TORONTO -- The series opener between the Toronto Blue Jays

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TORONTO -- The series opener between the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles was a pitchers duel for the first five innings. Raja Bell Jersey . It turned into a power game after that and Torontos boppers were up to the task. Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Melky Cabrera belted three-run homers as the Blue Jays dumped the Orioles 9-3 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. Encarnacion got things started in the sixth inning, Lawrie would later give the Jays the lead and Cabrera added some insurance as Toronto improved to 11-9 on the season. "Home runs come in handy," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Home runs do win. We had the three big ones." Nelson Cruz hit a three-run shot for Baltimore (9-10) in the top half of the sixth inning before Encarnacion ended his 25-game home run drought to pull Toronto even. Lawrie, from Langley, B.C., cracked the tie in the eighth inning with a blast off Evan Meek (0-1) to help make a winner of reliever Steve Delabar (2-0). Cabrera, who has hit safely in 19 of 20 games this season, went deep off Josh Stinson later in the frame. Juan Francisco and Josh Thole chipped in with two hits apiece for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Orioles 9-8. Toronto starter R.A. Dickey and Baltimores Miguel Gonzalez were both in form early on. Dickey was the first to hiccup in the sixth inning after Baltimore got a rally started by taking advantage of some sloppy defence. Steve Lombardozzi hit a flare to shallow left field that dropped in between Cabrera and Jose Reyes. Both Blue Jays seemed to think the other had a read on the ball but neither did. Lombardozzi reached second on the play and Nick Markakis followed with a walk. Cruz then stepped into a 1-1 fastball for his fourth homer of the season. Dickey recorded the next two outs but then loaded the bases by walking Steve Clevenger, hitting Delmon Young with a pitch and walking Ryan Flaherty. A Jonathan Schoop strikeout kept the damage to just three runs. A Baltimore error helped the Blue Jays rally in the bottom half. Cabrera reached when Lombardozzi flubbed a grounder and Jose Bautista singled to set the stage for Encarnacion, who launched a blast into the first row of standing-room only seats above the first deck in centre field. "Hes a home run hitter," Gibbons said. "To get that first one, Im sure hes breathing a little bit easier." It was the fourth-longest home run drought of Encarnacions career. Gonzalez, who struck out a season-high seven batters, lasted 5 2/3 innings as Baltimore fell to 5-6 on the road this season. "With Encarnacion you cant double up, youve got to keep the ball down and make better pitches," Gonzalez said. The Baltimore starter allowed four hits and two earned runs while walking a pair. "Miguel was very close there," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "If we do a couple of things differently he probably pitches six or seven innings. He had good stuff obviously. He gave us a good chance to win. I cant fault his effort." Dickey struggled again when he came back out for the seventh inning but got a big assist from the Toronto bullpen. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Neil Wagner came on in relief and got Cruz to ground out. Southpaw Brett Cecil relieved Wagner and walked Chris Davis to load the bases. Cecil got cleanup hitter Adam Jones to wave at three straight pitches before striking out Clevenger to snuff the threat. "Thats the ballgame right there," Gibbons said. "But our bullpen is good. Weve had a couple hiccups in the past week but our bullpen is as good as anybodys." Delabar came on for the eighth inning and put a runner on with a one-out walk. Jonathan Diaz and Reyes then combined for a nice 4-6-3 double play to retire the side. Notes: Dickey, who tied a season high with six strikeouts, was pulled after facing two batters in the seventh inning. He allowed six hits, three earned runs and three walks. It was his second quality start of the season. ... The crowd let out a cheer when the halftime score of the Toronto Raptors NBA playoff game was shown on the big screen. The Raptors led Brooklyn 45-39 after two quarters and went on to beat the Nets 100-95. ... Cabrera has five homers on the season, one more than Lawrie. ... Announced attendance was 14,866 and the game took two hours 54 minutes to play. ... Dustin McGowan (1-1) is scheduled to start the second game of the three-game series on Wednesday. The Orioles will counter with fellow right-hander Chris Tillman (1-0). ... The Blue Jays will close out the homestand with a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. ... It was the fifth game of a seven-game road trip for the Orioles, who were coming off a four-game series split in Boston. ... Bautista has reached base safely in all 20 games this season. Its the teams longest season-opening streak of its kind since Vernon Wells reached base safely in 29 straight games to open the 2006 campaign. ... Cecil has yet to allow an earned run this season. He has 15 strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings. Wesley Person Jersey . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. Suns Jerseys 2020 . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision. https://www.cheapsunsonline.com/449z-jason-kidd-jersey-suns.html .com) - Al Horford collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks held off a furious rally to beat the Detroit Pistons 106-103 on Friday night in a game between two of the NBAs hottest teams.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Carolina Hurricanes were shut out in their most recent trip to the ice, but their offensive struggles are nowhere near as alarming as what is currently plaguing the Calgary Flames. The Canes look to bounce back after having their longest winning streak of the season halted as they host the Flames on Monday night. The Flames will not have Mike Cammalleri in their lineup after he suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Carolina won the first four of their recent five-game win streak by one-goal margins, netting 14 goals in that span. Following a postponed game versus Buffalo due to weather, the Hurricanes routed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 on Thursday, but saw their offense go cold in a 3-0 setback at Columbus the following night. Anton Khudobin made 21 saves for the Hurricanes, who were shut out for the third time this season and for the first time since Dec. 9. "The first period was like a chess match type of game for both teams," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "Nothing was going on, which we were quite happy with. "Then, one or two breakdowns and they capitalized. Theyre a good team. They play a good system. They dont give up much. We dont give up much either, but we werent able to sustain that second and third opportunity and capitalize." The Blue Jackets were able to slow down Canes forward Jeff Skinner, who went into the game with 17 goals in his previous 17 contests but couldnt find the back of the next on Friday despite a team-high seven shots on net. Skinner could get some help on Monday if captain Eric Staal can return from a lower-body injury that has sidelined him the past three games. Staal, who had played in 191 consecutive games, was able to return to practice on Sunday and has 10 goals and 35 points in 42 games this season. "Weve got too see how he responds to (Sunday). Richard Dumas Jersey. We want to be smart," Muller told Carolinas website. "We have all the days off after that, so we want to make sure if hes ready to go (Monday), its nothing that sets him back." Carolina will now take on a Calgary team that has been in an offensive rut for the last two-plus weeks. The Flames have been outscored 13-1 over a three-game slide and 26-6 over their past eight games, a span in which they have been shut out five times while going 1-7-0. Calgary was nearly blanked again on Saturday versus the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins until Mikael Backlund scored at 11:29 of the third period in a 2-1 loss. Backlunds goal snapped a club-record 196-minute, 59-second scoring drought at home for the Flames. Reto Berra was solid in the loss with 24 saves. "I wasnt as good as the guy on the other side tonight," said Berra. "You know, the guys in front made some blocks and I was able to make some saves, but not enough." The Flames will play two straight and four of their next five on the road. Calgary didnt light up the lamp all that much in its first meeting with Carolina this season, but still managed a 2-1 home victory in overtime on Dec. 12. Chris Butler scored the winning goal with inside of four seconds left in the bonus frame, while Karri Ramo made 29 saves. That included a stop on Skinner during a third-period penalty shot. The Flames beat the Hurricanes for the sixth time in the past eight meetings, but have lost two straight in Carolina. Skinner had a goal and Justin Peters made 28 saves for Carolina. The Hurricanes activated forward Riley Nash off injured reserve on Saturday while sending forwards Zach Boychuk and Brett Sutter to the minors. Nash had missed the past five games with a lower-body injury and has four goals with six assists in 36 games this season. ' ' '