ful performance by starter Dylan Bundy. Kevin Gausman then outdueled Texas ace Cole Hamels, leading the Orioles to a 3-2 victory the following night.Wad

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers in a battle of first-place teams on Thursday.The Orioles won the opener 5-1 with the help of four solo homers and a masterful performance by starter Dylan Bundy. Kevin Gausman then outdueled Texas ace Cole Hamels, leading the Orioles to a 3-2 victory the following night.Wade Miley (7-8, 4.98 ERA), acquired from the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 1, will make his Orioles debut and try to keep the momentum going in the series finale.Were playing some good teams, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. If you look at our schedule, its a top-rated schedule the rest of the way. You know what? Our guys are pretty good, too. They enjoy the competition. They dont shirk from it. They like people telling them they shouldnt be able to do it. They like proving people wrong. Theyve done that for quite a while.Wiley is expected to give the Orioles an immediate boost as the only left-hander in the rotation and his ability to throw deep into games -- an area where Baltimore has struggled all season. Left-handers are also batting just .239 against him this season.We needed a left-handed pitcher to complement our rotation, and Wades a workhorse, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said. Hes pitched in the American League effectively. Hes got all the qualities to help our club, and not just for this year, for next year. Weve liked his skills for a while, going back to the first winter meetings. We tried to acquire him in a trade with Arizona. And he had a terrific year.The Rangers will look to avoid the sweep with right-hander A.J. Griffin (4-1, 3.99 ERA), who is beginning to regain his form after an earlier stint on the disabled list with right shoulder stiffness. Griffin picked up his first win since April 26 in his last outing against the Kansas City Royals. He gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings.Griffin joined Hamels as the only Rangers starter to post a win in July. Griffin hopes to play a key role in the first-place Rangers stretch run toward the playoffs.You cant take this job for granted, Griffin told the Fort Worth Star Telegram after the game. Theres someone always trying to take your job from you. To be part of something thats great like we have here in Texas right now, youre scratching and clawing to stay around.The Rangers boosted their lineup with the addition of Carlos Beltran and Jonathan Lucroy at the trade deadline. Their lineup, however, has been mostly contained by Orioles pitching. Manager Jeff Banister is hopeful that will change in the final regular-season game between the teams.This is a quality lineup, theyre going to hit and put runs up on the board, Banister said of the Orioles. You have to pitch to go out and pitch your best game. Swell Water Bottle Sale 17 Oz . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Swell Drink Bottle Sale . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. http://www.swellbottlesclearance.com/swell-black-bottle.html .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Swell Drink Bottles Liberty . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Swell Water Bottle Cheap .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. SUNRISE, Fla. -- Tommy Wingels made up for an early defensive mistake by scoring the game-winning goal to lift the San Jose Sharks over the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Thursday night.Wingels tried to block a shot from Floridas Jason Demers but instead the puck deflected off his stick and past goalie Martin Jones to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the game.Unlucky. I tried to block the shot. I was a little late coming off the bench and sorting it out in the (defensive zone), Wingels said. My bad.Tied at 2 in the third, Wingels gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead after he grabbed the puck off the faceoff and backhanded it past James Reimer.A good jump off the faceoff, was able to get some good body position, poked it by the D-man and found a way to bury it, Wingels said. That was a big goal for us.Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns also scored for the Sharks while Jones made 22 saves.Jason Demers scored his first two goals of the season, both in the first period, for the Panthers. Reimer, in his third start in six games, made 25 stops. Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist.Couture added an empty-net goal with 57 seconds left to make it 4-2.The Sharks have won the first two games on a six-game trip.Its good. On a long road trip you want to pile up as many wins in a row as you can. Certainly, a good start for us, Wingels said.The Sharks came back from a 2-0 deficit in the first.Trailing 2-0, Burns skated in from the left side on Reimer and shoved in the puck in with 3:42 left in the first to make the score 2-1.It was a tough start. A couple of weird bounces and youre in the hole two, Burns said. Kind of a lucky block. Got past the guy and didnt really aim it. Just hope it goes in.Pavelski tied the score 2-all 1:53 into the second.dddddddddddd He picked off the puck when Floridas Alex Petrovic tried to clear from the sideboards and his shot from low in the left circle went over the shoulder of Reimer on the glove side.You expect theyre going to up their effort, and I thought we matched it, Reimer said. It was a good hockey game. Unfortunately, we fell short.The Panthers fells to 4-3 when leading after one period.Its been a trend since early in the year and weve got to fix it soon. Its embarrassing, Demers said. We let off the gas and let teams back in the games.Demerss second goal came after Jagr took a shot from the right circle that bounced off Aleksander Barkov and dropped into the crease. Demers skated in and poked in the puck at 7:26 to make it 2-0.I dont care if I get four goals. It doesnt mean anything if we dont win, Demers said.Demers, in his ninth NHL season, played for the Sharks from 2009 to 2014 before being traded to the Dallas Stars in November 2014. Demers was signed as a free agent by Florida in July 2016.Game notes Jones has started 10 consecutive games for the Sharks. ... Pavelski leads the Sharks with 14 points. ... Panthers D Dylan McIlrath, acquired from the New York Rangers for D Steven Kampfer and a 2018 conditional seventh-round draft pick, was scratched. ... LW Jussi Jokinen returned to the Panthers after missing nine games with a knee injury. ... The Panthers took warmups with camouflage jerseys in honor of Military Appreciation night.UP NEXT:Sharks: Visit Tampa Bay on Saturday.Panthers: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday. ' ' '