OKLAHOMA CITY -- This certainly wasnt how centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins envisioned starting the 2012-13 hockey season. . But with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the NHL lockout, the sophomore forward is doing what he can to make the best of a bad situation. Nugent-Hopkins was one of many Oilers youngsters in attendance Sunday at the opening of training camp for the Oklahoma City Barons, Edmontons American Hockey League affiliate. "Its good with everything thats going on to still get a chance to play and stay in shape," Nugent-Hopkins said. "There are some things I want to work on. "A big thing for me is I want to be a two-way centre. I take a lot of pride in my defence, and thats something Im definitely going to be focused on." Nugent-Hopkins was among the NHLs top rookies last season, registering 52 points (18 goals, 34 assists) in 62 games. The former No. 1 overall selection did so despite missing 20 games with a shoulder injury. Nugent-Hopkins sees his opportunity in Oklahoma City as a blessing in disguise, just as he does last seasons injury. "That first year I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could," he said. "It was a great learning experience. "There were some positives from the injury. Watching the game from upstairs, I was able to see it from a different perspective, and I believe it will help me moving forward." Moving forward is also what right-winger Jordan Eberle is concentrating on right now. Eberle hasnt spent much time in Oklahoma City, arriving Friday night, and he says he can already tell the winning attitude the team and the city have. Eberle had 76 points (34 goals, 42 assists) last season with Edmonton. Eberle has earned a reputation for being a scorer but doesnt want to be known as a one-dimensional player. "Ive always been known as an offensive guy," he said. "Thats not bad or anything, but I want to be known as a complete player. "I get a chance to work on some things here. Im going to work on my defence and penalty kill. With the lockout, this is the next best option here in North America. They made it to the conference final last season, and we want to continue that success. The winning attitude is great and something we want to take back with us to Edmonton. Im going to enjoy this experience." While Eberle will work on overall improvement, his new teammates cant wait to see what he can produce offensively. "He can score goals, no doubt about that," defenceman Colten Teubert said. "Hes going to contribute a lot of points and be exciting to watch. And for somebody his size, he is very strong with the puck. "With Nuge (Nugent-Hopkins), hes an unbelievable playmaker. Hes going to do things here that are going to make the people here in Oklahoma City say, Wow. He is that special of a talent." Barons coach Todd Nelson wasted no time getting down to business Sunday. There was no feeling-out process, instead, it was right to work on systems and schemes. Nelson knew before the start of camp that Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle would be in attendance but realized quickly Sunday hell have something special for however long the NHL lockout continues. "Those are some highly skilled guys," Nelson said. "Theyve been impact players in the NHL. "Obviously when they get here what thats going to do is raise the level of play for the rest of the guys. Right now theyre out here working hard and having fun. It was a real good first day." The Barons will practise all week before playing two exhibition games against the Houston Aeros on Friday and Saturday. [url=http://www.packersofficialteamstore.com/autographed-ray-nitschke-jersey-wb-... Nitschke Jersey . -- Josh Hamilton made one thing clear: The Texas Rangers will forget their stunning season-ending sweep at Oakland and regroup as an American League wild card. . Schultz, who made his professional hockey debut in October, recorded a point in each of his first seven games, totalling six goals and 12 points - leading the Barons in scoring. [url=http://www.packersofficialteamstore.com/autographed-john-kuhn-jersey-hi-41.... . -- After two disappointing performances from Mac Carruth let the Kamloops Blazers back into their series with the Portland, the Winterhawks goaltender came through when his team needed him most. [url=http://www.packersofficialteamstore.com/autographed-c-j--wilson-jersey-fk-8... Wilson Jersey . Fielder slammed a 462-foot deep drive to right-centre and a soaring shot over the right-field wall, to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. . -- Veronica Felibert left the LPGA Tour event in Canada on Sunday with the intention of trying to qualify Monday for the NW Arkansas Championship.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Now that Zack Greinke has that long-awaited first victory in a Los Angeles Angels uniform, he sees no reason why he cant pile up some more and help keep the team in the playoff hunt. Greinke ended a winless streak of eight consecutive starts going back to his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, and Albert Pujols backed him with a homer and four RBIs in a 9-6 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. "Theyve been playing great behind me, but Ive just pitched bad the last couple of outings. So it was nice to put up a decent performance," Greinke said. "I was trying to establish the fastball, mix in the off-speed stuff every now and then and throw strikes with everything." Greinke (1-1) allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked one. The 2009 AL Cy Young winner, who came to Los Angeles in a deal with Milwaukee on July 27 for three prospects, gave up 12 runs in 19 innings over his first three starts for the Angels. He was 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts this season for the Brewers. Erick Aybar also went deep for the Angels. LaTroy Hawkins inherited a 9-4 lead from Greinke and gave up a two-run, two-out homer by former Angel Casey Kotchman in the eighth. Kevin Jepsen got the third out and Ernesto Frieri pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 attempts. Greinke was cruising with a 4-0 lead before hitting cleanup hitter Carlos Santana on the backside with two out in the fourth. Teammate Howie Kendrick was hit by Ubaldo Jimenez in the first inning, and plate umpire Phil Cuzzi issued a warning to both benches. "Theres so much inconsistency with that rule, its sickening," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. "I mean, I think the whole ballpark knew that Kendrick wasnt hit on purpose -- but I think the whole ballpark knew that he hit Santana on purpose. So if the umpires assume that he hit him on purpose, then whats the ruling? "Now were going to give a warning so that we cant retaliate? Its not fair," he added. "I understand that theyre just trying to cover themselves, but thats not right. The rule says if youre sure that a guy hit a batter on purpose, you can throw him out. But youve got to give the other guy a shot to do something about it." Before plunking Santana, Greinke had hit only one of 1,010 batters over his previous 39 starts and 247 innings -- Pittsburghs Matt Diaz last Aug. 22. "Ive hit one guy this year now and have been warned twice," Greinke said. "I was just trying to establish other pitches and just pulled that one a little bit. People seem to think that any time I throw inside, Im hitting guys on purpose. I dont understand it." Michael Brantley deposited Greinkes next pitch deep into the elevated seats in right field for his fifth homer, cutting Cllevelands deficit to 4-2. [url=http://www.packersofficialteamstore.com/autographed-nick-perry-jersey-yp-82... Perry Jersey. But the Angels responded in the bottom half with a leadoff homer by Aybar and a three-run shot by Pujols, who basically swung one-handed at a 2-2 pitch and sent it on a high arc into the first row of seats just inside the left field pole. Pujols added a run-scoring double in the sixth, increasing his RBI total to 82. The three-time NL MVP had no homers and just five RBIs in his first 27 games with the Angels. Jimenez (9-12) gave up eight runs and eight hits through four innings, matching a career worst for earned runs allowed. He is 2-7 with a 5.62 ERA over his last 10 starts, including a 3-0 loss to Angels ace Jered Weaver on July 2 at Cleveland. Jimenez threw 26 of his 72 pitches during a four-run first, ending an eight-game stretch in which the Angels failed to score in the opening inning. It took them just 12 pitches to get five baserunners and three runs before the right-hander could record his first out. "We know he has a splitty with pretty good movement, so we just tried to make him get the ball up and not miss those pitches," right fielder Torii Hunter said. "He did and we were able to capitalize on the pitches he left up." Mike Trout, who has scored a major league-leading 91 runs in 94 games, doubled and came home on Hunters single. Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo and Chris Iannetta also had RBI singles for the Angels, who were just 3 for 28 with runners in scoring position during their previous four games. "Its been a while, but thats baseball," Hunter said. "We feel bad about whats been going on. Our team shouldnt be losing the way weve been losing -- not with this ballclub." Indians right-hander Roberto Hernandez, who was suspended by Major League baseball for age and identity fraud, has been added to the Indians 25-man roster and will start Wednesday nights series finale. Hernandez, formally known as Fausto Carmona, was arrested in January outside the U.S. consulate in the Dominican Republic while trying to renew his visa -- which he finally was granted on July 21. He returned to Cleveland in July and has made four minor league starts while serving a three-week suspension. Hernandez was found to be 31 years old, three years older than his listed age. NOTES: Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher served the one-game suspension he received Tuesday from MLB following his nose-to-nose confrontation with umpire Mike Estabrook, who ejected him for arguing balls and strikes three batters into Weavers 4-1 loss to Seattle on Sunday. Butcher also was fined an undisclosed amount. ... The Indians placed RHP Josh Tomlin in the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 13, because of inflammation in his elbow. Its his third career stint on the DL and second this season, after being sidelined from May 12-27 with a sore wrist. ' ' '