loss - theyre at home to Atlanta - Toronto would clinch its s

ST. 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. Cheap Ken Giles Jersey . 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In a matter of days, he went from unwanted to wanted, from fired to hired, from discarded by the Philadelphia Eagles with reputation tarnished to rock star treatment and a new fat contract from the Washington Redskins.TORONTO - The Raptors have won seven of eight games, with just four remaining on the docket before the playoffs begin, but their head coach has been reluctant to celebrate his teams bittersweet late-season success. Thanks in large part to a soft schedule and their improved efficiency on offence, they are finding ways to pull out games that they have probably deserved to lose. In that way, progress has been made, as Raptor teams of the past would universally find creative and increasingly frustrating ways to squander winnable games. The red flag is routed in their recent slippage on defence, Dwane Caseys bread and butter. With the postseason around the corner, Casey knows that mental and physical toughness is about to become more important than ever. He cant help but be concerned with what hes seen. "If we havent taught defence by now we shouldnt be coaching," he said following a Thursday afternoon practice session. "Its a mindset right now, its a focus. Its this time of year throughout the league, its an epidemic." Over the last two games, Toronto has allowed Milwaukee and Philadelphia - the NBAs two worst clubs - to score 212 points combined, shooting exactly 50 per cent from the field, with each team exceeding 60 points in the painted area. On the season, the Raptors are surrendering 102.0 points per 100 possessions, the eighth-best mark in the association. Since Mar. 25 - a span in which theyve played nine games, six against sub-.500 competition - that number has ballooned to 107.2, ranking 17th, below league average. Offensively, theyve picked up the slack. Over that same stretch of nine games, the Raptors have scored 4.1 points more per 100 possessions than their regular season mark. Simply put, their shots are falling. Theyve connected on 44 per cent of their three-point attempts in the last four contests. That said, theyve made it this far with their commitment to defence. Thats what Casey knows, thats what he preaches and for whatever reason, his team has struggled to regain their identity at the most inconvenient time of the year. "Weve just got to get back on track," DeMar DeRozan said, following Torontos 125-114 win over the lowly 76ers on Wednesday. "Weve got to get out of whatever were not doing on the defensive end before the playoffs start. Just clean that up and use the next four games for that. Understand what were not doing and get back to the basics of what got us to this point." "We saw it on film, we showed the film, we talked about it, went through it this morning," Casey added the next day. "Its something thats going to have to be internal. Guys have to decide individually, Imma guard my yard and Im not going to let a guy blow by me." For the most part thats been the most glaring issue, containing speed and quickness on the perimeter, something the Raptors have been burned by consistently throughout the latter part of the season. Its easy to look at the 126 points Torronto has given up in the paint over the past two games and assign blame to the teams interior players but most of those buckets have come as a result of blow-bys and mental lapses on the perimeter.dddddddddddd "Its a lot of things that factor into it and weve got to understand and learn that weve got to bring the same effort and focus every night," Casey said. "Its not something you teach. I mean, were not going to change defensive fundamentals. You cant drill it, its too physical. So its a mindset of understanding where we are in the season and understanding what were playing for." "Its not a lack of energy. Guys are playing hard, were just not focused on what we need to do and what were trying to do scheme-wise and playing smart." Surely some of the drop off can be attributed to injuries and having to shift rotations. Kyle Lowry returned to the court Wednesday after a three-game absence with a knee injury while Amir Johnson, the teams most valuable help defender, has missed most of the last four contests nursing his sore ankle. Johnson participated in a light practice Thursday and is nearing a return to game action, though the coaching staff will be cautious with his playing time when he is able to suit up, as early as Friday at home to the Knicks. "Its a day-to-day thing," Casey said of Johnsons status. "He probably could have went [Wednesday] night if it was totally needed but we need to get him healthy." With or without Johnson, the Raptors will be pursuing history when they host New York Friday evening. With a win, or Nets loss - theyre at home to Atlanta - Toronto would clinch its second division title in franchise history, while also matching a team record for most victories in a season with their 47th. Theyll also have an opportunity to go 15 games above the .500 mark for the first time in their 19-year existence. "That would definitely be an accomplishment," Johnson admitted, "but our main focus is just going game-by-game until we get to the top and then we can celebrate all our accomplishments." Meanwhile, the Knicks are a desperate team, sitting two games behind the Hawks for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Well rested after four days off, they could present a challenge for Toronto and its ailing defence. "We expect nothing but theyre best shot," Casey said. "Theyre going to come out guns blazing, playing hard, as we should after our defensive performance [Wednesday] night. So I expect both teams to come out, I think itll be a hard fought game but weve got to play hard and smart." DeRozan and Lowry are also chasing history as their career seasons come to a close. Lowry needs just one three-pointer to tie Morris Petersons single season franchise record, previously set in the 2005-06 campaign, while DeRozan is 10 made free throws away from matching Chris Boshs mark of 504 from 2008-09. ' ' '