ST. Brewers Jesus Aguilar Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Joe Maddons voice cracked with emotion. The Tampa Bay Rays are mired in the second-longest skid in the major leagues this season, yet they suffered a much greater loss with the death of club senior adviser Don Zimmer. "We lost a good buddy tonight," Maddon, fighting back tears, said Wednesday following Tampa Bays ninth consecutive defeat, 5-4 to the Miami Marlins. "Im going to miss his advice ... his feistiness and fire. He was about winning, doing whatever it takes to win." Donovan Solano hit a three-run homer off David Price and closer Steve Cishek escaped a ninth-inning jam the help the Marlins hold on for their third straight win in a four-game home-and-home series between the intrastate rivals. Tampa Bays losing streak is the teams longest in nearly five years and is becoming more frustrating by the day. The Rays hit into three double plays for the second straight night, are 0-for-their-last 31 with runners in scoring position and will match the longest skid in the majors this season if they drop Thursdays series finale at Tropicana Field. Boston dropped 10 straight from May 15 to 25, with Tampa Bay handing them the last three losses in the streak. The Rays havent won since. But that wasnt the focal point in a sombre clubhouse following the game. Maddon said he learned of Zimmers death during the third inning and informed his coaches, but not the players. Word gradually spread through the dugout, where third-base coach Tom Foley was spotted weeping before slipping into Zimmers No. 66 jersey and wearing it for the remainder of the game in memory of the former player, coach and manager, whose career in baseball spanned more than 60 years. "The organization wanted to do it and it fell on me," Foley said. "Major League Baseball decided to have one of the coaches wear it. I was honoured to do it." Star third baseman Evan Longoria said Zimmer will be missed on and off the field. "Zim was a great man, and there are no words to explain what he brought to us and what he meant to me. Its just been a rough go for us, and this kind of is the icing on the cake, so to speak," Longoria said. "I know that he would want us to continue on and just honour him by doing all the things that he preached to us, playing the game the right way and playing the game hard. Going out there on a daily basis and really caring." Casey McGehee had an RBI single for the Marlins, who won 1-0 on Tuesday on a bases-loaded walk. The sputtering Rays, coming off an 0-8 trip that was the worst in team history, tumbled 14 games under .500 at 23-37 -- the second-worst record in baseball. The last time they were this far below the break-even point was the end of 2007, the final season they were called the Devil Rays. The team has made the playoffs as the Rays four of the past six seasons, but are in the midst of a horrendous offensive slump thats seen them bat .217 on the trip to Toronto, Boston and Miami and score 21 runs during their longest skid since dropping 11 straight in September 2009. Tom Koehler (5-5) pitched five innings for the Marlins, allowing three first-inning runs on Ben Zobrists two-run homer and a solo shot by Evan Longoria. Bryan Morris and Mike Dunn shut down the Rays over the next three innings, and Cishek earned his 13th save in 14 opportunities. The Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth on an error, a high-bouncing bloop double and a walk, but only scored once. Cishek walked Longoria intentionally to reload the bases with two outs, then got James Loney to pop out to end the game. "It got a little hairy there at the end. Ive seen that happen here, at this place, the high choppers and the bloops," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Exactly how that ninth inning happened, Ive seen that a lot here," Redmond added. "But fortunately, Shek kept it together and was able to pitch through it, and got a couple big outs and locked down a win." Price (4-5) allowed five runs -- one earned -- and nine hits in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out 11 and walked none, but paid for Longorias third-inning error and gave up Solanos first home run of the season. After being limited to two runs over the last four games of their woeful trip, the first three batters scored against Koehler, who walked David DeJesus before giving up home runs to Zobrist and Longoria, who has just one other extra-base hit in his past 23 games. The Marlins rebounded with four unearned runs in the third, the first scoring when Longoria failed to hold onto the ball after fielding a grounder at third base and applying a tag on a sliding Marcell Ozuna for what should have been the final out of the inning. The miscue left Miami with runners at first and third. Solano hit his homer to left field on the next pitch for a 5-3 lead. NOTES: Tampa Bay OF Wil Myers, who will be in a cast for five to six weeks due to a stress fracture in his right wrist, is hopeful that the time off will also help a sore left wrist that he hurt early in the season. ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson (elbow surgery) says he will make his first rehab start Saturday for Single-A Charlotte. He expects to be back before the All-Star break. ... C Ryan Hanigan, on the DL with right hamstring tightness, caught Hellicksons bullpen session. ... Miami RHP Carter Capps (strained right elbow) got a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, who agreed with team doctors that the reliever can resume playing catch after a month of rest. ... Marlins SS Rafael Furcal (left hamstring strain) will move his rehab assignment from Single-A Jupiter to Double-A Jacksonville on Thursday. Brewers Stephen Vogt Jersey . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season. Brewers Jonathan Schoop Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. http://www.cheapbrewersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=brewers-jhoulys-chacin-jersey . For the Bombers it has been a combination of things coming together at the most inappropriate moments in time. Quarterback, injuries, Canadian talent or depth and leadership are all issues. Trust me when I say being a Bomber is no fun right now in a city that embraces football the way Winnipeg does. While Buck Pierce will be getting another shot, I think Max Hall does deserve another opportunity.MINSK, Belarus - When Troy Brouwer returned from a vacation during the NHLs Olympic break, he tuned in to the final few games of Team Canadas run to gold in Sochi. Understandably, he liked what he saw. "I think the Olympic team did an absolutely amazing job at showing how Canadians play hockey," said Brouwer. Brouwer wasnt the only one. Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett saw not just a winning style of hockey but something to emulate. As coach of Canadas team at the world championship, he wants to follow the path blazed by Mike Babcock and the stars who went undefeated at the Olympics. "I look at the blueprint from a few months ago in Sochi, the way Canada played: A hard, Canadian style of hockey," Tippett said in a recent phone interview. "If we can go and try to continue that mindset for our team, I think that would be something that would be crazy not to look at." It would be crazy to think any team can duplicate that effort in perfect fashion. Canadas team for the IIHF world hockey championship wont have any players from Sochi and this is a different tournament altogether. Most of the other countries are in the same boat, absent the top-end NHL talent from the Olympics, save for Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Bobrovsky returning for Russia after its disappointing run and others like Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic and Gustav Nyquist of Sweden also going to Minsk. But that doesnt change Canaadas plan for this tournament, which begins with Fridays opener against France. Kyle Turris isnt Sidney Crosby, Morgan Rielly isnt Shea Weber and neither James Reimer nor Ben Scrivens is Carey Price, but the hope is that talented NHL players in their own right can get the same job done. "I think your team has to have its own identity, but you look at what that team did and the success it had on the big ice and with NHL players, theres certainly some things that you can use on our team," Tippett said. "The team that played in Sochi, you could say was one of the best teams in the history of the game, the way they played. You realize we dont have that same team, but the way they played and their commitment to playing as a team was as strong as anything weve seen in a long time. That part of the game can certainly translate into our team." The first steps are there. General manager Rob Blake along with assistant GMs Ron Hextall, Brad Treliving and Brad Pascall, like Steve Yzerman and his management team several months ago, looked for forward pairs to put together. Tippett, like Babcock, believes in having a left- and a right-handed shot on each defensive pairing. In terms of selecting the roster, Blake reiterated the obvious: that unlike the Olympics, an event every healthy player called wants badly to play in, the world championship is more selective. It has been a long NHL season and its too much of a grind to expect Sochi Olympianss to jump at the chance to play three extra weeks in Minsk. Brewers Robin Yount Jersey. "You go down to the tier of the younger guys and you get your commitments," Blake said in a phone interview. "You kind of work around. But Ron Hextall, Brad Treliving and Brad Pascall, the one thing they were pretty passionate about from the beginning is the guys that want to be there, those are the ones that you want." That group includes three Maple Leafs: Reimer, Rielly and centre Nazem Kadri, who played on the wing in Canadas exhibition game Tuesday in Zurich. It also includes in defenceman Braydon Coburn and forwards Brayden Schenn and Matt Read, three Flyers who just wrapped up a seven-game series loss to the Rangers. The crown jewel of the roster might be one of the final additions: Colorado Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon, the likely Calder Trophy winner who impressed in his first season and first Stanley Cup playoff series. MacKinnon is on the team at age 18 like Crosby was in 2006, when the Penguins star had eight goals and eight assists in nine games. Even before MacKinnon it was a young team thanks to defencemen Erik Gudbranson, Ryan Ellis, Tyler Myers and Rielly and forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Sean Monahan and Mark Scheifele. Jason Chimera of the Washington Capitals, who won gold at the 2007 worlds in Moscow, is Canadas oldest player at the age of 35. Chimeras Capitals teammates Brouwer and Joel Ward are also on the roster. Chimera, a candidate to be captain, is important to Tippetts plan for the tournament because he knows what its all about. "The importance of the players who have been over there before and their experiences, especially relating that to our younger players that havent had that experience, is going to be a very important part of our preparation," Tippett said. The one thing about Canadas relative international inexperience is that its not a rarity here. Aside from Norway, Switzerland and Latvia, which feature national teams with major Sochi flavour, most teams have significant turnover from the Olympics. Tippett didnt see that as something Canada can take advantage of. From his experience as an assistant in this tournament, he knows what it means for European players and countries. "For the players that play in those leagues over there, this is their Stanley Cup playoffs," Tippett said. "If they win, their country puts a lot of onus on this tournament, and even though the players on our team would look at the Stanley Cup as the greatest thing to play for, you almost have to have that mind-set that the world championships, for a lot of these players over there, thats their Stanley Cup. "Well make sure that our players know the importance it is to those other teams to win and our competitiveness should be at the same level if were going to have a chance to win." --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '