Coversongs » 2-0. Oakland tied it in the second on RBI doubles

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Josh Boyd isnt into making a fashion statement, and he doesnt think he needs to go sleeveless to show off his toughness. All the Packers defensive lineman wants is to stay warm in the subzero weather when Green Bay hosts the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC wild-card showdown that could be one of the coldest playoff games in NFL history. So many intriguing story lines between these two NFC powers, and yet the arctic cold may trump them all. "Yeah, Im definitely going sleeves," said Boyd, a rookie from Mississippi. "I mean, I dont see it as a tough guy thing. I just see it as being comfortable." The National Weather Service forecast called for a high temperature in Green Bay on Sunday of 2 degrees, with north-northwest winds making it feel more like minus-15 to minus-20. The coldest NFL game on record is the 1967 championship game, known as the "Ice Bowl" won by the Packers 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field on New Years Eve. The temperature dipped to minus-13, and the wind chill that day was minus-48. This might be little consolation to Boyd, for whom cold games in college meant playing in 30- or 40-degree weather. "Im from Mississippi, so this is a whole other animal," Boyd said. "Ive never seen negatives until I got here." Linemen are renowned for toughing out inclement weather without sleeves under jerseys. Dont want to give the opponent even the slightest idea that youre soft, the line of thinking goes. Well, 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith is as tough as they come, and even he might wear sleeves for what he estimates would be just the second or third time in his 13-year career. "Youre not going to have an advantage having no sleeves. Youre not going to scare the opponent," said Smith, who has 6 1/2 sacks. Across the line of scrimmage, centre Jonathan Goodwin said he had no problem wearing sleeves. "I gave up on the dont wear sleeves to look tough a long time ago," he said. In some ways, players might be warmer than the 80,000 fans expected to pack frigid Lambeau. Once they get to the sideline, players can take a break on heated benches. Theyll likely wear long, heavy coats while not in the game. "This is not the norm. Anytime you get outside the norm for whatever your occupation, its obviously challenging mentally and physically," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Thats definitely going to be the case Sunday." Footing on the field will be a key issue. Lambeau does have a heating system buried beneath the turf, encompassing 30 miles of pipes. There was supposed to be a brief "break" in the cold snap with temperatures rising into the upper 20s on Saturday, which McCarthy said would give groundskeepers a key day to work on the field. "It could be just a normal game thats played at a little slower pace. Or it could be where theres a lot of slipping and sliding going on, then you have to adjust a little bit," 49ers defensive co-ordinator Vic Fangio said. "You need to wait to see Sunday exactly see how the field affects the game." Another key for players will be to stay hydrated, though McCarthy jokingly put his index finger to his lips as if to tell a reporter to not let out the secret when asked the question Friday. "Weve seen it in past games where guys do cramp, so yes, its all part of our preparation," McCarthy said. If not for the arctic front marching into Wisconsin, more of the attention before Sundays game might be focused on 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernicks mastery of Green Bay in the teams last two meetings. Or quarterback Aaron Rodgers triumphant return from a left collarbone injury to help the resurgent Packers get back into the playoffs. Instead, San Francisco and Green Bay will have to deal with an unwelcome extra opponent: the bitter cold. Packers defensive lineman Mike Daniels seems to subscribe to the sleeves-are-soft philosophy. He doesnt like wearing them and plans to just play through the big chill and block out the conditions. And dont get him started on hand warmers. "I see offensive linemen with hand warmers, that tells me about them, man," Daniels said. "A defensive line coach in college said that, so I kind of kept that mentality." Wholesale Sabres Jerseys . Hernandez (3-0) struck out 11 and shut down Oakland for the second time in a week, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to win three times in the first nine games of a season. With the usual "Kings Court" for Hernandez home starts expanded to a "Supreme Court" encompassing the entire stadium with yellow shirts and "K" cards, Hernandez gave up four hits in the 28th double-digit strikeout game of his career. Cheap Sabres Jerseys Authentic . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web. http://www.cheapsabresjerseys.com/ . -- San Francisco 49ers offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman is a finalist to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State, his agent said Monday. Cheap Adidas Sabres Jerseys . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Cheap Sabres Jerseys . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Pinch-runner Rajai Daviss decision to steal third base just as Oakland catcher Derek Norris was throwing the ball back to the pitcher caught most everyone by surprise -- including several of his Detroit teammates. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus just hopes its the spark to pull his slumping team out of its two-week funk. Davis scored on Austin Jacksons fielders choice groundout in the eighth inning and the Tigers beat the Athletics 6-5 on Tuesday night to end a three-game losing streak. "Raj was just being Raj," Ausmus said. "He likes to wreak havoc on the bases, he saw the pitchers head drop and he took advantage." A day after getting shut out in this ALDS rematch from a year ago, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead, lost it, then rallied to win for just the second time in nine games. That helped overcome another rough outing by reigning AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, who gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings but was long gone by the time Davis scored the game-winning run. J.D. Martinez drew a one-out walk off Oakland reliever Fernando Abad (0-2). Davis was brought in to run and the speedy outfielder took second on a passed ball. He then stole third when As catcher Derek Norris was throwing the ball back to Abad. After Luke Gregerson replaced Abad, Jackson hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Jed Lowrie, but the As were unable to turn the double play and Davis raced home with the go-ahead run. "I think he caught the whole stadium sleeping," Tigers closer Joe Nathan said. "I know I missed it." As manager Bob Melvin credited Davis for his aggressive running. "That was the difference," Melvin said. "He timed it perfectly. As soon as (Norris) let go of the ball he took off. I havent seen the replay yet if he had a chance to get it and throw him out, but thats a big chance he took and it paid off." Miguel Cabrera and Torii Hunter homered for the Al Central-leading Tigers. Al Albuquerque (2-1) pitched one inning for the win and Nathan worked the ninth for his 12th save in 15 tries. John Jaso homered for the As. The game began as a marquee matchup between Scherzer and Sonny Gray, but both starters were gone afteer the sixth.dddddddddddd Scherzer, who beat the As in Game 1 of the ALDS last season, struck out four, walked two and balked home a run. Grey, who led the AL in ERA entering the night, wasnt much better. He pitched with runners on base in nearly every inning, allowed four runs for the first time this season and struck out five before leaving with a one-run lead after the sixth. The As bullpen couldnt make it stand. Reliever Dan Otero gave up Hunters tying home run with two outs in the seventh before the Tigers scored off Abad in the eighth. It was a much-needed boost for the slumping Tigers, who had dropped seven of eight before coming from behind to beat the As. "We certainly needed it for sure," Ausmus said. "The mood has been good all along ... (but) you could tell in the dugout that the players really wanted this one." Detroit, which was shut out in the series opener, got to Gray when Hunter doubled with one out in the first and scored on Cabreras single up the middle. After Gray walked Victor Martinez on four pitches, J.D. Martinez lined an RBI double to right-centre to make it 2-0. Oakland tied it in the second on RBI doubles by Lowrie and Alberto Callaspo before Cabrera hit his tiebreaking home run in the third and Alex Avila doubled in Jackson in the fourth to make it 4-2. Coming off his worst start of the season, Scherzer couldnt make it hold up. He balked home a run in the fourth after giving up singles to Josh Reddick and Callaspo. Jaso followed with his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot that gave Oakland a 5-4 lead. NOTES: 2B Ian Kinsler went 0 for 5 in his return to Detroits lineup after getting his first day off Monday. That ended Kinslers 11-game hitting streak. ... Josh Donaldson has reached base in 42 consecutive games, the longest streak in franchise history since at least 1914, according to the team. ... The game featured three potential All-Stars. Detroit 1B Cabrera and 2B Kinsler, along with Oakland 3B Donaldson. All are leading at their respective positions in the first voting figures released by MLB. ... As LHP Scott Kazmir (5-2) pitches Wednesday and has a 3.99 ERA in 13 career starts against Detroit. Hell oppose Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez (2-2). ' ' '