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SAGINAW, Mich. Mike Moustakas Royals Jersey . -- Dane Fox had a hat trick and added an assist as the Erie Otters rolled past the Saginaw Spirit 7-3 on Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the Ontario Hockey League playoff series. Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Connor Brown scored and had three assists for Erie, while Connor McDavid scored and added two assists. Andre Burakovsky and Brendan Gaunce had goals as well. Dylan Sadowy, Cody Payne and Blake Clarke supplied the offence for Saginaw. Devin Williams made 29 saves for the win, while Jake Paterson stopped 29 shots. --- GREYHOUNDS 2 ATTACK 0 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Matt Murray turned aside all 24 shots he faced as Sault Ste. Marie shut out the Attack to take a 3-1 series lead. Jorgen Karterud and Patrick Watling both scored for the Greyhounds. Jack Flinn made 31 saves for Owen Sound. --- STORM 7 WHALERS 2 PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Jason Dickinson had a pair of goals and added an assist as Guelph crushed the Whalers. Zack Mitchell scored and set up three other goals for the Storm, who lead the best-of-seven series 3-1. Pius Suter, Justin Auger, Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Ebert found the back of the net as well. Justin Nichols made 40 saves for the win. Connor Chatham and Bryce Yetman scored for Plymouth. Alex Nedeljkovic started in the Whalers net, stopping 40 of 46 shots in 47:50 of work. Zack Bowman turned aside five of six shots in relief. Justin Maxwell Jersey . An excellent start from Drew Hutchison and the return of Jose Bautista helped provide a little breathing room in the divisional race while ending a three-game losing skid at the same time. Eric Hosmer Royals Jersey . The All-Star point guard, sidelined for the past six months with a knee injury, was set to return to the Oklahoma City Thunder lineup for Sunday nights home game against the Phoenix Suns, weeks earlier than expected.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Kevin Kiermaiers youthful exuberance is becoming a major asset for the Tampa Bay Rays. The rookie had three hits and drove three runs Saturday, helping right-hander Jake Odorizzi beat the struggling Toronto Blue Jays 10-3. Matt Joyce also drove in three runs and Ben Zobrist had two RBIs. But it was Kiermaier who set the tone for a big day offensively, leading off the bottom of the first by stretching what should have been a routine single into a double. The speedy outfielder tagged up and hustled to third when Zobrists flied to centre field, then scored on Joyces sacrifice fly for a quick 1-0 lead. The same type of aggressiveness of defence contributed to the 24-year-old playing Colby Rasmus sinking hit into a triple in the second inning, setting up Torontos first run. Still, Rays manager Joe Maddon likes what he called Kiermaiers "hair on fire" style. "Youve got to take the bad with the good sometimes," Maddon said. "The way he started that game, it set a tone for us," the manager added. "Thats the kind of baseball I like to see us play. Thats the kind of baseball thats made us successful. The more people we get to buy into that plan, the better off were going to be." Kiermaier appreciated the managers support. "My thing is I want people to see the way I play and maybe come off contagious a little bit," Kiermaier said. "I guess you can call it my hair on fire, but its the only way I know -- 100 per cent, all out," he added after boosting his batting average to .310 with eight homers and 24 RBIs in 47 games. "I look like an idiot sometimes, but for the most part I try to be under control with everything and know when to push the limit and when not to." Pitching a day earlier than scheduled because All-Star David Price was ill, Odorizzi (5-8) allowed three runs and six hits over 6 2-3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander walked two and struck out seven to improve to 3-1 over his last five starts. Kiermaier, Zobrist and Joyce -- the 1-2-3 hitters in the Rays lineup -- combined to drive in five runs during a six-run sixth inning. Pinch hitter Cole Figueroa drove in the first run of the inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk from Drew Hutchison (6-8) to snap a 2-2 tie. The loss was the seventh in nine games for the second-place Blue Jays, who remained three games behind division-leading Baltimore in the AL East. Despite its recent struggles, Torontos 49 wins are the most the Blue Jays have had before the All-Star break since 2006. George Brett Authentic Jersey. . A win Sunday would give them their first road series victory over Tampa Bay since April 2007, as well as 50 wins before the break for the first time since 1992. "It was a good ball game until it imploded on us," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. The Rays stopped a four-game losing streak against their division rivals, winning for just the third time in nine tries against Toronto this season. Hutchison beat Tampa Bay 4-2 on April 1 at Tropicana Field and 10-5 in Toronto on May 26, despite not pitching six innings in either outing. He didnt make it through the middle innings against them this time, either, running into trouble when the Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth on a single and two walks. The Blue Jays starter fanned Jose Molina, but watched the go-ahead run cross the plate when Figueroa walked after fouling off three pitches on a full count. "I faced five guys in that inning, got ahead of all of them, but I walked three and gave up a two-strike hit. Thats just not going to get the job done," Hutchison said. "Its embarrassing, and thats about all there is to say about it." J.A. Happ replaced Hutchison, but couldnt shut down the rally. Kiermaier, Zobrist and Joyce hit consecutive ground ball singles through the left side of the Toronto infield, building Odorizzis lead to 8-2. Hutchison was charged with six runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. He walked five and struck out seven. Rasmus scored on Juan Franciscos second-inning sacrifice fly for Toronto. Dioner Navarro had an RBI single in the fourth and Anthony Gose added a run-scoring single in the seventh for the Blue Jays. NOTES: Maddon said Price will start Sundays season finale against R.A. Dickey, which would make it a matchup of Cy Young ward winners. ... Tampa Bay CF Desmond Jennings (bruised left knee) and C Ryan Hanigan (soreness left side) were held out of the lineup, though Maddon said both were able to play in case of an emergency. ... The Blue Jays placed OF Nolan Reimould on the 15-day DL with a strained left calf and recalled Gose from Triple-A Buffalo. ... Toronto INF Munenori Kawasaki, who left Friday nights game because of tightness in his right hamstring, did not start but was available off the bench. ... Musician Joan Jett, who performed a postgame concert, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and also handled the public address announcers job for two innings. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
