Wednesday and Thursday nights games to bre
ST. Austin Seibert Browns Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – Its been almost seven years since the Blue Jays last won a series at Tropicana Field. Theyll have to capture both Wednesday and Thursday nights games to break the unbelievable skid, which has reached 19 consecutive series either lost or tied. Manager John Gibbons, who was in his first tenure as Blue Jays manager the last time the club took a series from the Rays in St. Petersburg, from April 6-8, 2007, has taken to calling the barren stadium his teams "House of Horrors." "Weve seen some crazy things happen here," said Gibbons. "They open the door. I dont know what it is. Its something and they expect it over on the other side. Theyve done it so many times, they expect it." The Blue Jays were waxed, 9-2, on Opening Day Monday, a game in which Murphys Law applied. Everything that could go wrong did, from R.A. Dickeys unimpressive outing to Jose Reyes pulling up lame with a recurrence of the hamstring inflammation that plagued him late in spring training. Even Tuesdays 4-2 victory, a game in which Toronto led 4-0 heading to the bottom of the eighth, was a nail-biter at the end. The Rays had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the ninth and the winning run at the plate. "You know its tough to win here and it usually takes nine tough innings," said Gibbons. While it may sound like an obvious, generalized comment, first baseman-designated hitter Adam Lind believes its important to play with the lead against the Rays and the sooner, the better. "Its hard to come from behind against Tampa," said Lind. "When youre in the lead, theyre out of their comfort zone and when youre running out of innings or wherever they want to be with their pitching staff where they can just tack on a run here or a run there. Its paramount to get a lead against these guys because even when its 1-0, theyre definitely in the drivers seat." There are teams that are harder to prepare for than others. There are teams that are harder to play against than others. "Its tough, man," said Lind. "You just tell by how they pitch, (pitching coach) Jim Hickey, its like we play them every game how they pitch us. They get excellent execution from their pitching staff and their whole defensive side of the ball is probably the best in the game." Challenges with the challenge Adam Lind offered the line of the season so far on the topic of managers challenges and the ramifications of the new rule. "Well, I know Bud Seligs worked his whole career to get the pace of play up and now were just back to square one," said Lind. "I enjoy that theyre going to have the calls right but I dont think anyone saw the whole, are we going to do it or not going to do it?" The issue is the stalling. Both John Gibbons and Joe Maddon have emerged from their dugouts to politely dispute a call – thats another problem, the intensity of the manager-umpire argument is all but taken away – while their video coaches review the footage. Theyre waiting for a signal from the dugout on whether to challenge. "I think thats just the way the game is going to go now," said Lind. "I guess the higher ups didnt think about that before the whole walk-out but youre going to do whatever you can to get outs or get people safe. Just like (Tuesday) with Gibby, if you still have a challenge left, you might as well use it." Happ throws a bullpen J.A. Happ, on the disabled list with a back injury, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday at Tropicana Field. "Hes feeling much better, definitely feeling good, played catch (Tuesday), threw a light side today and really feels no ill-effects from the issues with the back right now and hell progress accordingly," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "Well discuss now what the next step is, if its to get him in a game, when that will be, and progress him from there." Santos survives ninth Sergio Santos got the save in Tuesdays 4-2 win but not before the Rays put a scare into the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay brought the winning run to the plate with two out, in the person of Yunel Escobar, and had the tying run on second base after a double steal on the first pitch of the Escobar at-bat. Santos didnt bother with the base runners. Why? It all goes back to a conversation he had with Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera in 2011. "My whole thinking is Escobars the only guy that can hurt me," said Santos. "Whether there are runners on first and second or second and third, to me, in that situation is irrelevant because I know if I get my job done, which is getting the hitter out, it doesnt matter what base theyre on. "That was one of the things that Mo had stressed was not to be so preoccupied with whos on the bases and what theyre doing because the second you give some of your attention on the base runner and youre not fully with the hitter, thats when bad things can happen." Cleveland Browns Jerseys . LOUIS -- Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks won the matchup of unbeaten teams. Sione Takitaki Jersey . The NFLs Defensive Rookie of the Year will be named at the NFL Honours Award show on February 1. The 23-year-old 2013 second-rounder out of Oregon becomes the third Bills linebacker to win the honour after Jim Haslett (1979) and Shane Conlan (1987.The Indiana Pacers continue at the top of the TSN.ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have climbed into second spot. Among the bigger movers this week, the Los Angeles Clippers, 10-3 since Chris Paul was injured, have returned to the Top 10, going from 11 to seven. The Chicago Bulls are playing a similar tune, if not quite as impressively, without their star point guard, Derrick Rose. An 11-4 record in the past 15 games sees the Bulls reach 13, up from 16 a week ago. There is a decided level of mediocrity in the game of the Charlotte Bobcats, but they are 5-4 in the past nine games and have gone from 23 to 19 this week. A three-game winning streak helped the New Orleans Pelicans move from 25 to 21. HHeading the wrong way, the San Antonio Spurs continue to get ravaged by injuries -- Manu Ginobili is the latest -- and theyve dropped from seven to 10. Ozzie Newsome Youth Jersey. Injuries also leave the Atlanta Hawks short up front, and they fell from 12 to 15. The biggest crash belongs to the Sacramento Kings, who have lost five straight and have their star centre, DeMarcus Cousins, sidelined; as a result, they plummeted from 19 to 27. The Toronto Raptors continue to push into the Top 10, matching their season-high ranking of nine after winning four of five. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football JerseysCheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '