Drake Bell » a bit easier for me to play freer tha

OAKLAND, Calif. -- In three short years, Sean Doolittle transformed himself from a top first base prospect into a shut-down reliever. The Oakland Athletics are rewarding him for it, giving the left-hander a five-year contract Friday for making the improbable switch. The deal contains a pair of club options that could extend the agreement through the 2020 season. "It means everything that the organization thinks of you like that, that they want to keep you around and they think you can be part of teams here for years to come," said Doolittle, a regular in the second deck at As games as a boy with his brother. "If you factor in the road I took to get here and everything I went through to be able to put on this uniform, its really special to know Ill be part of this organization for a while." Oakland announced the contract ahead of a home weekend series against the Houston Astros. Doolittle took his physical Thursday and should sign the agreement as soon as Monday. His 2020 option becomes mutual if he has a combined 100 games finished between 2018 and 2019. The 27-year-old left-hander has been a reliable member of Oaklands talented bullpen since converting from first base late in the 2011 season. He appreciates his new job security -- and still thinks about the path he took to get to this point. "Its crazy," he said. "There are still plenty of times I cant believe I actually did that. The way things worked out, it just makes everything that much better. I dont take a single minute I have up here for granted." He is 7-6 with a 3.10 ERA and four saves in 122 relief appearances, allowing 100 hits with 129 strikeouts in 125 innings. He is 0-0 with a 3.12 ERA and one save in eight appearances over 8 2-3 innings so far this year, his third big league season. "Hes a guy weve gotten to know on a personal level and we have a ton of faith in the person he is on the field and off the field," said Farhan Zaidi, As assistant general manager and director of baseball operations. "Having to transition from being a position player to a pitcher, thats shown us a lot. Weve seen what everybody else has seen the last two years. Hes been one of the best relievers and setup men in baseball. I think every team would want to have that guy around for as long as possible. That was our motivation." His previous deal was a one-year contract paying $505,000 in the major leagues this season and $295,500 in the minors. The sides reached a basic framework on the new deal before the end of spring training, but still had some language to work out. If Doolittle becomes "Super 2" eligible after this season as expected -- meaning he is just shy of three years of service time -- there are escalators in his new deal based on games finished. Doolittle certainly hopes his role evolves into becoming the regular closer one day. The As brass are thrilled with Doolittles reinvention of himself, though he no longer surprises anybody. "The durability that he has shown, he takes good care of himself, all of the things you look for in the guys you want to get a long-term deal with, he does," manager Bob Melvin said. "With both sides happy about it, its a good deal for us, its a good deal for him. To have a guy like that around for a while is good news to everybody in our clubhouse." Randy Moss Jersey . With Washington teammate Nene drawing double-teams coming off his big game against the Lakers, Gortat scored 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Wizards to a 100-92 win in overtime over Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Cris Carter Jersey . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. http://www.vikingssale.com/Vikings-Brett-Favre-Draft-Jersey/. Yet coming off consecutive series losses at St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Los Angeles needed some sort of spark as August approaches. The Dodgers found it in the ballpark of their biggest rival, and left the Bay Area in first place following an emphatic three-game swing. Adrian Peterson Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. Paul Krause Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell.Andy Murray kept pace with No 1 rival Novak Djokovic as he booked his place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with victory over Stan Wawrinka at Londons O2 Arena on Friday afternoon. Having beaten Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori, Murray only required a set against Wawrinka to guarantee his passage through to the last four of the season-ending event for the first time since 2012 and he got the job with the minimum of fuss in the opening set before going on to complete a 6-4 6-2 win. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price The comprehensive victory helped him equal his career-best winning run of 22 matches he set earlier this summer and book a clash against Milos Raonic and the Canadians foreboding serve on Saturday afternoon. Shot of the matchHe might not have won the match, but Wawrinka took the plaudits for this shot of the match. A deep forehand winner which swerved and dipped before landing smack bang on the baseline. Wawrinkas stunning deep winner was the only bright point in an otherwise disappointing day for the Swiss Murrays reactionThe first set was tight - there werent really many chances either way - but I just managed to get the break late in the set. And then, in the second set, I had already qualified and Stan obviously needed to win, so it was a bit easier for me to play freer than him in the second set, and that probably helped. The Briton was delighted to come through in straight-sets and now meets Milos Raonic next Expert opinionGreg Rusedski: So impressive from Murray. By far his best match so far in the tournament. The first set was nip and tuck, he gets it, and then just goes from strength to strength.A brilliant performance from Murray and it also ties his longest match-winning streak this year: 22 in a row. And it looks like he is going to beat that in the semis against Milos Raonic. Everything is coming into perfect shape for Murray. He needed to win quick to save his energy for the semis, and that is what he has done.Peter Fleming: It was an encouraging performance. It was the sort of performance that you would expect the world No 1 to come up with when his back is against the wall. And it was today, because a lot of people thought Wawrinka could punch holes in his defences, and Murray answered. He almost said, Ah ah, not today, pal. Murray was at the SkyPad alongside Sky Sports Leif Shiras to look back at his win over Wawrinka The matchMurray knew he would face the prospect of elimination if he lost in straight sets and Nishikori beat Cilic later on Friday, and both players made a rapid attacking opening to the match, striking the ball cleanly in another intoxicating atmosphere at a capacity O2 Arena. Heres the moment Murray sealed his spot in Saturdays semi-finals The Scot needed three hours and 20 minutes to see off Nishikori, but looked remarkably re-energised during the opening set.dddddddddddd Murray was motoring on serve and equally aggressive in attack. Few were surprised when he grabbed the first crucial break of serve in the sixth game. Murray attempted to lob Wawrinka but struck the scoreboard at The O2 Wawrinka came out knowing that a straight-sets win over Murray would maintain his record of always reaching the last four. He was forced to save three set points when serving to stay alive, but it didnt take long before the Wimbledon champion served it out to seal his semi-final spot. Wawrinka lost his temper so much so that he took out his fury out on not one, but two rackets! World No 3 Wawrinka looked dispirited and was broken in the opening game of the second set and then again in the third, by which time he had lost his composure by dismantling two of his rackets in pure frustration.It wasnt long before Murray completed a masterclass of a performance in an hour and 26 minutes to move back above Djokovic in the race the end the season as No 1. Murray v Wawrinka: Match Stats Murray Wawrinka Aces 3 7 Double faults 2 1 1st serve points won 87% 67% 2nd serve points won 57% 40% Winners 15 29 Unforced errors 13 27 Break points won 3/7 0/2 Total points won 67/118 51/118 Check our game-by-game coverage from all matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including the semi-finals on Saturday - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis. Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: As it happened... World No 1 permutations Raonic can only get better WATCH: Murrays double take ' ' '