Plauderecke » Marquette in the Big East

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The last time the Toronto Blue Jays won a series at Tropicana Field was back in 2007 and Dioner Navarro was the catcher for the losing Tampa Bay Rays. Now he helped the Blue Jays clinch their first series victory since then, homering for the second straight game as Toronto won 7-4 on Wednesday night. "Better later than never, right?" Navarro said after spotting the Blue Jays an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Archer. They went to win their fourth straight game. By winning the first two games of the three-game series, the Blue Jays clinched their first series victory at Tropicana Field since April 6-8, 2007, breaking a string of 21 straight non-winning series here. They had lost 17 consecutive road series against the Rays (including one in Orlando) before splitting a four-game series on May 6-9, 2013. "For one series we were able to get the monkey off our back," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Now weve got to get greedy and go out and win that one tomorrow, come up with a great series." Edwin Encarnacion also homered for Toronto, and Adam Lind had four straight hits and scored twice. Encarnacions 29th homer completed a three-run run fifth inning off Archer (8-8) that gave Toronto a 6-0 lead. Marcus Stroman pitched five shutout innings before giving up two runs on four hits in the sixth. Stroman (9-5) gave up seven hits and two runs in six innings, winning his second straight start. "Were starting to put it together," he said. "The offence and the confidence have been there all year. Its just starting to finally click, I feel. Aaron Sanchez pitched the ninth for his second save. Archer (8-8) gave up six runs in six innings and yielded 10 hits for the second straight time. "My job is to get people out and I didnt do a good job of that, didnt execute the pitches," he said. "Both (homers) I had two strikes on. Didnt execute, period." Evan Longoria drove in Tampa Bays first run with a two-out single in the sixth, then hit his 18th home run off Dustin McGowan in the eighth. TRAINERS ROOM Blue Jays: Encarnacion was the DH for the second straight game due to minor back discomfort. . . . RHP R.A. Dickey, Tuesday nights winning pitcher, was hit in the head by a line drive during batting practice. The Jays said he is not injured. Rays: CF Desmond Jennings (bruised left knee) was out of the lineup for the sixth consecutive games and could miss a few more games. ... LHP Matt Moore, coming back from elbow ligament replacement surgery in April, could play catch for the first time next week. ON DECK Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (10-11) and Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle (11-9) are the scheduled starters in the finale of a three-game series Thursday night. Odorizzi is coming off a 7-0 win over Boston Saturday in which he allowed one hit in seven innings. DELAYS OF GAME The game was held up for 30 minutes during the third inning when lightning struck a nearby power station, knocking out a bank of lights. There was a delay of 3 minutes, 21 seconds when an umpire review confirmed Encarnacions home run, and another delay if 1:24 when a replay challenge gave the Rays James Loney an RBI single after he had been called out. Tracy Mcgrady Jersey .28 for a combined time of 1:14.70, also an Olympic record. Lee won the gold medal, defending her title from the Vancouver Games. Arron Afflalo Jersey .5 million contract, according to a person familiar with the deal. Hatcher agreed to terms Thursday, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been signed. http://www.magicbasketballprostore.com/kids-evan-fournier-magic-jersey/ . Fognini won 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 after Argentinas Carlos Berlocq had beaten Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 on the outdoor clay surface. Doubles are set for Saturday with reverse singles on Sunday to decide which team reaches the quarterfinals. Grant Hill Jersey . Leverkusen said on Friday it signed Schmidt on a two-year contract. He guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian championship this season. Terrence Ross Jersey . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et.Dayton, OH - The 2014 NCAA Tournament tips off tonight at the University of Dayton Arena, as No. 16 seeds the Albany Great Danes and the Mount St. Marys Mountaineers face off in South Regions first round, with the winner advancing to play No. 1 seed Florida on Thursday. In the Midwest Region of the bracket, the ACCs NC State Wolfpack and Big Easts Xavier Musketeers will battle it out for the vacant position at UD Arena in Dayton. The winner advances through the first round and will clash with the fifth- seeded Saint Louis Billikens. You can watch live streaming coverage of both games tonight beginning at 6:40pm et/3:40pm pt, exclusively on TSN GO. Albany finished the regular season in fourth place in the American East Conference, but it blazed through the conference tournament with three straight wins, beating both top-seeded Vermont (67-58 in the semifinals) and second-seeded Stony Brook (69-60 in the championship) en route to the automatic bid. The Great Danes have played in the NCAA Tournament three previous times (2006, 2007, 2013) but have yet to earn a win. Mount Saint Marys also played the spoiler in its conference tournament. After entering the Northeast Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed at just 13-16 overall, it pieced together three straight wins over St. Francis-Brooklyn (72-71), Wagner (77-72) and Robert Morris (88-71). The Mountaineers have also qualified for the Big Dance on three other occasions, having previously defeated Coppin State in the 2008 play-in game (69-60) before losing to top- seeded North Carolina (113-74). This marks the first-ever meeting between Albany and Mount St. Marys on the hardwood. The Great Danes lost control of a halftime lead in the America East Tournament title game but finished the game on a 23-8 run over the final 6:47 to punch their ticket. Sam Rowley led the way with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. DJ Evans and Peter Hooley netted 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Gary Johnson tallied eight points and 10 rebounds. Scoring points hasnt been Albanys speciality this season, as it scores a mere 66.0 ppg on less than 44 percent shooting from the field, but it has excelled on the defensive end of the floor in yielding just 63.8 ppg on 41.9 percent shooting. Hooley pours in a team-best 15.7 ppg on 69-of-172 shooting from beyond the arc (.401). Rowley (11.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg) is a mainstay in the paint, while Evans (11.2 ppg) and Johnson (10.9 ppg) have also been solid. The Mountaineers made easy work of Robert Morris in the NEC championship bout, running out to a commanding 16-point lead at intermission before cruising to the easy double-digit victory. They shot a blistering 60.4 percent from the field in the triumph and had five players register in double figures, paced by Rashad Whacks 20 points. Julian Norfleet had 17 points, Taylor Danaher and Sam Prescott netted 15 apiece and Will Miller scored 11 off the bench. Mount St. Marys plays an opposite style of basketball as Albany, as it rarely has trouble filling up the scoreboard (76.2 ppg) yet leaves itself vulnerable on the defensive end of the court (78.0 ppg). The squad has a dynamic scoring duo in Whack (17.7 ppg) and Norfleet (17.5 ppg), with Norfleet also finding time to dish out 5.4 apg. Prescott rounds out the double-digit scorers by putting up 11.0 ppg. NC State made some waves in the ACC Tournament ovver the weekend by defeating Miami-Florida and then Syracuse to advance to the conferences semifinal round.ddddddddddddThe Wolfpack were taken down by Duke, 75-67, and were considered one of the most on-the-fence teams when it came to the tournaments selection. Xavier narrowly edged out Marquette in the Big East Tournaments quarterfinal round, but lost to Creighton, 86-78, in the semifinals. The Musketeers will need to prove their way into the field of 64. This will be the first-ever meeting between NC State and Xavier. Each team has a deep history in the NCAA Tournament, however. The Wolfpack own a 34-21 all-time record in the tournament, and were present in last seasons round of 64. Xavier comes in at 21-23 all-time, and made it to the Sweet 16 back in 2012. NC State and Duke had quite the battle going in Saturdays ACC Tournament semifinal, as the Blue Devils had just a one-point lead over the Wolfpack at the end of the first half. But Dukes defense stepped it up in the second frame by holding the Wolfpack to 35.5 percent shooting from the floor as the Blue Devils ended NC States quest for a conference title. T.J. Warren has been spectacular this season, and is now the programs all-time leader in a single season with 29 20-plus point contests. He had 21 with eight rebounds to lead the Wolfpack against Duke (his 17th consecutive 20-point game), while Lennard Freeman chipped in 13 points with nine boards and Anthony Barber scored 12 in the loss. N.C. State couldnt keep Duke from netting 57.1 percent of the teams shot attempts in the game. Warrens beastly season has led to much acclaim as he could very well enter the NBA after this season, earning ACC Player of the Year. The athletic forward is averaging an astounding 24.8 ppg for the Wolfpack, proving to be the go-to scorer when a basket is needed. He also leads the team with a 7.2 rpg average, and adds 57 steals to his season resume. Ralston Turner is the only other player on the Wolfpack roster to average a double-digit point total, netting 10.2 ppg. Barber tops the squad with 124 assists, and BeeJay Anya leads with 40 blocked shots. NC State averages 70.8 ppg through 33 games played, and gives up 69.5 ppg to opponents. Things looked bad for Xavier early on against Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinals, as the Bluejays took a 45-33 lead into the intermission. But the Musketeers formed a comeback attempt in the second period, and started to cut into the lead as time went on. However, Creighton, behind the nations leading scorer Doug McDermott and his 32-point effort, was able to fend off Xavier down the stretch. Forward Isaiah Philmore scored a career-high 23 points for Xavier, while Semaj Christon chipped in 18 points with six assists in the loss. Justin Martin added 12 points before he fouled out of the contest. Christon, who has had his name mentioned in NBA talks as well, leads the Musketeers in scoring on the season with a 17.1 ppg average, netting 47.7 percent of his shots from the floor. He adds 138 assists on the year (second to Dee Daviss 147), and leads the team with 44 steals. Martin contributes 11.8 ppg for the Musketeers, and center Matt Stainbrook, who missed some time at the beginning of the conference tournament with a strained calf, adds 10.4 ppg with a team-leading 7.3 rpg mark. Xavier averages 72.2 ppg and allows 67.9 ppg to opponents Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '