or so of the day, when they took six for 64, they may reflect that, just for a few minutes, they then allowed their concentration to drift and were punished fo

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez will seek to extend his recent surge when he faces the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.With the 7-6 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday night, the Orioles fell two games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the American League East. While the last-place Rays are looking at another offseason full of retooling, they have an opportunity to play spoiler over the final two weeks of the season.Were playing well, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. I dont think we care about spoiler. Were playing well and this is great learning experience for all of us in these environments. It seems like every one of those wins, theres been really crucial parts of the game and were having some guys who are really coming through for us.Baltimore will need to bounce back quickly with so many American League teams within striking distance of the two wild-card spots. Many of the players on the Orioles roster were on the postseason teams of 2012 and 2014 and that experience could serve them well.I dont think you press as much compared to a team that might not be familiar with it, Orioles closer Zach Britton said about the final playoff push. You go about your business every night. But if you win a series, you know the next series is just as important. You come down to the end here, every game is really important. We dont get too far ahead of ourselves in here, which I think really helps us.Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is hoping some of its younger players can come up big and provide some optimism for 2017. Some of them are already impressing Cash.We knew coming into September, this was going to be a good time to evaluate some of our players, Cash said. Right now, there are guys doing some good things, Corey Dickerson and Steven Souza and Kevin Kiermaier, all of them are playing great for us offensively. Thats great to see.Jimenez (7-11, 5.98 ERA) has been one of the Orioles best pitchers over the past month after losing his starting job. Jimenez went back in the rotation when Chris Tillman went on the disabled list. From there, Jimenez has thrived and has helped the playoff push.In his last outing against the Tigers, Jimenez allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts to pick up his second straight win. Jimenez has a 2.83 ERA in his past four starts.It feels great to finally be able to be there for the team, since it wasnt going the way I wanted it at first, Jimenez said. That is the beauty of life and this game -- every day is a new day. You cant give up and you have to find a way to keep fighting.The Rays will look to fare better against Jimenez than the previous time they faced him. On Sept. 5, Ubaldo pitched a complete game in Baltimores 7-3 win.Basically, we saw Ubaldo get in a comfort zone, Cash said. I talked about it after the game. I saw him do that with the Indians. Once he feels he can throw, hes got four or five different pitches and changes speeds with all of them. Its basically, here it is, hit it approach. Thats what he did. There was just a ton of soft contact.The Rays will counter with Chris Archer, who has struggled over parts of the season and is trying to avoid a 20-loss season. Archer (8-18, 4.05) took a hard-luck loss in his previous outing when he allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings in a 5-1 loss to the Yankees.Archer is fourth in the American League with 217 strikeouts. He could possibly join the Angels Nolan Ryan (1976) as the only two pitchers to lead the American League in both losses and strikeouts in the same season.The New York game, that was an unbelievable start, Cash said. He gave up back-to-back homers. I know youre going to lose games like that, and you have to prevent that from happening. Well take that start from Arch for 35 of them. Best Cheap Basketball Shoes . 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Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Cheap Basketball Shoes For Sale . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Just for little while, it seemed the almost impossible was becoming the merely unlikely.As Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed resisted for 50 overs, it seemed England really might be able to defy India in the sort of conditions English players grow up to fear. The last 10 overs - and most of all, that last ball - were a harsh way to wake from the dream.This has been an odd game. Whatever happens on the final day - and victory for India remains highly likely - England will leave Visakhapatnam encouraged by their performance. There seems every chance that this will turn out to be that most British of things: a heartening defeat. Really, it might be the most heartening defeat for years.Why? Because theyve proved (to themselves as much as any of us watching) that they can compete in such conditions. Theyve shown that they have the character and skill to cope with losing the toss and playing against good bowlers in turning conditions. And, just as importantly, theyve shown they can claw their way back into games from unpromising situations. You could make a strong argument that they have had the best of days three and four. Its just the damage inflicted on days one and two was too deep.They have learned several useful