LaberFred » on with 5,162 yards to go with 39

TORONTO -- The return of third baseman Brett Lawrie lasted all of three innings before he left the game with lower back tightness. Left-hander Mark Buehrle, meanwhile, lasted only four innings in his start. That just about summed up the way things went on Tuesday for the Toronto Blue Jays as they extended their losing streak to four games with a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays dropped to five games off the pace in the American League East as the first-place Orioles won their third in a row. The return of Lawrie, who suffered a broken finger in June, was supposed to give the Blue Jays a boost in the opener of the three-game set between the top two teams in the division. But he felt something in his back during batting practice and again during the game. He singled in his only at-bat, in the second inning, and was replaced at third base by Danny Valencia after the third. "We dont think its anything serious," manager John Gibbons said. "Hes day-to-day." Lawrie was scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday. "It was just kind of grabbing me a little bit as I was warming up and kind of just going about my day," he said. "This is my first game back, I really dont want to make it permanent that I dont get back. So I really just wanted to get out of there and see what it was." Lawrie said he had had no back problems during his rehabilitation process from the broken finger until Tuesday. Caleb Joseph, Jonathan Schoop and Chris Davis hit solo home runs for the Orioles who outhit the Blue Jays 14-12 and stranded 11 runners to the Blue Jays 10. "With us losing today doesnt mean our season is over," Buehrle said. "If somebody thought we were going to come in and sweep these guys, youre on some good drugs, thats not going to happen. Theyre in first place for a reason." Orioles right-hander Bud Norris (9-7) allowed seven hits and two runs, both on a homer by Colby Rasmus, in 5 1/3 innings. Norris is 3-0 in five career starts against Toronto. Buehrle (11-8) allowed 10 hits, including two home runs, three walks and four runs in four innings. He is 1-7 in his past 11 starts. "Its frustrating giving up 10 hits in four innings," Buehrle said. "I feel like Im making some quality pitches at certain times and Im making mistakes and theyre making me pay for them." Added Gibbons: "Basically they just hit him around pretty good. Hes a location guy. Hes a control artist. Hes got some guys in that lineup over there who have hit him in his career so its not an easy lineup for him to face. A lot of power guys. Hes got to be on. When hes off hes going to be hit." Orioles manager Buck Showalter said his team was lucky to have caught Buehrle "on a down night." "Were fortunate," Showalter said. "Weve had a couple of good offensive nights. I hope it continues." The Orioles (64-48) stranded five runners over the first two innings before cashing in with a run in the third on a one-out walk to Delmon Young and a two-out double by J.J. Hardy. The Orioles took a 4-0 lead with a three-run fourth that opened with back-to-back homers by Joseph and Schoop. Nick Markakis and Manny Machado followed with singles before Adam Jones popped out. Youngs grounder to third took a bad hop for an RBI single. Nelson Cruz grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Blue Jays (60-54) cut the lead in half in their fourth on a leadoff single by Dioner Navarro and, with two out, the 15th homer of the season by Rasmus. Davis hit his 18th homer of the season against right-hander Aaron Sanchez with one out in the fifth to give the Orioles a 5-2 lead. Sanchez allowed another run in the sixth on two walks and a single by Cruz. Left-hander Brian Matusz replaced Norris in the sixth after Valencias one-out single. Matusz was replaced by right-hander Tommy Hunter after Ryan Goins and Jose Reyes started the seventh inning with singles. Melky Cabrera singled to load the bases. Jose Bautista hit a sacrifice fly to right to cut the lead to 6-3, but Navarro ended the threat when he grounded into a double play. The Orioles increased their lead to 9-3 in the eighth after Dustin McGowan allowed walks to Machado and Young and a single to Jones to load the bases. Cruz hit a sacrifice fly and Hardy singled in a run. Left-hander Aaron Loup took over and allowed a sacrifice fly by Davis on a foul ball that was caught by Valencia who had a long run down the line. "A big statement game for us here the first game of the series," Norris said. "These guys are right behind us and on our tail." Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 36,183. à Blue Jays INF Steve Tolleson was put on the paternity list and that opened a spot for Lawrie. Lawrie suffered a broken right index finger when hit by a pitch at Cincinnati on June 22. He was 4-for-10 in three games on a rehabilitation assignment with single-A Dunedin. à DH Adam Lind (right foot fracture) could return to the Blue Jays by the weekend or by the beginning of next week, manager John Gibbons said. à A return date for 1B Edwin Encarnacion (right quadriceps strain) is still undetermined although he is swinging a bat and has resumed running after a minor setback. à RHP Drew Hutchison (7-9, 4.62 earned-run average) will pitch for the Blue Jays on Wednesday against Orioles LHP Wei-Yin Chen (12-3, 3.76 ERA). Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. Joe Carter Jersey . