ST. Luke Schenn . PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays are hopeful that a successful series against Houston is the start of a turnaround. Yunel Escobar drove in two runs during a three-run sixth inning and the Rays beat the Astors 5-2 on Sunday. Escobar hit a two-run single and Sean Rodriguez had an RBI grounder off Dallas Keuchel (8-5) to give the Rays a 4-2 lead in the sixth. The Rays are 8-18 over their past 26 games, including five wins in seven games against Houston. Tampa Bay took three of four in the weekend series. "We won, thats the bottom line," Rays third baseman Evan Longoria said. "Weve got a lot of work to do. We put ourselves in a pretty good hole, but I think that the belief on a daily basis is still we can come to the ballpark and win." Keuchel allowed five runs and nine hits in an eight-inning complete game. It was his third complete game this season. "We did some good things today against a tough pitcher," Longoria said. Dexter Fowler put the Astros up 1-0 when he hit the first pitch of the game from Erik Bedard into the left-field seats. It was his ninth career leadoff homer and third this season. Bedard, who was with Houston last season, gave up two runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. Juan Carlos Oviedo (3-2) got two outs in the sixth for the win. Joel Peralta pitched the ninth for his first save. Rodriguez made it 5-2 on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly. Houston took a 2-1 lead in the third on Jose Altuves single. Jonathan Villar opened the inning with a double, was awarded a steal of third after a replay challenge resulted in an out call being overturned and scored on the hit by Altuve. Altuve has 13 hits in his past 24 at-bats. The Rays tied it at 1 in the bottom of the first on Longorias single Desmond Jennings was caught attempting to steal home with Longoria batting to end the third, a call that was confirmed by a replay review. After catcher Carlos Corporan threw the ball back to Keuchel, Jennings broke for the plate, but was tagged by Corporan after a return throw from Keuchel. "I know he does some uncharacteristic stuff," Kuechel said. "I dont turn my back from the guy on third, so I caught him out of the corner of my eye and just tried to get the ball out as soon as possible." "I still think Desmond was safe," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I think throughout this whole process, the think thats really standing out to me, Im into replay, I still believe there needs to be a separate group of umpires that are just out there specifically for replay only. That I hope would be the next step in regards to getting this thing nailed down." NOTES: SS Carlos Correa, taken first overall in the 2012 draft by the Astros, left Saturdays game with Class A Lancaster with a right ankle injury, which occurred while sliding. He will go on the disabled list. "Carlos was examined last night at a local hospital in California," Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said. "He will travel to Houston early this week to be evaluated further by the Astros medical staff before determining next steps." ... Rays RHP Alex Cobb (2-5) will go against Pirates RHP Edinson Volquez (4-6) in the opener of a three-game series Monday. ... The Astros are off Monday. ... Houston starts a three-game series Tuesday against Atlanta with RHP Scott Feldman (3-4) and Braves RHP Aaron Harang (5-6) the scheduled starters. ... Three-year old Ireland Nugent, who has been fitted with leg prosthetics after a lawnmower accident, threw the ceremonial first pitch. James Van Riemsdyk . Louis Blues return to top spot in the TSN. Wendel Clark Leafs Jersey . Salamida, 29, has played the last four seasons with the Goldeyes. Returning to the team halfway through last season, he went 7-1 with a 2.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Jefferson scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats overtook the Detroit Pistons for a 116-106 victory Friday night. Charlotte trailed by 20 in the second quarter and by 14 heading into the fourth. "I dont know what was going on in the first half," Jefferson said. "It just got to a point where Id had enough. I just had to go out there and do what I can do." Kemba Walker scored 34 points for Charlotte and Gerald Henderson added 22, but the fourth quarter belonged to Jefferson. With Detroit up 99-94, the 6-foot-10 centre scored six straight points for the games first and only lead change. Then Walker added a 3-pointer from in front of the Detroit bench to make it 103-99. Jefferson scored Charlottes next seven points on a jumper, a three-point play and a 20-footer that made it 110-102. Brandon Jennings had 26 points for Detroit, which rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Boston on Wednesday but blew a big lead two nights later. "When Al gets into that kind of rhythm, with his offensive game, Im not sure anyone is going to stop him," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We really struggled with their dribble penetration. That had been getting better, but they were able to get their guards to the basket too easily. After that, they just started going to Jefferson in the post and steamrolled us." Down 89-75, the Bobcats scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to get back in the game. Charlotte ended up with 72 points in the second half and outscored the Pistons 41-17 in the final quarter. The Pistons lost despite shooting 12 of 23 from 3-point range. Charlotte won even though forward Jeff Taylor played less than a minute before going down with a right Achilles injury. Taylor left the game after only 37 seconds. He stayed down for a while after the injury to his right leg and could bee heard groaning in pain before he was eventually helped off the court. Jonathan Bernier Jersey. Taylor is expected to undergo further testing Saturday. The Bobcats have won three straight. Jefferson equaled a season high in scoring that hed set in an overtime win over Toronto on Wednesday. "He played great tonight," Charlottes Cody Zeller said. "He made some tough shots and carried us in the fourth quarter. He was able to play his game tonight and got good looks down in the post." Josh Smith scored 18 points for Detroit, and Josh Harrellson scored all 12 of his in the second quarter. The 6-foot-10 Harrellson looked like he was auditioning for a blooper video when he missed three straight layups during one sequence in the final minute of the first quarter. Those ended up being his only misses of the first half. Kyle Singler and Chauncey Billups made 3-pointers to start the second quarter, giving the Pistons a 37-22 lead. Harrellson added a 16-footer moments later, the first of five consecutive shots he would make in the quarter, including two 3-pointers. Detroit led 52-32 after an alley-oop from Will Bynum to Andre Drummond, but there was enough time for the Bobcats not only to win -- but in convincing fashion. "Its real big, especially for a team like us, trying to prove ourselves," Jefferson said. "We came back from 20 points down and we just kept fighting, and stayed together." NOTES: Detroit G Rodney Stuckey (sore right shoulder) did not play. ... The Bobcats are still without F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (broken left hand). ... Charlotte went 25 of 28 on free throws. ... The last team to rally from at least 20 points behind for a victory -- then blow a lead of at least 20 for a loss in the next game was Orlando in 2001, according to STATS. The Magic came back from a 20-point deficit to beat Chicago on Jan. 15, 2001, then blew a 22-point lead in a loss to Dallas three days later. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
