (8-11, 6.13). Sanchez has shown some signs of improvement, going 1-1 with a 3.34 ERA in his last five starts. ' ' '