the right circle to St. Louis

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If the Tampa Bay Rays are going to make a push for another playoff berth, theyll likely need help from newcomers like Desmond Jennings and Robinson Chirinos. The rookies were major contributors Thursday, helping the defending AL East champions rally twice in extra innings to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6. Jennings solo homer in the 10th made it 4-all. Chirinos tied it again in the 11th with a two-out, pinch-hit single up the middle against Shawn Camp (1-2), then won it with another two-out single in the 12th. A third rookie, right-hander Brandon Gomes (1-1), pitched one scoreless inning for his first major league win. "Those guys are showing they definitely belong in the big leagues," Rays designated hitter Johnny Damon said. "Its not like we have to wait for them to be good. I feel very confident in them," manager Joe Maddon added. "Obviously, they lack experience. Obviously they need to be tested in even hotter moments than today. But I think they can achieve in those moments because their makeup is so good, combined with their skill level." Tampa Bay loaded the bases in the 12th on B.J. Uptons one-out triple and a pair of intentional walks. One out later, Chirinos grounded a single off Camp past diving shortstop Yunel Escobar. The Rays said Chirinos became the first rookie with separate tying and winning hits in extra innings of the same game since Nick Green did it for Atlanta against Boston on July 2, 2004. Slumping slugger Evan Longoria, who entered the day on a 3-for-33 slide that dropped his batting average to .226, hit a three-run homer for Tampa Bay. Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 33rd home run for Toronto, a solo shot off Wade Davis that made it 3-3 in the eighth. "It was a tough game. We jumped out quick, got a couple of runs but didnt have many opportunities for six straight (innings)," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. Jose hit the home run to get the game back tied and ... pump some life back into us." The Blue Jays took a brief lead in the 10th when Colby Rasmus delivered a RBI double for his biggest hit since being acquired from St. Louis in an eight-player trade on July 27. Reliever Jon Rauch blew a save chance in the bottom half when Jennings hit a leadoff homer. Jose Molinas two-run triple off Juan Cruz put Toronto ahead in the 11th. Matt Joyces RBI grounder pulled Tampa Bay within a run before Chirinos singled to extend the game once again. In the 12th, Chirinos liked his chances. "He was the one in trouble," Chirinos said, describing the final at-bat against Camp. "He had to throw strikes. ... You win and you see everybody smiling and happy, its just a great feeling." It was a difficult loss for the Blue Jays, who had a chance to win three consecutive series for the first time since mid-May. "I think any time you lose a game late, those are tough to take," Farrell said. "You work all day to get yourself into a position, you present yourself the position and it is not converted." Longoria homered off Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil to erase a 2-0 deficit in the fifth. Davis, meanwhile, got off to a shaky start for the second straight outing. He gave up five first-inning runs at Oakland last week, then settled to not allow any more over the next five to give the Rays a chance to rally to beat the Athletics. The Blue Jays loaded the bases with no outs in the first when Rasmus doubled and Davis walked Escobar and Bautista. Adam Linds single, snapping a career-worst 0-for-22 streak, drove in one run and another scored when Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play. Cecil limited the Rays to one hit -- Casey Kotchmans two-out single in the fourth -- until Justin Ruggiano and Jennings singled in the fifth. Damon kept the inning going by hustling up the first base to avoid grounding into a double play, setting up Longorias first-pitch homer that put the Rays ahead 3-2. NOTES: The Rays have especially struggled offensively at Tropicana Field. While they lead the majors in runs scored on the road with 294, theyre 29th at home with 177. They matched their season high at the Trop with nine in a 9-1 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night, but remain one of two AL teams that have yet to score 10 or more in a home game this season. ... Rays RHP Jeff Niemann starts the opener of a weekend series against Oakland on Friday night. He went 3-0 with a 1.06 earned-run average in five starts in July. His ERA during the month ranked second in the majors to CC Sabathias 0.92. Niemann is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and one shutout lifetime against the Athletics ... LHP Brad Mills will make his second start of the season for Toronto when the Blue Jays continue their six-game road trip at Baltimore on Friday. He lost his season debut 3-0 to Texas, allowing two runs over seven innings. ... The Blue Jays purchased the contract of INF Brett Lawrie from Triple-A Las Vegas. In addition LHP Luis Perez was recalled from Las Vegas, OF Travis Snider was optioned to the Triple-A club and RHP Carlos Villanueva was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . Safarova converted her only break point in the first set and added two more breaks in the second to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 32 minutes. In another first-round match, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium beat Heather Watson of Britain 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, breaking her opponent seven times even though the Briton landed 81 per cent of her first serves compared to just 49 per cent for Wickmayer. Cheap Jerseys On Sale . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.cheapjerseysworld.us.com/ .85 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The hard-serving righties combined for 17 aces, including nine by the triumphant Berdych, who ended a 16-month title drought. Cheap NFL Jerseys . - Patrick Reed left everyone behind last year in the Humana Challenge. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . - The Arizona Coyotes have recalled goalie Mike Lee from Gwinnett of the ECHL to serve as starter Mike Smiths backup.SUNRISE, Fla. -- Steven Stamkos has been practicing his shootout moves, and it paid off on Sunday. Stamkos scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. Valtteri Filppula also scored in the shootout. Stamkos was just 5 for 27 in the shootout coming into the game, but he made some nice moves to slip the puck past Jacob Markstrom on his left side for the deciding goal in Tampa Bays fourth slot. "Its something that I struggled with in the past but practice does help with certain moves," Stamkos said. "I probably wasnt going to be in the first three but I was glad to go in there and help the team win in any situation. Its nice to see one go in and even nicer to help your team win in that situation." Stamkos, Radko Gudas, and Martin St. Louis scored in regulation for Tampa Bay, which has won five of six. Anders Lindback stopped 29 shots and turned aside three of four Florida shooters in the tiebreaker. Stamkos also had an assist. Lindback got his first win of the season. "We got another two points. Obviously for me coming in and winning a game, its nice," said Lindback, who started in the second half of back-to-back games in place of Ben Bishop. "He stopped a couple of their guys in the shootout," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Thats where you need your goalie to stand up and win a game. He did that for us tonight." Brad Boyes, Nick Bjugstad and Shawn Matthias scored, and Markstrom made 25 saves for Florida. Boyes also had a shootout goal. Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Dmitry Kulikov all missed. The Panthers lost for the fifth time in seven games, including two shootouts. "Unfortunately, we end up on the wrong end of these (shootouts) right now, but theres guys that are pushing hard and thats what we have to keep doing," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. Fllorida rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period.dddddddddddd The Panthers closed to 3-2 on Bjugstads goal at 5:39 when he tipped in Scottie Upshalls shot from the point. Florida tied it when Boyes grabbed an errant puck and backhanded it under Lindbacks pads from in front at 8:51. Boyes leads the Panthers with five goals, but this was his first in seven games. Tampa Bay stretched its lead to 3-1 during a power play in the second period. Gudas took a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off Floridas Mike Weaver and got past Markstrom at 9:58. Gudas got a game misconduct at 12:51 of the third when he slashed at the boards in front of the Panthers bench after being squirted with water by Upshall, who received an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Florida closed to 2-1 on Matthias first goal of the season. Matthias grabbed a puck in traffic in front of the crease and slipped it behind Lindback at 13:48 of the first. It was Matthias first goal in 23 games, dating to last season. "Its tough going down 2-0 early like that, but we played really hard and battled back," Matthias said. "Its tough to have the final outcome happen." The Lightning scored two goals on their first three shots, including on just 41 seconds into the game. Stamkos passed from the top of the right circle to St. Louis, who poked in the puck from in front. St. Louis has scored in three straight games. Stamkos made it 2-0 at 4:35. Markstrom blocked a shot by Ryan Malone, but the long rebound went out to Stamkos in the right circle for a slap shot. The Lightning improved to 8-3. "Its probably the quietest 8-3 record in the league and we like it that way," Stamkos said. NOTES: Stamkos leads the Lightning with eight goals and 17 points. ... St. Louis has seven goals and 14 points in his past 10 games. ... Matthias previous goal was March 30 against New Jersey. ... Florida LW Tomas Fleischmann was scratched due to illness. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '