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ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – Its been almost seven years since the Blue Jays last won a series at Tropicana Field. Theyll have to capture both Wednesday and Thursday nights games to break the unbelievable skid, which has reached 19 consecutive series either lost or tied. Manager John Gibbons, who was in his first tenure as Blue Jays manager the last time the club took a series from the Rays in St. Petersburg, from April 6-8, 2007, has taken to calling the barren stadium his teams "House of Horrors." "Weve seen some crazy things happen here," said Gibbons. "They open the door. I dont know what it is. Its something and they expect it over on the other side. Theyve done it so many times, they expect it." The Blue Jays were waxed, 9-2, on Opening Day Monday, a game in which Murphys Law applied. Everything that could go wrong did, from R.A. Dickeys unimpressive outing to Jose Reyes pulling up lame with a recurrence of the hamstring inflammation that plagued him late in spring training. Even Tuesdays 4-2 victory, a game in which Toronto led 4-0 heading to the bottom of the eighth, was a nail-biter at the end. The Rays had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the ninth and the winning run at the plate. "You know its tough to win here and it usually takes nine tough innings," said Gibbons. While it may sound like an obvious, generalized comment, first baseman-designated hitter Adam Lind believes its important to play with the lead against the Rays and the sooner, the better. "Its hard to come from behind against Tampa," said Lind. "When youre in the lead, theyre out of their comfort zone and when youre running out of innings or wherever they want to be with their pitching staff where they can just tack on a run here or a run there. Its paramount to get a lead against these guys because even when its 1-0, theyre definitely in the drivers seat." There are teams that are harder to prepare for than others. There are teams that are harder to play against than others. "Its tough, man," said Lind. "You just tell by how they pitch, (pitching coach) Jim Hickey, its like we play them every game how they pitch us. They get excellent execution from their pitching staff and their whole defensive side of the ball is probably the best in the game." Challenges with the challenge Adam Lind offered the line of the season so far on the topic of managers challenges and the ramifications of the new rule. "Well, I know Bud Seligs worked his whole career to get the pace of play up and now were just back to square one," said Lind. "I enjoy that theyre going to have the calls right but I dont think anyone saw the whole, are we going to do it or not going to do it?" The issue is the stalling. Both John Gibbons and Joe Maddon have emerged from their dugouts to politely dispute a call – thats another problem, the intensity of the manager-umpire argument is all but taken away – while their video coaches review the footage. Theyre waiting for a signal from the dugout on whether to challenge. "I think thats just the way the game is going to go now," said Lind. "I guess the higher ups didnt think about that before the whole walk-out but youre going to do whatever you can to get outs or get people safe. Just like (Tuesday) with Gibby, if you still have a challenge left, you might as well use it." Happ throws a bullpen J.A. Happ, on the disabled list with a back injury, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday at Tropicana Field. "Hes feeling much better, definitely feeling good, played catch (Tuesday), threw a light side today and really feels no ill-effects from the issues with the back right now and hell progress accordingly," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "Well discuss now what the next step is, if its to get him in a game, when that will be, and progress him from there." Santos survives ninth Sergio Santos got the save in Tuesdays 4-2 win but not before the Rays put a scare into the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay brought the winning run to the plate with two out, in the person of Yunel Escobar, and had the tying run on second base after a double steal on the first pitch of the Escobar at-bat. Santos didnt bother with the base runners. Why? It all goes back to a conversation he had with Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera in 2011. "My whole thinking is Escobars the only guy that can hurt me," said Santos. "Whether there are runners on first and second or second and third, to me, in that situation is irrelevant because I know if I get my job done, which is getting the hitter out, it doesnt matter what base theyre on. "That was one of the things that Mo had stressed was not to be so preoccupied with whos on the bases and what theyre doing because the second you give some of your attention on the base runner and youre not fully with the hitter, thats when bad things can happen." . