estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and a

TORONTO -- In a year full of disappointment, the Toronto Blue Jays were left to focus on small victories as they closed out a regular season with games that became rather meaningless several weeks ago. They were resigned to the role of spoiler and nearly put a significant dent in Tampa Bays post-season hopes on Sunday, with a furious comeback attempt coming just short as the Rays held on for a 7-6 victory. Tampa Bay locked up a tiebreaker game appearance with the win. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, were packing their lockers after a last-place finish in the American League East. The Rays jumped out to an early six-run lead but the Blue Jays would not give in. Toronto manager John Gibbons was impressed that his team refused to quit. "The guys hung in there and we made a run late, they had a shot," he said. "So Im pretty proud of them for that." At the start of the day, Tampa Bay (91-71) and the Texas Rangers were one game behind the Cleveland Indians in the race for the two wild-card spots. Cleveland defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-1 to win the first wild card and Texas beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2. The Rays will play the Rangers in a tiebreaker game Monday afternoon. Toronto (74-88) finished last in the A.L. East division and fell to 40-41 on the year at Rogers Centre. It was the first season since 2004 that Toronto had a sub-.500 record at home. Expectations were high for the Blue Jays in 2013 after an off-season makeover. Injuries and underperformance prevented them from making strides and they barely improved on last seasons 73-89 record. "It was difficult, the last two years actually," said Toronto reliever Darren Oliver, who plans to retire. "But thats why you play this game on the field, not on paper. Hopefully these guys can get it right one of these days because I think the fans are really hungry for a winning team. I mean I know if I was a fan, I would be." The Blue Jays have not been to the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1993. "I always look at it any time youre packing your stuff up and not playing in a post-season, its a wasted year. For me personally, obviously not for the organization," said designated hitter Mark DeRosa. "A lot of good things happened for some young guys. "But overall the ultimate goal was to win the A.L. East and find a way into the playoffs and we didnt accomplish it so I would say its a disappointment." Blue Jays starter Todd Redmond (4-3) struck out David DeJesus to open the game before running into trouble. The Rays put six runs on the board in the inning. Redmond recorded just two outs in the shortest start of his career. Tampa Bay starter Matt Moore (17-4) struggled with his command in the first inning. He walked three batters but escaped unscathed by striking out DeRosa with two runners on base. The Blue Jays chipped away at the lead in the sixth inning. DeRosa energized the crowd of 44,551 with a two-run double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by J.P. Arencibia. Moore was pulled with one out in the frame. He allowed three earned runs, six hits, three walks and had four strikeouts. Oliver received a standing ovation when he came out in the seventh inning. The 42-year-old left-hander retired the Rays in order. In the bottom half of the frame, Jose Reyes scored on a one-out double by Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C. Gose was held at third base and Joel Peralta relieved Jake McGee. Peralta walked Moises Sierra to load the bases, drawing a visit by Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. Home-plate umpire Paul Schrieber came to the mound and Maddon started to argue with him and was ejected. Pinch-hitter Adam Lind then grounded into an inning-ending double play. Maddon wouldnt reveal whether he was upset about ball and strike calls, only saying "I had enough." He did say he gave a message to his infielders. "I said, Listen. Thats it. Im out of this game, I know you guys are going to be fine. Im going to catch the rest of this game with a glass of wine in my hand and were going to win it." Tampa Bay very nearly lost it. The Blue Jays made it a one-run game in the eighth inning. Reyes drove in Ryan Langerhans with a single off Fernando Rodney and Gose followed with an RBI single of his own that scored Kevin Pillar. Lawrie drew a two-out walk to load the bases but Moises Sierra followed with a strikeout. The Blue Jays put a runner on in the ninth but Rodney got Ryan Goins on a lineout to end the game. It was Rodneys 37th save of the year. Gibbons gave several relievers some work on the final game of the season. Oliver, Wagner, Luis Perez, Chad Jenkins, Jeremy Jeffress, Steve Delabar and Sergio Santos all made appearances. Now the focus will shift to general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who will likely have another busy off-season ahead. The players remained optimistic that they can bounce back in 2014. "We had a lot of people that thought we were going to win the World Series," Lawrie said. "But it takes a little bit of time to build chemistry. We had a little bit of trouble keeping some guys healthy, myself included. Reyes went down, the pitching staff went down a little bit. So you know, youve got to have your guys to make that push." Notes: The Toronto players came out of the dugout in the third inning to wave their hats in appreciation for the fans support this season. ... A video of Olivers career highlights was played on the stadium big screen in the fourth inning. Oliver came out of the bullpen and stood on the warning track to watch. ... The Blue Jays season attendance total rose to 2,536,562, an increase of 436,899 from 2012. ... The game took three hours 21 minutes to play. Butch Goring Jersey . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Tiger Williams Jersey . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. http://www.kingsauthentic.com/customized/ .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil. Marty Mcsorley Jersey . Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Wayne Gretzky Jersey .com) - Former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya is joining the Major League Baseball Players Association staff as a senior advisor to executive director Tony Clark.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - There may not be an all- Williams semifinal at the Australian Open, but two Americans will square off as Serena Williams and Madison Keys won their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday. The reigning U.S. Open champion Serena cruised past Dominika Cibulkova in 64 minutes, while Keys continued her impressive run with a three-set win over a her childhood idol Venus at Melbourne Park. Serena looks poised for her sixth Aussie title and 19th major overall after running through last years Aussie runner-up Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-2. The 11th-seeded Cibulkova stood no chance against the focused superstar, who fired 15 aces and 31 winners in the lopsided match. The world No. 1 Serena made her win look easy Wednesday despite suffering from a bad cold. Ive been sick the past few days, and its just getting worse and worse, but hopefully it will get better, she said. I heard theres a virus going around with a lot of the players, and I think I caught it. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Keys, who had never traveled past the third round at a Grand Slam, battled through a thigh injury and overcame 45 unforced errors to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over her much-older countrymate Venus. The unseeded Keys cruised in the first set but struggled with the thigh in the second. Venus took that set with an ace, and the third fittingly went back-and-forth. The former top-ranked star Venus, who was seeded 18th and came into the match 9-0 on the year, twice went up a break, and Keys promptly answered with one of her own.dddddddddddd Up 5-4 on Venus serve, Keys closed things out with four consecutive points at love. On match point, she caught Venus on her heels with a deep forehand that was returned into the net. Its amazing, you just have to embrace the moment, Keys said after the match. And I get to enjoy another moment next round. Skys the limit, Venus said of Keys. There is no limit on what you can achieve. No one can stop you. Sometimes you may not win every match, but theres a lot of them you can win, said the seven-time Grand Slam champ. Really, the skys the limit for her and anyone out there. At 34-years-old, Venus was trying to become the oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in decades. She had her sights set on a potential eighth major and a Grand Slam matchup with her younger sister for the first time since the 2009 Wimbledon final. Venus lost to Serena in the 2003 all-sibling Aussie Open final. Serena and Keys have never met before, while the Thursdays other womens semifinal will pit second-seeded former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova against 10th-seeded fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova is 5-0 lifetime against the left-handed Makarova, including quarterfinal wins at the last two Aussie Opens. Sharapova owns five major titles, including last years French Open and the 2008 Aussie. Shes also a two-time runner-up in Melbourne. 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