lessons, too. They have learned, or been reminded, they cannot afford even half a bad session in such circumstances. So the loss of their first five first-innings wicket before the end of the second evening - a couple of them to somewhat soft strokes - was a setback from which they have never been allowed to recover. The footwork has to be more certain; the techniques more solid. They cannot afford a bad hour here.And, while there are no easy answers to dealing with Virat Kohli - he has looked magnificent in this series - England will reflect on the chance he offered when on 56 in the first innings and know that, had they been better organised and had a better fielder than Adil Rashid in position for the hook trap, the whole complexion of this game might have been different. It was a fleeing moment, certainly, but that may well prove to be as good an opportunity as England find in this series. If they are going to win, they have to seize such moments.They may rue the tenth-wicket stand of 42 they conceded on Sunday, too. A target of 363 in 160 overs would, perhaps, have been scarcely less daunting in practical terms. But in terms of morale? Final-wicket stands drain and dispirit like little else. While England hardly bowled a poor delivery in the first 100 minutes or so of the day, when they took six for 64, they may reflect that, just for a few minutes, they then allowed their concentration to drift and were punished for it.Generally, though, since Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes resumed on the third morning, there has been much to admire about this England performance. Stuart Broad has never bowled better in India, Rashid has never bowled better in Test cricket and, for all the praise lavished upon Indias spinners, Rashid and Moeen Ali have better bowling averages and strike rates than R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at this stage in the series.But perhaps it was the performance of Hameed that provided most cause for encouragement. For the second Test in succession, Hameed demonstrated a calm temperament in an unhurried display that belied his 19-years. It took an almost impossible ball, one that kept horribly low, to dismiss him.These were desperately tough circummstances for Hameed.dddddddddddd On a pitch offering turn and, most pertinently, variable bounce, he was tested in just about every way a batsman can be tested. Indias seamers examined his discomfort against the short ball and Indias spinners examined his ability to play the turning ball.His struggles against short-pitched bowlingt will have had fast bowlers around the world taking note. Whatever he achieves in the next few weeks, it is inevitable now that Hameed will be on the receiving end of many bouncers when he comes up against West Indies, South Africa and Australia. And they will almost always be directed at him on quicker, livelier tracks than this.There was talk of this potential weakness before he arrived in India. He was troubled by Surreys fast bowlers (Stuart Meaker and Mark Footitt) in the English summer and by Taskin Ahmed in Bangladesh.Here he was struck on the hand by the first delivery he faced - he later received treatment on his little finger, but the England camp played down any serious damage - after taking his eye off a fine, head-high bouncer from Mohammed Shami and took two more deliveries in the rib area. He wore a chest guard in this innings, but he may have a bruise or two for the rest of this week.But, whether he had been hit or not, he was right back in line for the next delivery. And whether hit or not, he was right forward to the next delivery as required. Theres no question of courage with Hameed, he is just learning to deal with that line of attack. The challenge confronting him might be compared to that confronting Ben Stokes and spin. Stokes overcame that challenge; how Hameed manages may well define how far he progresses in international cricket.There were, in all, nine deliveries that might reasonably be described as bouncers directed at Hameed. While his inclination seems to be to sway out of the way, he also ducked once and played the ball from in front of his face straight into the ground on other occasions. Short-leg was never in business and the two men out for the hook seemed utterly redundant. It was painful, but he survived.The manner in which he dealt with spin was even more impressive. Having been dismissed in Rajkot by Ashwin bowling around the wicket, he has resolved to watch the ball harder and be even more precise in his foot movement. He leaves the ball well outside off stump and gets further forward than most to smother the spin.While other batsmen - and not just young batsmen - might have become uncomfortable with the slow rate of scoring, Hameed looked supremely unworried. And while other batsmen might have allowed the match situation to play on their mind, Hameed seemed to enjoy the prospect of five sessions of crease occupation. Where else would he rather be?Every day, in every way (it was Hameed who was most insistent that England should utilise their review which resulted in KL Rahul being given out) he seems to be growing more comfortable with this level and the environment of the England team. This was a terrifically tough day and he came through it bruised but unbowed. It was another step forward in his development.It is for such reasons that, whatever happens on Monday, England will leave Visakhapatnam with spirits and heads high. They are learning and improving all the time. ' ' '