turn it around." Japan, ranked No. 12 in the world, has

OAKLAND, Calif. Danny Ainge Jersey . -- The beginning of Julys first blockbuster trade occurred about a month ago, when Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane called Chicago Cubs executive Theo Epstein to ask about Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Beane told Epstein he liked the starting pitchers, and he was going to be aggressive in an attempt to improve the AL West leaders. Fast forward to this weekend, when Beane proved just how serious he was during that initial call. Oakland and Chicago announced the big trade on Saturday, with Samardzija and Hammel heading to the West Coast for a package of prospects that included the As first-round selections in each of the past two drafts. "The deal speaks for itself. To pick up two guys like that in early June is pretty fantastic," As manager Bob Melvin said. "We wanted more options and saw the urgency to get it done. This makes us better." The Athletics began the day with the best record in baseball, but Beane felt he needed to add depth to a rotation that responded well to season-ending injuries for Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin. Drew Pomeranz also is on the disabled list with a broken right hand. Samardzija and Hammel join Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray in one of the majors best group of starting pitchers. "We had to dig into our depth really early, and we felt like we needed two (starting pitchers)," Beane said. Samardzija will start for the As on Sunday. He was scheduled to pitch for the Cubs Saturday. In somewhat of a surprise, the As sent left-hander Tommy Milone to Triple-A Sacramento later Saturday to make room for Samardzija. Milone was 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA over his last 11 starts and 6-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 16 starts overall. "What do you say to a guy like that?" Melvin said. "Hes been terrific his last 10 starts and has meant a lot to us the last three years. I tried to figure out what to say to him. We havent seen the last of him." Oakland will make a move Sunday to clear space for Hammel, who will start Wednesday. Minor leaguers Addison Russell, Billy McKinney and Dan Straily went to Chicago in another painful deal for the lowly Cubs, who have played better of late, but are still last in the NL Central. Chicago also gets a player to be named in its latest July sell-off. The Cubs lost at least 91 games in each of the previous three years. They traded away starting pitchers Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm in July 2012, and Matt Garza and Scott Feldman last July. "We certainly hope that this is the last year that were obvious sellers at the trade deadline," Epstein said. The key piece for Chicago in the deal with Oakland was Russell, a 20-year-old shortstop headed for Double-A Tennessee. A torn right hamstring sidelined the No. 11 overall selection in the 2012 draft earlier this season, but he was batting .333 in 13 games for Double-A Midland at the time of the trade. Chicago and Oakland talked about a Samardzija for Russell deal, but Epstein said the one-for-one framework didnt work. He spoke with Beane on Thursday night, and thats when the trade grew into the larger package. "We felt like Russell was a key for us in any deal with Oakland," Epstein said. The hard-throwing Samardzija had a 2-7 record for the Cubs, but he also had a 2.83 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 108 innings, making him one of the most coveted pitchers on the market. The former Notre Dame receiver was selected by Chicago in the fifth round in 2006. Chicago recalled left-hander Chris Rusin from Triple-A Iowa. Epstein said the Cubs were still discussing their options when it came to the rotation. "I can say that (after that) its going to stay the same until Tuesday for the doubleheader (at Cincinnati)," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said of the rotation after Saturday. Jake Arrieta is set to start Sunday in Washington and Edwin Jackson on Monday at Cincinnati. The Cubs will add a 26th man, Tsuyoshi Wada, for Tuesdays doubleheader. The Cubs talked to the 29-year-old Samardzija about a contract extension, but were unable to come to an agreement. He is set to become a free agent for the first time after the 2015 season. "Jeff has been a bit of workhorse," Beane said. "Hes got a perfect health record. Hes a guy that continues to develop. Hes gotten better and better each year he goes out." Hammel signed a $6 million, one-year contract with Chicago in February and went 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 108 2-3 innings with the Cubs. He pitched six-plus innings in a 7-2 victory over Washington on Friday. Hammel, who turns 32 in September, also has three career post-season starts. "Hes gotten better and better and we think now is a great time to have him," Beane said. The 19-year-old McKinney, who was selected in the first round a year ago, hit .241 with 10 homers for Class A Stockton this season. He is headed for Chicagos Class A affiliate in Daytona, Florida, where he will share the outfield with another top prospect in Albert Almora. Straily finished 10-8 with a 3.96 ERA in 27 starts for the As last year. He was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento after struggling earlier this season, and Epstein said he likely would be up with the Cubs after a short stay at Triple-A Iowa. Even before the deal, Chicago had one of the richest minor league systems in baseball. The addition of Russell and McKinney just enhances the Cubs impressive group of prospects. "We think we have a real outstanding stable of good young position players that is a stable base to build off," Epstein said. "We like how this positions us." Jaylen Brown Jersey . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Boston Celtics Jerseys . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-john-havlicek-celtics-jersey/ . -- New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has no concerns about the health of shortstop Derek Jeter, who was limited to 17 games last season due to leg injuries.BURNABY, B.C. -- Japan rugby coach Eddie Jones might want to bottle whatever he told his team at halftime on Saturday night. Down 25-9 at the break, Japan stormed out of the gate and outscored Canada 25-0 over the final 40 minutes to stun the hosts 34-25 in the first game of the Pacific Nations Cup tournament for both countries. Jones is back coaching after suffering a stroke in October, but that didnt stop him from letting loose on his players after a disappointing first half. "Ill tell you what, it wasnt good for my blood pressure," said the 54-year-old. "We thought we were fitter than them. We thought if we could just hang in there ... we were just like a boxer on the ropes hanging on there. And if you get a chance to throw a jab, you throw it, and thats what we were able to do. "It takes a bit of courage to do that, so Im really pleased with that from the boys." Japan ran ragged in the second half, busting through the line for a pair of tries that left Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley shaking his head. "We really played well in that first half. We put pressure on them, we scored a couple really good tries," he said. "Second half, we had a couple bad defensive errors from set plays, which you cant afford to do. They were pretty soft tries, really. "Japan just took it to us and they deserved to win with that second-half performance." Yoshikazu Fujita, Yu Tamura and Hendrik Tui had the tries for the visitors, who won their eighth straight overall, while Ayumu Goromaru kicked five penalties and added two converts. John Moonlight, Ciaran Hearn and Taylor Paris had the tries for Canada, while James Pritchard added two penalties and two converts. Japan started to claw its way back after halftime with a try in the 42nd minute as Fujita dove over the line, and after Goromaru missed the conversion, the score stood at 25-14. Goromaru then kicked his fourth penalty of the night in the 56th minute to make it 25-17 before Tamura broke through the Canadian midfield untouched in the 63rd, with Goromanus conversion cutting the deficit to just one. Clearly rattled, Canada could barely hold onto the ball and Tui completed the comeback by again busting through the line to make it 31-25 after Goromarus conversion. Goromaru added to his point total by booting another penalty on the last kick of the game for the 34-25 final. "We always knew wed have to cope with the physical onslaught of Canada at home for the first 40," said Jones. "If we wouldnt have given away that try away (before) halftime we would have been pretty happy, but 25-9 at halftime, youre battling to stay in the game." Despite watching his team get bossed around in the second half, Tyler Ardron -- a 22-year-old from Lakefield, Ont., who plays for Ospreys in Wales and captained Canada for the first time -- saw some positives. "Tons of things to work on still," said Ardron, who made just his 14th appearance for the national team. "But we executed a lot things that we wanted to and I think if you look at that first half, a lot of things went our way and in the second half a couple bounces maybe went their way. Marcus Smart Jersey. " The six-team Pacific Nations Cup tournament also includes Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and the United States. Canada will play world No. 10 Scotland at Torontos BMO Field next Saturday before travelling to Sacramento, Calif., to face the U.S. on June 21 in another Pacific Nations Cup match. The tournament consists of two groups of three teams, with each country taking on the other two in its conference. The top teams from each meet in Novembers final. Before his teams dominating second half, the turning point appeared to come in the 34th minute when Japans Shota Horie was sent to the sin bin for a foul, leaving his team down a man. Pritchard made the ensuing penalty from close range and Canada opened the floodgates with two impressive tries to close out the half. Moonlight finished off a good move for a try in the 37th minute before Paris broke through the Japanese line moments later, with Pritchard converting both for a 25-9 lead. "(We) definitely didnt think it was over," said Ardron. "I think we felt that if we played our game over the next 40 minutes we would be comfortable, but that clearly wasnt the case. "Credit to Japan -- they came out and played their game and we didnt turn it around." Japan, ranked No. 12 in the world, has been a pain for 15th-ranked Canada over the last several years. The Japanese tied Canada at the last two Rugby World Cups, with the 23-23 draw in 2011 helping to push the Canadians to fourth in their pool to miss out on automatic qualification for the 2015 tournament. Japan then beat Canada 16-13 in last years Pacific Nations Cup, a result that handed the championship trophy to Fiji. Crowley said earlier in the week that a win over Japan on home soil would help propel his side up the International Rugby Boards rankings and his players started brightly in front of a partisan crowd at Swangard Stadium. Canada had sustained pressure early in the match, with Hearn going over the line for the opening try in the seventh minute, but Pritchard missed the conversion for a 5-0 lead. Goromaru got Japan on the board with a penalty kick in the 12th minute, and he connected again three minutes later to give his team a 6-5 advantage. Pritchard then added a penalty in the 18th minute to restore the Canadian lead at 8-6, but Goromaru kicked his third penalty of the half in the 29th to make it 9-8 Japan. "Rugbys on a bit of a high at the moment in Canada," said Crowley. "Weve just got to get some of these tight games across the line. Japan have had our number a little bit the last few times weve played them, which is unfortunate." Notes: Scotland beat the U.S. 24-6 on Saturday night in Houston. ... Saturday marked the first time Canadas mens team wore its new uniforms designed by Under Armour. ... Japan meets the U.S. in Carson, Calif., next weekend. ... Attendance was 6,382. 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