the 16th hole for a birdie, and then a 12-foot b

BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays usually work their way around the bases one at a time, so they took great delight in putting on a power-hitting display against a team known for the long ball. Desmond Jennings opened the game with the first of Tampa Bays three home runs off Wei-Yin Chen, and the Rays got an impressive pitching performance from former Oriole Erik Bedard in a 5-4 victory over Baltimore on Saturday. Tampa Bay built a five-run lead in the fourth inning, then held off a late comeback bid to improve to 3-8 against the Orioles this season. Logan Forsythe and rookie Kevin Kiermaier each hit a two-run shot against Chen (7-3), who lasted only 3 1-3 innings in the shortest outing of his three-year career. Of the 15 home runs Chen has yielded this season, five have come against the light-hitting Rays. Tampa Bay started the day tied for 25th in the majors with 59 home runs and hit only two its previous nine games. Half the Rays 10 hits were for extra bases, including a triple by Ben Zobrist and a double by Ryan Hanigan. "Thats more like what we expect on a consistent basis, to play that game," manager Joe Maddon said. "Against this team here, fangs out late in the game, its nice to beat them that way." Nick Markakis and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles, who have a major league-leading 40 long balls in June. But it wasnt enough to beat the last-place Rays, who can win the four-game series with a victory Sunday. Bedard (4-5) struck out seven in a season-high seven-plus innings. The 35-year-old lefty gave up three runs and five hits against the team he began his career with in 2002. He walked none, and 68 of his 87 pitches were strikes. "Thats probably the best strike-ball ratio Ive ever thrown in my life," Bedard said. "The biggest thing was the first-pitch strikes and after that, I continued to throw strikes. I mixed in fastball, changeup, curveball and I came out on top." He was pulled after giving up a two-run homer to Machado in the eighth. Adam Jones added an RBI single off Jake McGee, who subsequently retired Nelson Cruz with two outs and runners on the corners. McGee returned in the ninth to earn his third save -- the second in two days. Chen gave up a season-high five runs, seven hits and a pair of walks. The Taiwanese left-hander was 4-0 in nine starts since May 3 and 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two games against Tampa Bay. "For every game, you dont want to give up any home runs," Chen said through a translator. "Lately, Ive been leaving more pitches up in the zone. Maybe the opponent hitters are studying me more than they used to, so if I didnt make the adjustment necessary, the results are going to look bad. So Im going to look at that." On Chens fourth pitch, a 91 mph fastball, Jennings hit his seventh career leadoff homer to put the Rays ahead for good. Prior to the at-bat, Jennings was 4 for 23 (.174) against Chen. In the second, Sean Rodriguez singled and Forsythe followed with his first home run in 142 at-bats this season. Forsythe went 3 for 3 with a walk and scored twice. Tampa Bay made it 5-0 in the fourth when Forsythe singled and Kiermaier drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers. It was the fifth home run of the season for Kiermaier and the first by a left-hander against Chen. "I actually like the way weve been swinging the bats," Kiermaier said. "It was one of those things today -- Desmond hit the leadoff home run then Logan came up clutch and hit that other one." Bedard retired 10 straight batters before Markakis homered on a 1-2 pitch in the sixth. NOTES: Miguel Gonzalez will start for Baltimore in the series finale against RHP Alex Cobb, who has held the Orioles to a .176 batting average throughout his career. ... Tampa Bay SS Yunel Escobar missed his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. ... Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy, returning from elbow surgery, will make his fourth rehab start Thursday, this time with Class-A Frederick. ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson, trying to come back from elbow surgery, ended his rehab start with Triple-A Durham on Friday night after three innings, complaining of discomfort. Maddon suggested Hellickson might return to Florida for an examination. Walter Payton Youth Jersey . - PGA Tour rookie Tony Finau shot a 9-under 63 at Del Monte and had a two-stroke lead over Billy Andrade and Lee Janzen of the Champions Tour after Thursdays opening round of the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational. Jim McMahon Jersey .3 million qualifying offer to outfielder Michael Cuddyer on Monday. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Gale-Sayers-Jersey/ . Hoffman, the former star closer, will evaluate and help co-ordinate all pitchers at Double-A, Triple-A and the big league team. Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers. Akiem Hicks Bears Jersey . Horford is out 3-to-4 months with a torn pectoral muscle for the Hawks, who have won two straight and five of six games. Atlanta improved to 2-0 on the residency with Saturdays 93-91 triumph over Minnesota, as Ivan Johnson scored his teams final four points, including the game-winning free throw with 4. Khalil Mack Jersey . Virtanen opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first period, then gave Canada a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 1:03 into the second. Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second.PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Tiger Woods says its way too early to hit the panic button. Then again, its too early by his standards to be getting up on a Saturday morning to play a PGA Tour event. But at least hes still playing. Already off to the slowest start of his career, Woods had to scramble on the back nine just to make the cut in the Honda Classic. Woods hit only two greens over his final nine holes. His lone birdie on the back nine was on the 13th hole, when he missed the green with a wedge and then chipped in for birdie. His par on the final hole gave him a 1-under 69 -- the first time in six rounds he had broken par at PGA National -- and left him 11 shots behind Rory McIlroy. Woods tees off at 7:38 a.m. Saturday. He should be done before the leaders even show up at the course to eat lunch. "Its a grind. Theres no doubt about it," Woods said. Golf looks anything but that to McIlroy, the 24-year-old from Northern Ireland who has yet to play a 72-hole tournament this season when he didnt have a chance going into the weekend. McIlroy ran off six birdies in a 10-hole stretch for a 4-under 66. He was at 11-under 129, one shot ahead of Brendon de Jonge, who had a 64. Woods began his year at Torrey Pines, where he his eight pro victories included a U.S. Open, and he didnt make it to Sunday. He failed to make the 54-hole cut (which kicks in when more than 78 players make the cut) and tied for 80th. Then it was off to Dubai, where he had won twice. He was never a factor and tied for 41st, his worst showing in seven appearances. Anything wrong? "Its only three events," Woods said, hiding his annoyance at the question. "So not that many rounds into it." Woods has played nine rounds of competition in the last three months. He has broken 70 only twice -- a 68 in the first round of Dubai and a 69 on Friday at the Honda Classic. Until this year, he had never started without at least one finish in the top 20. Woods wasnt ready to rule out a turnaround even this week. "I would like to obviously hit it better than I have been, and especially today. I didnt hit it very good today," he said. "But again, I fought out a number, which is always a good thing. Somehow would like to put together a good weekend. Were all bunched in there. Anythiing can happen this weekend.dddddddddddd" Being 11 shots behind in a 79-man field typically does not constitute one of those "anything can happen" weekends, though stranger things have occurred. Regardless, he looks to be miles away from the real action at the Honda Classic. And that starts with McIlroy. Boy Wonder won this tournament two years ago to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time. That was good. As the defending champion, he was so frustrated with his game and the mounting expectations that he walked off the golf course after 26 holes. That was bad. "This year is obviously a lot different," McIlroy said. "Got off to a good start. Im confident. Im playing well. This is the second straight tournament Ive opened with a 63. So if I can keep building on these good starts, then hopefully I can start converting." He was referring to Dubai, where he started with a 63 and then pressed too hard. As for getting off to a good start, he ostensibly meant his season. This will be the third straight stroke-play event of the year where he is a major presence on the weekend. Friday was another step in the right direction, despite errant tee shots on the 11th and 12th holes that led to bogeys. His round changed with a tee shot into 6 feet on the 16th hole for a birdie, and then a 12-foot birdie on the 18th to wrap up his front nine and earn back the two shots he had dropped. After a 45-foot birdie attempt on the second hole rimmed all the way around and out of the cup, Boy Wonder took off. He two-putted the par-5 third. He hit a wedge into 4 feet on the next hole. He rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt down the hill at the par-5 fifth. Then, after a tough par save on the sixth, he sank another 30-foot birdie putt that McIlroy made look routine. "Watching Rory play is amazing when hes swinging like this," Masters champion Adam Scott said. McIlroy is swinging freely and with confidence. He is starting to walk with a bit of swagger. From tee to green, his game looks solid. And on the green, it looks even better. McIlroy has taken only 49 putts through two rounds. "Thats probably the lowest putting total after 36 Ive probably had, maybe in my career," he said. "So its obviously going in the right direction." ' ' '