me," he said. "Obviously we knew it was not going to be

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Robinson Cano delivered the biggest hit of the day for the Seattle Mariners, but not before a perfectly executed drag bunt set up things against one of the best pitchers in baseball. James Jones went 3 for 4, including a bunt single that wound up in the middle of three converging players and loaded the bases for Cano, whose third-inning, opposite-field double drove in two runs in Mondays 3-0 victory over David Price and the sputtering Tampa Bay Rays. "Were a team that has to do anything to win a game," Cano said. "We dont have three or four or five guys thatll hit 30 home runs, so weve got to play the little game, do the little things." Five Seattle pitchers combined on a five-hitter, blanking the punchless Rays for the second straight days. The Mariners extended their scoreless streak to 19 innings and won for the eighth time in nine games. "Our last seven or eight starts have been pretty darn good. Our starters have given us everything weve asked them and probably a little bit more," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "With that our bullpen is even better." The Rays, whove made the playoffs four or the past six seasons, have lost 13 of 14 and are saddled with the worst record in the major leagues at 24-41. The last time they were 17 games under .500 was the end of 2007, the final year they were known as the Devil Rays. "Right now, were the worst team. I dont anticipate finishing like that ... but right now, weve earned that position," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Do I believe we can turn this around? Absolutely," he said. "But right now, if youre a baseball fan watching us, and you look at everything, you have to consider us the worst team." Canos big hit came on an 0-2 pitch during a three-run third inning against Price (4-6), who struck out 10 in eight innings. The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner has dropped three straight decisions and hasnt won in nine starts since beating Minnesota on April 22. "It just goes to show you how good this guy is," McClendon said of Cano. "Against one of the toughest lefties in baseball and down like that. ... That was a huge hit for us." Mariners starter Erasmo Ramirez didnt allow a run, but failed to get through the fifth inning to qualify for the victory. The 24-year-old right-hander allowed four hits and walked five in 4 2/3 innings. Joe Beimel (1-1) retired the only two batters he faced to get the victory, and Fernando Rodney worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 20 opportunities. The Rays were shut out for the AL-high ninth time overall. Seattle finished a 6-1 road trip. The Mariners won three straight over Tampa Bay after dropping the opener of the four-game series. Price allowed three runs and seven hits and walked one. He has the best strikeout to walk ratio in baseball, but has also yielded a major league-leading 105 hits 99 2/3 innings. The Rays stranded seven runners and were 0 for 5 with men in scoring position through four innings against Ramirez, who entered the game with a 6.82 ERA. The frustration continued in the fifth, when Ramirez gave up a two-out double to James Loney and walked Ben Zobrist before McClendon turned to his bullpen. Beimel fanned pinch-hitter Jerry Sands, ending the threat and eliciting smattering of groans and boos from the crowd of 10,400 at Tropicana Field. "At some point, we have to get our bats alive," Maddon said. "The effort is wonderful. The work is great," the manager added. "The hits arent there." NOTES: Struggling Grant Balfour is out as the Rays closer. Maddon said the team instead will close games by committee. ... Mariners 1B Justin Smoak (sore left leg) and OF Michael Saunders (sore right shoulder) were out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game. ... Rays rookie right-hander Jake Odorizzi (2-6) will go against St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright (8-3) in the opener of a two-game interleague series Tuesday night. Odorizzi grew up 35 minutes from St. Louis and called his start against the Cardinals a "special occasion." ... In a matchup of former teammates with Rakuten of Japans Pacific League, Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (4-2) and Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka (9-1) will start in the opener of a three-game series in Seattle. Jesperi Kotkaniemi Jersey . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. Larry Robinson Jersey . LOUIS -- When Braves second baseman Tyler Pastornicky backpedaled into shallow right field to catch the popup and Jason Heyward didnt arrive fast enough to take charge, Kolten Wong got the green light. http://www.canadienssale.com/authentic-jacques-plante-canadiens-jersey/ . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. Jacques Plante Jersey . The 31-year-old, a two-time CFL lineman of the year, was among the most coveted free agents on the market. The Windsor, Ont., native will be especially important to a team that has lost veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to retirement and is expected to go with the less experienced Troy Smith and Tanner Marsh this season. Ken Dryden Canadiens Jersey . With one week left in the regular season, Cornish - voted The Toughest Player To Bring Down - is a leading candidate for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. He has rushed for 1,799 yards and could break Willie Burdens club record for rushing yards in a single season with a 98-yard performance against the B.TORONTO - Jonathan Bernier came back to try and help end a losing streak. By the time the goaltender and the Toronto Maple Leafs left Air Canada Centre, they were out of a playoff spot. Bernier returned from a five-game absence and did his best to keep the Leafs in it against the St. Louis Blues. But a plethora of other mistakes against one of the NHLs top teams Tuesday night ultimately resulted in a 5-3 defeat, their sixth in a row. "Its a hard league," Blues goaltender Ryan Miller said of the Leafs struggles. "Youve got to keep it all together." Things have seemingly fallen apart in just under two weeks time. The loss, coupled with the Blue Jackets beating the Red Wings and the Capitals picking up a point against the Los Angeles Kings, dropped the Leafs out of a wild-card position. Though all four teams have 80 points, Columbus and Detroit held the wild-card spots at the end of the night, ahead of the Capitals and then the Leafs because of games played. Not long ago Toronto was second in the Atlantic Division, and now it looks like the season is slipping away. "Certainly were afraid of letting it slip away," said winger Joffrey Lupul, whose early goal was the first time Toronto opened the scoring in eight games. "The whole year weve thought we were a playoff team, and we still believe that now. ... Theres reason for concern, but its not completely time to panic. Were still right there." Winger James van Riemsdyk, whose goal at 15:54 of the third period cut the Leafs deficit to a goal, said that the team has "100 per cent" faith that things can turn around with just eight games remaining. "We have a lot of confidence in our abilities and a belief in ourselves and believe in the guys in the room," van Riemsdyk said. "This thing is obviously far from over." At some point the Leafs (36-30-8) must show that instead of just talking about it. They were unable to do that against the Blues, who passed the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the league thanks to a hat trick from David Backes and one goal apiece from T.J. Oshie and former Leafs forward Alex Steen. Though Bernier allowed four goals, his return from a groin injury was more memorable for some of the big saves he made among his 44. The 25-year-old No. 1 goalie gave his team a chance, but too much continued to go wrong in front of and around the net. Lupul said a good team is supposed to bail its goalie out and vice-versa. That didnt happen for James Reimer in the first five games of this slide, and that continued with Bernier. "When you get in a slide like this its easy to start pin-pointing individuals, which is fair, but as a group we look at it like, if theres a mistake made by someone, someone else steps up and makes a play for them," Lupul said. "And we just havent been doing quite enough of that right now." Captain Dion Phaneuf hesitated twice to clear the puck on a late-first-period penalty kill before the Blues forced a turnover and scored, then was beaten by Steen in front of the net on the fourth goal St. Louis scored. Phaneuf was not made available to speak to reporterss, leaving coach Randy Carlyle to answer for some of the defencemans poor play.dddddddddddd "He and (Cody) Franson have been the top pairing on our blue line, as far as the offensive side of it, all year," Carlyle said. "In tonights situation, he had a rough night." Phaneuf could be blamed for at least two goals against, but he wasnt alone in having a rough night against the Blues (49-16-7), who showed early and often why theyre a Stanley Cup contender. "It was a 5-3 game where I think we couldve scored 10 goals tonight," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said in a nod to Bernier. "We had so many scoring opportunities, and I thought for the most part until we got careless and started to get fancy around the net instead of burying it that we were really playing one of our top games." During the first period, St. Louis hemmed the Leafs in their own end, putting 23 shots on net, a season high for Toronto. "I dont know," Lupul said. "We couldnt break their cycle, we couldnt get the puck." Had the Leafs managed to go into the first intermission tied 1-1, as Carlyle pointed out, they would have been fortunate. But Phaneufs mistake led to a power-play goal by Backes with 32.3 seconds left. Backes had to beat Bernier, too, but he did that twice and added an empty netter for his second career hat trick. "Theres something about this barn and this stage," Backes said. "Theres obviously a special thing about being in Toronto. The buzz in the air and everyones talking about the Leafs. Every establishments got a neon Leafs sign of some sort. This is kind of the Mecca for hockey here in Toronto." Hockey Mecca includes many more people panicking even after the Leafs lost to a much better team in the Blues. Van Riemsdyk repeatedly pointed out that the Blues are "a heck of a hockey team." Theres no disputing that, only that the Leafs couldnt find a way to end their skid. Bernier knows nothing should have to be said after this one. "If were missing motivation, at this time of the year everyone should have some," he said. "Obviously we knew it was not going to be easy. Thats a good team out there — theyre first and they showed it tonight." The Leafs showed something in trimming a three-goal deficit to one in the third period. And while thats the biggest thing theyll take from Tuesday night, its not nearly enough with the frustration building up. "Youve got to try and manage that," van Riemsdyk said. "If you play in a frustrated type of way youre no good out there. Weve got to continue to learn from things and look at the positives and kind of go from there." One positive Lupul sees is two games ahead at the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night and then back home against the Red Wings on Saturday night. "You win those two games, all of a sudden things look a lot different," he said. Until the Leafs manage to do that, things look bleak. NOTES: With Bernier back, the Leafs sent goaltender Drew MacIntyre back to the AHLs Toronto Marlies. ... Defenceman Paul Ranger was scratched for the third straight game with a neck injury. ' ' '