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MINNEAPOLIS -- This was a tough one for the Tampa Bay Rays to lose. With reigning Cy Young Award winner David Price on the mound facing a Minnesota team hadnt beaten them since last year, the Rays blew a three-run lead and wasted a chance to overtake Texas for the AL wild-card lead. Not exactly what the Rays wanted heading into a four-game series with the Rangers that opens Monday. "Weve had way too many missteps already this year. Thats whats got us in this position," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after watching Joel Peralta allow eighth-inning homers to Ryan Doumit and Josmil Pinto in a 6-4 loss Sunday. "We have played well enough to have a much better record. We havent closed the deal." Tampa Bay appeared on its way to a season sweep of the Twins after Wil Myers and Sean Rodriguez homered to build a 3-0 lead. With his team up 4-2 and two outs in the eighth, Peralta threw a first-pitch strike to Doumit. Next pitch: gone. Then Trevor Plouffe singled, Josh Willingham walked and Pinto followed by sending an 0-1 pitch into the Rays bullpen in centre field. By the time the rookie came out of the dugout for a curtain call following his second career homer and All-Star closer Glen Perkins came in from the bullpen, the cheering crowd had completely forgotten about how futile Price had made the Twins lineup look earlier. "This one hurts the most," Peralta said. "We really need these games. We need every game." Tampa Bay, which had won its previous three games, dropped to 7-14 since Aug. 25. The Rays remained tied with Texas for the two AL wild-card spots, a half-game ahead of Cleveland. Minnesota had lost 11 in a row to the Rays. "You go through funks like this, and hopefully were done with that one and we can move forward," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Peralta (2-8) blew a save for the third time in four chances, but his teammates and manager refused to criticize him. "Ill take Peralta any day," Price said. "I dont care what the score is, how many runs there are. That guy has been an absolute warrior for us. It was just a tough loss." Tampa Bay left the bases loaded twice. Delmon Young hit an inning-ending flyout in the fifth and Casey Fien (5-2) retired pinch-hitter David DeJesus on a bases-loaded flyout in the eighth. "We should have won that game easily," Maddon said. "We had plenty of opportunities to score more runs, so it wasnt just about giving up four in the eighth. We had our opportunities, and we have to continue to push and push and put runs on the board." Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for his 35th save in 39 chances. Price allowed two runs and six hit in 6 1-3 innings. Myers put Tampa Bay ahead in the fourth with a two-run homer off Pedro Hernandez that reached the middle deck in centre. Rodriguez homered leading off the fifth. Chris Parmalees two-run single off Jake McGee in the seventh ended Minnesotas season-high 25-inning scoreless streak. James Loney had an RBI single in the eighth. "Thats a game we need to win," Maddon said. NOTES: Pinto has a hit in eight of his 11 games with the Twins. ... Hernandez pitched five innings, allowing three runs, four hits and four walks. ... Tampa Bays winning streak against the Twins was tied for second-longest against an opponent in Rays history. ... Twins All-Star C Joe Mauer (concussion) will not make the teams upcoming trip to Chicago. ... The Rays are 12-4 at Target Field after going 17-31 at the Metrodome. ... The Rays Ben Zobrist went 2-for-5 to stop an 0-for-16 slump. ... Alex Cobb (8-3) starts for the Rays on Monday against former teammate Matt Garza (9-5). ... The Twins begin a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. Liam Hendriks (1-2) will start for Minnesota against Erik Johnson (0-2). CALGARY -- Head coach John Hufnagel hasnt always been satisfied with the performance of his Calgary Stampeders in games this season, but he cant argue with the results. Calgary tops both the league and the West Division at 9-2 and is the first team this season to secure a playoff berth. "Weve won in different fashions, but we won as a team and thats the good part," Hufnagel said Monday. "We dont always hit on all cylinders offensively, defensively sometimes were on the field too much, special teams were not as productive as wed like to be, but as a team, one phase has been outstanding to allow us to peck out wins. Thats essentially the sign of a good team." The Stampeders have worked for their wins with a constantly rotating cast of characters. All CFL teams deal with injuries in a season, but the theme of Calgarys season so far is resiliency. The employment of three different starting quarterbacks has been well documented, but the Stampeders have also been forced to cover gaps on the offensive line, at receiver and in the defensive backfield when starters went down. It begs the question how much better Calgary would be if they werent routinely plugging holes in their lineup. "Its hard to improve under those conditions," Hufnagel said. "When you have new people in your lineup, then theres an adjustment period. "Our offensive line has been a scramble all year long. Im hoping that before the season is over we can get our five in there and get a couple games underneath our belt to head into the playoffs. "Same with our quarterback position. With three different quarterbacks playing, its the same playbook, but like Ive always said, each quarterback brings their own personality." Calgarys 26-22 win over Hamilton combined with the Saskatchewans 31-29 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on the weekend allowed the Stampeders to gain sole possession of first place in the West. A 25-7 Edmonton Eskimos victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers eliminated the possibility Winnipeg (2-9) could finish ahead of Calgary in a crossover playoff scenario. The Esks, last in the West at 2-9, also cant catch Calgary because the Stampeders won the season series between the teams. The Stampeders host defending league champion Toronto, the East Division leaders at 7-2, on Saturday in a rematch of last years Grey Cup. The Stampeders are unbeaten at home at 5-0. Calgarys win over the Tiger-Cats on Friday was by no means a classic. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell struggled early, but marched the Stampeders downfield with two minutes remaining to score the eventual winning touchdown. The defence that had given up 408 passing yards to Hamiltons Henry Burris sprang to life on the last drive of the game.dddddddddddd Sacks by Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law helped prevent the Ticats from countering with a winning score. Mitchell, 23, was Calgarys third string quarterback in training camp. Hes won his three starts with veterans Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn on the sidelines with injuries. Hes also come onto the field to preserve wins when Glenn has gone out of the game. While Mitchell entertained reporters in the Stampeders dressing room post-game, Glenn walked by chanting "All we do is win. No matter who is playing. We just win." Hufnagel said he allowed himself scotch and a cigar post-game, but that was in celebration of his 62nd birthday. One of the teams big recent improvements is in sacks, with 23 in the last four games. Hughes and Winnipegs Alex Hall were tied for first in the league with a dozen sacks apiece ahead of Law with nine. Receiver Maurice Price has also been an impact player since his return from a hamstring injury with four touchdown catches in the three games. Running back Jon Cornish, who has achieved 1,000 rushing yards for a second straight season, and the consistency of field-goal kicker Rene Paredes, are the constants for Calgary this season. Field goals can feel like settling for less on some drives, but two misses by Hamiltons Luca Congi on Friday reinforced the importance of Paredess contributions to Calgarys bottom line. Paredes set a CFL record of 39 consecutive field goals before missing his first of the season Aug. 24 in Toronto. He was 12 for 12 in his last three games. If he can maintain his 97.2 per cent completion rate, Paredes will break the single-season record of 94.3 held by B.C.s Paul McCallum. "Rene has been exceptional with his field-goal kicking and his ability to put it through the goal posts has really determined the outcome of a lot of our football games," Hufnagel said. "One of the reasons we are in first place is because of Renes consistency." The coach expects both Glenn and fullback Rob Cote returning to full practice this week after knee and shoulder injuries respectively. Offensive linemen Dan Federkeil (groin) and Dimitri Tsoumpas (concussion) remain out. Receiver Joe West (shoulder) is close to returning, but has two games remaining on the nine-game injured list. "We know we need to improve in all areas and hopefully I can get the guys back that have been injured who have been starters at the beginning of the year and get them playing good football," Hufnagel said. "If they dont return, well get better with the guys we have." Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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