ies at Pallekele, which will offer a more equable surface than the spinning top expected in Galle. All bodes well.I think he has always improved, each year hes played he has

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Baltimore Orioles will look to right-hander Yovani Gallardo to pick up where Ubaldo Jimenez left off when they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a three-game series Tuesday at Tropicana Field.Jimenez led the Orioles to a 7-3 win Monday with the teams first complete game in two years. He retired the last 16 batters he faced.Gallardo (4-7) has struggled this season but showed signs of improvement in his last start against Toronto when he gave up three runs in the first inning but held the Blue Jays scoreless for the next five innings to register a quality start. He has lost his last four decisions and the Orioles have dropped his last five starts.Orioles manager Buck Showalter is hopeful Jimenezs start can energize the rest of the rotation.I think the guys in the rotation are starting to step up and we need them to because these are important games now, Showalter said. Gallardo pitched well his last time out and I think hell pitch well again.Baltimores offense is also starting to find its way again, especially first baseman Chris Davis, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI on Monday. Davis is 6-for-15 with two home runs and five RBI in his past four games as he tries to break out of a long slump.These guys have been picking me up all season and Im hoping that I can keep this going, Davis said. Im starting to feel good at the plate again.Baltimore will have to figure out a way to get to Rays starter Jake Odorizzi (9-5), arguably the best pitcher in the league since mid-July.Odorizzi is 6-0 since the All-Star break and the Rays have won seven out of his past nine starts. He has a 1.89 ERA since the break, which is the lowest in the American League.Im just feeling confident in everything out there right now, Odorizzi told MLB.com. I have a feel of all my pitches. Its nice to go out there and get my work in every six days.The right-handers recent surge started with a win against the Orioles on July 17, when Odorizzi gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings and struck out seven.Tampa Bay may be without third baseman Evan Longoria, who is day-to-day with soreness in his right hand after being hit by a pitch Monday. X-rays on the hand were negative.It never feels good when you get hit in the hand, but we got lucky, Longoria said. X-rays negative is always a great thing. I wouldnt say I 100 percent expect to play (Tuesday). I dont know how its going to feel. I was trying to stay in the game but I felt like I was becoming a liability out there -- especially defensively -- because I didnt feel like I could grip the ball. But if I feel good enough to play I will. Jorge Torres Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Rafael Marquez Jersey . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. http://www.mexiconationalshop.us/Hirving-Lozano-Mexico-Jersey-Soccer/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Orbelin Pineda Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Hector Moreno Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Steven Smith leans down the wicket to a Steve OKeefe ball drifting towards leg stump. Australias captain closes the face to whip through the leg side but does so too early, drawing an edge in the direction of slip. It is three days before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka.As OKeefe celebrates his little victory in the Pallekele nets, Smith chides himself tersely. Thats shit batting, he blurts. Later, he runs past a Nathan Lyon delivery angled across him from round the wicket, and later still cops a blow to the inner thigh from a Mitchell Marsh effort ball that pops off the surface.These moments are apt showings of Australias vulnerability in subcontinental conditions; moments they must avoid to win this series, and next years in India. Smith has preached adaptability since he was formally appointed captain after the loss of the Ashes in England last year. Now he and his team face the first real test of their resolve to do so. Save for a series win over lowly Bangladesh in 2006, Australia have won one of 15 Asian Tests since 2004.Wed like to turn that around, Smith said in Pallekele. I think weve won one game out of our last 15 in the subcontinent. Its about making sure you have a plan from ball one as soon as you get out there and each individual is different. Ive seen a lot of the guys practicing the sweep shot, guys coming down the wicket, batting deep in the crease and things like that. Its about making sure youre doing it from ball one and not waiting until youre 15 or 20, because you can make a mistake before that.So its about doing it from ball one and making sure you have that plan and youre doing it the whole time. I think thats how you have to play in the subcontinent. You have to take different parts of the game, different tempos of the game along with you as well. Therell be times when they want to attack and you might get more scoring options and times when they want to be a bit more defensive. You have to be patient with that at the same time. The guys know what to expect, weve trained really hard being here the past two weeks and were ready to go.It cannot be said that the Australians are underprepared. They have been in Sri Lanka for two weeks, with some players adding further to their acclimatisation by spending time in Chennai beforehand. They have played two tour matches, an internal trial and a comprehensive win over a Sri Lankan invitational side. They have been actively assisted by the advice of Muttiah Muralitharan, to the evident chagrin of the hosts. They have a squad tailored to the conditions, with OKeefe offering a style of bowling not dissimilar to that of Rangana Herath. And they are playing the first Test of the series at Pallekele, which will offer a more equable surface than the spinning top expected in Galle. All bodes well.I think he has always improved, each year hes played he has improved, Smith said of OKeefe. Looking back to the UAE tour [against Pakistan in 2014], we bowled first on both of those occasions and were behind the game quite often. Its always a different game when you get in front of the game and theres a bit of pressure on the batterss to score runs and play with guys around the bat and those kinds of things.ddddddddddddI guess we never really got in that kind of position so we never saw that side of Stephen. But I think he has progressed really well. Hes probably bowling as well as Ive seen him bowl. In the tour match he bowled beautifully. He bowled the same ball and some skidded on and some spun. Quite similar to Rangana Herath, the way he bowls in these conditions. So if he gets an opportunity, Im sure hell do well. Another important role player will be Marsh, the allrounder who has made a promising start to his Test career without making the runs expected of a No. 6 batsman. Smith is hoping his top order can dig in for the long, substantial innings that can allow Marsh to give free rein to his expansive hitting power later on. Equally, he is looking forward to using Marshs lively fast medium for impactful spells of the kind seen in the recent triangular series final against the West Indies in Barbados last month.Hes a big strong lad and he plays best when hes looking to hit the ball, Smith said. He gets himself in a little bit of trouble, as weve seen in one-day cricket, when he sort of just noodles them around. When he looks to hit the ball and he gets the man at long-off back and hit down the ground for one and have that intent to score, hes been pretty successful. So theres no reason why he cant do the same in Test cricket.There is a second variable to Australias fortunes over the next three Test matches, that of Sri Lankas transitional team. While the conditions will pose challenges for Smiths men, he is also conscious of making sure the visitors assert themselves at the right times. As the worlds No. 1 Test team, they have the capacity to dominate at times, provided they are the right ones.They are in a bit of a transition, as are we in a way, Smith said. Weve had a lot of retirements recently as well. Theyve lost a lot of runs in Mahela and Kumar, they were incredibly experienced players. Angelo [Mathews] is probably the only one now who has played over 50 Tests in their top six. Theyve got a pretty inexperienced line-up and well try to get on top of that as much as we can.As for Smiths own batting, there is something to his style that appears suited to these conditions, as he showed with a series of useful scores on Australias ignoble 2013 tour of India. By match eve he had ironed out those earlier kinks and misjudgments, nailing his drives, cuts and defensive dead bats with far greater surety than a couple days before.I enjoy playing cricket in the subcontinent its always a great challenge, Smith said. The ball generally does something quite regularly in the game, whether its reverse swing or spin. Its a great challenge to try and bat for long periods and get big scores. I havent got a hundred [here] yet so it would be nice to tick that off - this week would be good. Its going to be a tough series but were all looking forward to it, and hopefully I can have some success along the way. ' ' '