Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Queensland 6 for 333

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays are doing very little well lately.Thanks to a torrid stretch in which they have dropped 18 of 21 games, the last-place Rays (34-50) are now 15 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. They are also seven games behind the team directly ahead of them, the fourth-place New York Yankees.However, the Rays are consistently hitting the ball well against lefties. They are batting .283 against left-handers as opposed to .229 against right-handers, and they are 11-9 against lefties, 23-41 against righties.Thus, if there is any optimism for Tampa Bay headed into the series finale against the Angels on Thursday, wrapping up a homestand that currently stands at 3-7, it is that the Rays get to face Los Angeles left-hander Hector Santiago.Santiago (5-4, 4.93 ERA) owns a career 8.38 ERA against Tampa Bay, including a 9.00 ERA in one previous start this season.The Rays counter with a young lefty of their own, rookie Blake Snell, who is 1/3 with a 3.86 ERA. He is making just his sixth career start, his first against the Angels.Los Angeles (35-50) were in a 2-12 tailspin after dropping the series opener at Tropicana Field on Monday. The Angels responded a 13-5 win Tuesday and a 7-2 victory Wednesday for their first two-game winning streak in 17 days.Wednesday was another game in which so much went wrong for the Rays early that it mattered little that the bullpen stepped up with five scoreless innings, including three innings of one-hit ball from Matt Andriese, who has pitched well since transitioning from the rotation.By the fifth inning, however, the Rays trailed 7-0, done in by three errors, matching their season high, and another ineffective outing by right-hander Drew Smyly, who is 0-6 in his last nine starts.Were not playing well. Were not pitching well, said Smyly, who said he cant wait for the All-Star break and a chance to reset things from his current slump. Hopefully the second half will go better for us.The Angels are swinging hot bats right now. They are averaging 8.7 runs per game on their current road trip while hitting .336, including a .383 average with runners in scoring position. Wednesday brought a rare bright spot from their pitching to match that, holding an opponent to two runs or fewer for just the second time in 16 games.If youre a team that wants to reach your goal, you need quality innings, said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, pleased with Jered Weaver, who held the Rays to one run on four hits over seven innings. You need a pitcher to go out and throw 200 quality innings, which is something a pitcher strives for. Thats what important. You can give a guy the ball, let him go out and get beat up and give you 200 innings, and thats going to have a minimum positive effect on the outcome of your season.Both teams have one more series before the All-Star break. The Rays go to Boston, hoping to find some positive momentum to take into the break, while the Angels go to Baltimore, aiming to close out their road trip with more hitting and more wins. Nvapormax Plus Deutschland . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Nike Vapormax Plus Bestellen . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. http://www.vapormaxschuhe.de/vapormax-herren-deutschland.html . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Vapormax Schwarz Kaufen . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Vapormax Weiß Deutsch . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Queensland 6 for 333 (Khawaja 147*, Neser 59*) v Western AustraliaScorecard Fresh off a match-winning 145 in the day-night Test against South Africa, Usman Khawaja struck another pink-ball ton to lead Queensland to 6 for 333 against Western Australia in their Sheffield Shield game in Perth.Khawaja finished the day unbeaten on 147 and took his team to a position of strength despite several batsmen - Marnus Labuschange (21), Sam Heazlett (12), Jack Wildermuth (12) and Chris Hartley (17) - failing to convert their starts.Matt Renshaw, the 20-year old opener who made his Test debut last month in Adeelaide, and allrounder Michael Neser offered their captain better support.dddddddddddd Renshaw added 69 runs for the second wicket with Khawaja, helping the team recover from the loss of Joe Burns in the fourth over while Neser came in with the score on 6 for 231 and struck an unbeaten 59 off 72 balls. Queensland racked up 85 runs in the last 16 overs of the day.For Western Australia, fast bowlers Josh Nicholas, Simon Mackin and David Moody picked up two wickets each. ' ' '