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HOUSTON -- Evan Gattis knows he probably shouldnt have taken a swing at a shoulder-high pitch from Tampa Bay closer Alex Colome in the ninth inning on Friday night.Considering what happened next, hes glad he did.Carlos Correa and Gattis hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.I tried not to swing at that pitch, Gattis said. But it worked out good.Mikie Mahtooks first homer this season, a towering shot with two outs in the ninth inning, had put the Rays on top before Houstons dramatic comeback.Correa connected on the first pitch in the ninth inning from Colome (1-4) on a home run to the seats in right field to tie it 4-4.Gattis then fought through eight pitches before sending the ninth to right field for his 21st homer that gave Houston the win.He had one of the best at-bats of the night, not because he hit the homer but how he got there, manager A.J. Hinch said. Im not even sure the home run was a strike, it might have been neck high for all I know. There was a calmness to him as well being able to take those pitches.He bounded through the celebration at home plate before ripping off his jersey Superman-style and continuing the celebration bare-chested.Embarrassing, he said of his celebration. But whatever. A little out of character.Colomes tough night ended a stretch of 11 straight scoreless appearances. It was just his second blown save of the season and the first time he had given up a run since his other blown save on July 23 against Oakland.It was just one of those nights. All the great closers have them, manager Kevin Cash said. Hopefully, he gets an opportunity to go back out there tomorrow. When he gets the ball and we have a lead, we couldnt feel any more confident that were going to have success.Corey Dickerson hit a career-high three doubles, drove in a run and scored twice on wild pitches to help Tampa Bay come back from an early 3-0 deficit.The game was tied 3-3 with two outs in the ninth when Mahtook sent a pitch from reliever Ken Giles (2-3) onto the train tracks atop left field.Jake Marisnick homered in the second inning to help Houston build an early lead.Rays starter Drew Smyly allowed three hits and three runs -- two earned -- while striking out eight in six innings.Houstons Mike Fiers yielded six hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.Jose Altuve drove in a run on a force out in the first. He then went from first to third on an error by first baseman Brad Miller when he missed the throw on a pickoff attempt. The Astros took a 2-0 lead when Altuve scored on a single by Gattis with one out.Marisnicks homer with one out in the second extended Houstons lead to 3-0.Smyly settled in after that, retiring the next 14 batters. The Astros didnt have another baserunner until Yulieski Gurriel singled off Kevin Jepsen with no outs in the seventh.Dickerson doubled in the third inning and took third on a wild pitch with two outs. The Rays cut the lead to 3-1 when Dickerson scored on another wild pitch.Dickerson opened the fifth inning with another double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Bobby Wilson. After that, another pitch got away from Fiers and Dickerson scored for the second time on a wild pitch to get Tampa Bay within 3-2.Dickersons third double of the night came with one out in the seventh to drive in a run and tie it 3-3.TRAINERS ROOMRays: 2B Nick Franklin played in a rehab game at Class-A Charlotte on Friday night and was activated from the seven-day concussion list after the game.Astros: OF Colby Rasmus worked out on the field on Friday for the first time since having surgery to remove a cyst in his ear on Aug. 10. Rasmus said hes finally starting to feel normal again, but isnt sure when hell come off the DL.JENNINGS TO BE RELEASEDThe Rays will release OF Desmond Jennings on Saturday. The team announced the impending move before Fridays game.It was time, Cash said. Best for him. Best for us going forward ... unfortunately it just didnt work out. Couldnt quite get him on the field as much as we would have liked. We had to make a decision.Jennings has been on the DL with hamstring and knee injuries for all but five days since July 4. He is currently on the 15-day DL with a bruised left knee.UP NEXTRays: Blake Snell (4-6, 3.17) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay on Saturday. Snell has struggled with control in his last three starts, walking 13 batters in that span, including a career-high five in his last outing.Astros: Dallas Keuchel (8-12, 4.64) will start for Houston on Saturday. Last years AL Cy Young Award winner allowed five hits and two runs in eight innings of a 5-3 win over Baltimore in his last start. Cody Martin Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Kemba Walker Hornets Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. https://www.hornetslockerroom.com/Nicolas-Batum-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Willy Hernangomez Jersey . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Muggsy Bogues Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. TORONTO -- Fourth line, really?Well, technically, yes.Joe Thornton, Ryan OReilly and Matt Duchene count a combined $20.25 million toward the salary cap for their NHL teams this season. But on this team, they are the fourth group of forwards. They are yet another reason Team Canada can win in a million different ways in this World Cup of Hockey, an absolute matchup nightmare that Europe is up next trying to defend Wednesday night (8 ET, ESPN2) with first place on the line in Group A.Obviously yeah, minutes-wise, were the fourth line, Duchene said after his two goals Tuesday night fueled Canadas dominating 4-2 win over Team USA. Were the fourth line in the rotation. But weve found some good chemistry and I think when you look at how deep our team is, its more like four first lines. Thats the way we want to carry ourselves. We dont want to limit our role and our ability because we are the fourth line. We want to play the game that we know how to play.Well, that was on full display in the win over the U.S., OReillys unit manhandling the Americans on many a shift.So if youre Europe head coach Ralph Krueger on Wednesday night and youre trying to figure out ways to stop lines centered by Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews, it stands to reason your fourth line likely ends up matched against Duchenes gang.Good luck with that.A lot of time we get the fourth-line matchups and I think were a skilled line as well, you saw Duchie have a big game tonight and playing phenomenal, said OReilly. But I think we can provide that extra wave, that relentless wave of puck possession, not just going out there and grinding but still making plays and wearing teams down by having the puck. Thats our goal and our mindset going into games.Canada has 10 goals in two games and it feels like it left some on the table. Theyve got the puck nearly all the time. The forecheck and cycle game has left the Czech Republic and U.S. gasping for air.OReilly was asked how he thought it might feel like for other teams to defend this four-line attack.I think were relentless, I think we have four lines that consistently find ways to create, said the Buffalo Sabres center. Having that, its got to be tough for any team to play against, he added rather matter-of-factly, not arrogantly.Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock indicated Claude Giroux likely will play his first game of the tournament Wednesday night. Thats right, one of the NHLs most prolific scorers the past five years gets to get out of the press box along with his $8.275 million cap hit on his NHL team and play a game.ddddddddddddMercy.Definitely thats going to be a different animal, Europe winger Marian Hossa said of facing Canada. Its the favored team to win this tournament. Its going to be a great measurement of where were at. Obviously, theyre huge favorites at home, so well try to surprise them.If Europe can pull off the upset, the best chance will come from Canada playing back-to-back games and having difficulty, perhaps, re-creating the kind of emotional engagement that comes so naturally against Team USA.Within 24 hours theyre going from playing a heated rival, which they knocked out of the tournament, to facing a team thats never existed before this tournament.Well, I think theres a lot of pride, were fighting with them for first place in the pool, so theres a lot riding on that, responded Team Canada forward John Tavares, when asked how they avoid a letdown against Europe. Its such a short tournament, you dont have many chances to make any mistakes or have any letdowns. I think theres great character in the locker room and great leadership, a lot of pride within our group to go out there and keep getting better as a team and individually. You know, youre playing for your country, these chances dont come around very often, so you make every game matter.Having already booked a ticket to the semifinals, first place in the pool is the carrot left for Canada. But in the bigger picture, its the idea thats constantly hammered home by Babcock of raising the teams game every step of the way so that it is at its highest level at the end. Its what happened in Vancouver and Sochi.Thing is, theyve come flying out of the gates. How much room is there to improve?Lots, if you believe Babcock.There were times tonight that I didnt think we were even close to being as good as were capable of being, Babcock said after the win over Team USA. But it was an opportunity to get better today, and now were set up to play more games in the tournament, which is real positive. And weve got to take some steps because we werent as good as were capable of being tonight.Sure, Team Canada was sloppy at times in the U.S. victory.But lets be serious here, the team that has won 12 consecutive games in best-on-best hockey, dating back to the Vancouver 2010 Games, is looking more dangerous than both versions of the squad that has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals.Really.Good luck, everyone. ' ' '