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar. . "Im excited just for a new start, just to see where things are going, to bring some kind of tradition back to the team and guys being excited about something new," the defensive back said during a conference call Monday after agreeing to stay with the Bombers rather than go to free agency next month. http://www.dortmundfcshop.com/c-33-alex ... ersey.aspx. On Friday night, after a long rain delay, he was scratched from his scheduled start. . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. . QUARTERBACKS Carson Palmer (vs Colts)Last week: 30/42, 419 yards, 2 TDsWinners of their last three and now tied for the final wild card spot in the NFC, the Cardinals are worth keeping an eye on.INDIANAPOLIS -- An off night from Paul George wasnt enough to derail the Indiana Pacers. Lance Stephenson had 20 points and 11 rebounds and centre Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 11 boards to help Indiana overcome an off night from George to improve their franchise-record home start to 11-0 with a 99-94 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night. "I think he was in the flow for most of the game," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said of Stephenson. "Lance has great will, too. Lance made sure we had energy at both ends of the floor." George, who entered the contest averaging 24.7 points a game, finished with 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting for Indiana (20-3). The 23 games are the fewest the Pacers have needed to reach 20 wins in franchise history, beating the old mark set when they started 20-7 in 2003-04. That team finished 61-21, best in franchise history. Al Jefferson had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats (10-13), who extended their losing streak in Indiana to eight games. Charlotte hasnt won on the Pacers home court since Nov. 28, 2008. Stephenson added seven assists and David West scored 14 points, George Hill had 13 and Luis Scola 11 for Indiana (20-3). Rasual Butler, playing his most significant minutes (23:47) of the season, scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. "Thats a good win against a good team that we have respect for," Vogel said. "We understood this would be a battle of a game and it was." The Pacers led 56-55 at halftime in their first game since defeating the two-time defending champion Miami Heat on Wednesday night in a rematch of last seasons Eastern Conference Finals. They trailed by 90-89 after Gerald Henderson sank a 15-foot jump shot with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter, but Stephensons layup made it 91-90 with 4:18 to play. Indiana never trailed again though it was tight until the end. "We had them where we wanted," Jefferson said. "We didnt do a great job getting back on defence. We pllayed a heck of a game.dddddddddddd We had a chance there at the end to be exactly where we wanted to against a good team. We were right there." Jefferson scored on a layup with 2:14 to pull Charlotte within 96-94, but two free throws by Hill and another by George with 8.1 seconds left sealed the victory. "They made a couple of free throws and got it up to a five-point game, but we were right there with them," Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson said. "Theyre a good defensive team. They are a team that doesnt let you get to the rim. So we tried to drag them out to the perimeter and then attack against them." Though they failed to avenge a 25-point loss to the Pacers on Nov. 26 in Charlotte in the teams other meeting this season, the Bobcats accomplished one of their goals by shutting down George. Playing their fourth-straight game without Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (broken hand), the Bobcats called on Jeff Taylor to contain the Pacers star forward. "Jeff guarded him a lot," Henderson said. "I guarded him. Hes a tough cover. He can score in every way. You have to play him physical without fouling. He missed a lot of shots tonight. Hell go get 30 tomorrow." Vogel took some of the blame for Georges off night. "He didnt get a lot of clean looks. Thats on me," Indianas coach said. PACERS-BOBCATS NOTES: The Pacers host the Pistons on Monday night before their grudge match Wednesday at Miami. The Bobcats play the Lakers on Saturday in Charlotte. ... The game was a homecoming of sorts for Cody Zeller, the Bobcats No. 4 pick in the recent draft and a former Indiana standout. Zeller, who entered the game averaging 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds, had seven points in 18:59. ... Pacers forward Danny Granger (calf injury) didnt suit up after saying earlier this week he might play against Charlotte. He hasnt played since the fifth preseason game on Oct. 15 and remains day to day. Granger missed all but five games last season with an injured left knee. ' ' '