ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Eleven days after he was released by the Baltimore Orioles, Steve Pearce was a huge reason they beat Tampa Bay. Pearce hit a two-run homer and made a game-saving defensive play Thursday night in Baltimores 3-1 victory over the Rays. Pearce, who re-signed with the Orioles two days after his April 27 release, hit his second homer in three games. Ubaldo Jimenez (2-4) won his second straight start as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep. The home run by Pearce came off David Price after J.J. Hardys double in the second inning. Playing first base in place of injured slugger Chris Davis, Pearce also made an outstanding stretch to catch a throw from Hardy that completed an inning-ending double play in the fifth. "Stevie may have made the defensive play of the night," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. Rays manager Joe Maddon challenged the call, but the ruling that Pearce kept his foot on the bag was confirmed after a 2-minute review. "The bases were loaded at the time, so if that got past me it could have cleared the bases," said Pearce, who had to wait for the replay decision to be sure the call was right. "It happened so fast and when you look, youre not on the bag anymore, so it depends on what happens." Nick Markakis extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the Baltimore third. Evan Longoria hit a two-out RBI single in the first off Jimenez, who pitched 5 1-3 innings for his second win after going 0-4 in his first month with the Orioles. "Im really happy April is gone," Jimenez said. "Now its May and everything is good." Singles by Adam Jones, Pearce and Jonathan Schoop produced Baltimores final run in the fourth. Darren ODay worked the ninth for his second save. The Rays have scored only eight runs in losing five straight games to Baltimore. They left 11 runners on base in this one. "Our goal right now is to figure out a way to get through it," Longoria said. "We all want to win. We all want to do our part. When it doesnt work out, its definitely frustrating." Price (3-3) gave up nine hits and three runs while striking out three in five-plus innings. It was the 16th time in their last 23 games that a Rays starting pitcher has failed to pitch into the sixth inning. Tampa Bay pitching coach Jim Hickey was ejected in the first inning for arguing a checked swing by Jones. NOTES: Baltimore C Matt Wieters was the designated hitter, one day after having his sore right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews. No timeframe has been announced for when Wieters, who took pregame grounders at first base, will resume catching. ... Davis (strained left oblique) could be ready for a short minor league rehab assignment next week. ... Showalter will attend his sons graduation from TCU on Saturday, but expects to be back for the night game against Houston. He will miss the May 17 game at Kansas City to attend his daughters law school graduation at SMU. ... The Orioles begin a six-game homestand Friday night with LHP Wei-Yin Chen (3-2) facing Houston RHP Scott Feldman (2-1). Cheap Air VaporMax 2018 .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Red Air VaporMax 2018 On Sale . - The width of Alec Martinezs shin guard was the difference between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks in their playoff series opener. http://www.cheapairvapormaxfreeshipping.com/ . He looked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. Cheap Air VaporMax China . Nine years later, he might have finally figured it out. He had only five rounds in the 60s in his previous eight trips. Yellow Air VaporMax 2018 Outlet . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday.ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins made a statement Saturday that the defending American Hockey League champions intend to make another long playoff run. Andrej Nestrasils three-point night helped Grand Rapids to a 7-2 win over the Abbotsford Heat and a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five first-round series. The third-year pro scored his first two career AHL playoff goals and added an assist in the blowout victory. "Hes been good," said Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. "He was in Toledo (ECHL) last year but hes a skilled player. When we lose guys like (Tomas Tatar) and (Tomas) Jurco, guys who go up to the Red Wings, we need somebody to fill that role and hes done a fantastic job for us." The Griffins now head back home in hopes of a sweep after taking both games at the Abbotsford Centre. The Griffins won 2-1 on Friday in double overtime. "Yesterday was the first game of the playoffs, so everyone was kind of nervous," said Nestrasil. "I felt that sometimes we were trying to make plays, even if they werent there. Today we started a little more simple and it came out of that. We didnt let them shoot. They scored two first-period goals, five shots on net, so were going to try to play better defensively, because when you play well defensively you get the offensive chances after." Ryan Sproul, the Game 1 overtime hero, and Teemu Pulkkinen each had a goal and two assists for Grand Rapids while Trevor Parkes, Cody Emmerton and Hoggan also scored for the visitors, whose parent club Detroit was eliminated from the NHL playoffs and is expected to send some bodies back for Game 3 on Wednesday. "Weve got some talented young guys back there," said Hoggan of rookie defencemen like Sproul. "This is the time when you want to see what theyre all about. Playoff hockey is the toughest hockey. For them to step up, its going to be huge for us to go on and go far. We know theyre capable and theyre doing it at crunch time." Petr Mrazek had to stop just 15 shots, compared to his 55-save performance the night before. Max Reinhart had a goal and an assist for Abbotsford, which may have played its final home game after it was announced last week that the franchise wwill not be back in the city next season.dddddddddddd. Emile Poirier had the other goal, while Joni Ortio stopped 25-of-30 shots before being pulled. Doug Carr mopped up, making 14 saves. Though the Heat were embarrassed on home ice, and cancelled their regular post-game presser, the Griffins know that Game 3 wont be easy. "We have to make sure its hard for them to get opportunities," said Nestrasil. "Every chance, they need to earn it and make sure they have to come through us all the time." Abbotsford opened the scoring at the 7:40 mark of the first. Reinhart stepped into a shot in the high slot. Mrazek kicked it right to Poirier, who quickly brought the puck to his forehand and snapped it blocker side for his first professional playoff goal. The visitors, however, tied the game not long after. Mattias Janmark drove hard to the net and centred for Parkes, who chipped it by Ortio for his first AHL playoff goal at 10:13. The Heat regained the lead with a power-play goal at 15:32. Reinhart tried to centre for Ben Hanowski but it ricocheted off the skate of Brennan Evans. Just 35 seconds later the Griffins again drew even when Sprouls one-timer from the point was deflected by Nestrasil. Grand Rapids scored a short-handed goal late in the first to take their first lead. Emmerton made a move around one defender, then fought off another and chipped the puck past Ortio while falling to his backside, giving Detroits 2006 second-round selection his first AHL playoff goal in five years. Hoggan doubled the lead two minutes into the second period when he took a cross-ice feed from Pulkkinen and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Ortio, giving him 14 career AHL playoff goals. Nestrasil chased Ortio at 11:19 of the second, snapping a shot short side from a bad angle. "I just wanted to dump the puck in, but nobody came to me," said the Prague native. "I was basically walking into the zone. I just threw it at the net and it went through. Im glad I can score a goal like that. Im glad we scored a lot of goals because it gives the guys confidence." Sproul scored a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third and Pulkkinen added another on the power play at 12:09. ' ' '