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. http://www.officialbluejaysgearshop.com/...is-Kids-Jersey/. The deals were announced on Friday. Beckham will receive $4.175 million in base salary, while De Aza will receive $4.25 million. Beckham hit .267 with five home runs and 24 RBIs over 103 games last season, his fifth with the White Sox. Russell Martin Jersey . In a series of tweets, it is explained by the Department of Player Safety that Niederreiter makes full body contact with Burrows and although there is head contact, he does not "pick" the head in the course of making the hit. Randal Grichuk Jersey . He will just have to wait a little longer. Bester grabbed an early lead before Scotlands Darren Burnett took over and ran away with the mens singles lawn bowling final 21-9 on Friday.NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees couldnt quite suppress a smirk as he deadpanned the Saints prescription for playing better on the road, which is where theyll be for the playoffs. "Theres three main things we need to do," Brees began. "Were going to change up the Gatorade flavour, we feel good about that. Were going to change our travel sweats. Were going to change, at the hotel, the beefy mac (and cheese) recipe the night before, just kind of give it a little extra kick. We feel like those three things are going to help pull us through." For one last time this season, Brees and the Saints proved how tough they are to hang with in the Big Easy, clinching an NFC wild-card spot Sunday with a 42-17 rout of the downtrodden Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brees was his usual prolific self, passing for four touchdowns and even running for a score as New Orleans (11-5) concluded the regular season 8-0 at home. But the Saints went 3-5 on the road this season, and they had little time to celebrate their widely anticipated triumph over the Bucs before fielding questions about what they can do to change their fortunes outside the Superdome. "Were going to be told all week long that we cant win on the road," right tackle Zack Strief said. "We all acknowledge why people say that, and yet, the other games dont matter -- not anymore." If the Saints can indeed summon Superdome-like performances in the coming weeks, theyll be a dangerous No. 6 seed. New Orleans opens the playoffs Saturday night at NFC East champion Philadelphia. Three of Brees scoring strikes against Tampa Bay went longer than 40 yards -- 76 to Kenny Stills, 44 to Lance Moore and 41 to Robert Meachem. Brees passed for 381 yards, eclipsing 5,000 yards in a season for an unprecedented fourth time. He finished the season with 5,162 yards to go with 39 touchdowns. "We did a lot of things well today at time when we needed to," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "Im proud of how they finished. ... Its hard to get 11 wins in this league." Brees other TD was a 10-yard pass to tight end Jimmy Graham. Mike Glennon passed for 219 yards and two TDs for Tampa Bay (4-12). With doubts swirling about the future of second-year Bucs coach Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay cllosed the season with losses in its last three games, and four of its last five.dddddddddddd "Any time you win only four games, there are definitely going to be some type of changes," right tackle Demar Dotson said. "Upstairs, downstairs-- I dont know what its going to be." The Saints had lost three of their previous four games to set up a season finale they needed to win to assure themselves of a playoff spot. They got back to the post-season for the fourth time in five seasons, the lone exception being 2012, when Payton was suspended the entire season in connection with the NFLs bounty probe. "Obviously, Seans a huge part of" the Saints return to the playoffs, Brees said. "Four out of five years, winning an average of 12 games in every one of those (playoff) years. Thats a big deal." Schiano, meanwhile, coached like he had nothing to lose, trying a fake field goal, which failed, and going for it three times on fourth down, converting one. In the end, his team was overmatched, outgained 468 yards to 290. Asked about his future, Schiano said: "I dont think I have to say anything. Thats not being smug. I come in and do my job the best that I can. Thats other peoples decision." Schiano did call a successful flea-flicker on which Glennon found Tiquan Underwood for a 48-yard score to tie it at 7. Glennon was also intercepted by Keenan Lewis, setting up Brees 9-yard touchdown run in the second half. Pierre Thomas provided New Orleans other second-half score on an 8-yard run. Brees was 17 of 21 for 321 yards in the first half, when he threw all of his scoring passes and had a maximum 158.3 passer rating. His final line was 24 of 31 for 381 yards, no interceptions and a rating of 157.4. Brees went over the 5,000-yard mark in style, hitting Meachem deep down the sideline to make it 21-7. Glennons 1-yard pass to Tim Wright in the corner of the end zone cut it to 21-14, but Stills score made it 28-14, and the Bucs did not threaten again. Notes: Lewis interception was his fourth. ... Saints OLB Junior Gallette had two sacks to reach a career-high 12. ... Tampa Bay gave up season highs in yards and points. ... The Bucs have won four or fewer games in three of the past five seasons. 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