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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Thanks in part to pinch-hitter Jerry Sands, the Tampa Bay Rays are feeling a little better about themselves. The reserve utility man came off the bench to provide the game-winning hit for the second straight game, delivering a two-run homer that helped the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Monday night. Sands first homer since Sept. 20, 2011, when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, came off Brian Matusz and snapped a 3-3 tie. Yunel Escobar hit a solo homer in the first and Ryan Hanigan added a two-run drive in the fourth for a 3-0 lead against Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen. "Its big," Sands after the Rays won for the fourth time in five games following a stretch in which they dropped 14 of 15 and fell to last place in the AL East with the worst record in the majors. "Obviously this team has been struggling to get some wins lately, so its fun to be the guy that does it for the team." Adam Jones homered for the second straight day for Baltimore, hitting a two-run shot in the sixth off rookie Jake Odorizzi, who allowed two runs and three hits over 5 1-3 innings. Delmon Young had a pinch-hit homer in the ninth off Juan Carlos Oviedo, who got the last three outs for his first save. Sands, who broke three bats while singling in the eighth inning to drive home the winning run in a victory at Houston on Sunday, went deep on a 2-0 pitch after Matusz replaced Darren ODay (2-1), who departed with a runner on and two outs. The 26-year-old, who has five career homers, was 1 for 9 as a pinch-hitter with Tampa Bay before the past two at-bats. "This guys done a nice job off the bench," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I know hes going to be aggressive ... and I know hes not going to be intimidated by the situation." The Orioles had just tied it in the top of the eighth with a run charged to Grant Balfour, loading the bases with two singles and a walk before Nelson Cruz delivered an RBI infield single. Baltimore nearly took the lead when pinch-hitter Steve Pearce lined a pitch down the left field line, but the ball landed foul. Two pitches later, he grounded into a force play, letting Jake McGee (3-0) off the hook. "Its such a fine line. Stevies ball barely misses the chalk line there," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Of course McGee is one the better relief pitchers in the league. Our guys have been doing a good job out the pen, too. Its frustrating." The Orioles announced before the game that two-time All-Star catcher Matt Wieters, who hasnt played since May 10, will have season-ending surgery on his right elbow. Showalter said the team is hopeful Wieters, who was examined Monday by Dr. James Andrews, will be ready for opening day next year. The Rays nearly wasted the second straight solid start for Odorizzi, who held St. Louis hitless until two outs of the fifth inning of a 1-0 loss last Tuesday. Matt Holliday homered for the only run of the game, Tampa Bays third consecutive shutout loss during a stretch in which they went 31 straight innings without scoring. Since ending the streak, the Rays have scored 24 runs in five games. "We won a really tough game (Sunday), we won a really tough game here tonight," Madden said. "When you start believing youre going to win games late, thats a good feeling to get. Thats when you start getting good again, and we did." Odorizzi allowed Hardys single and a walk with two outs in the second, escaping the jam by fanning Ryan Flaherty. The 24-year-old right-hander retired eight straight after walking Nick Markakis in the third, with the Orioles right fielder interrupting the string with a double leading off the sixth. Jones hit his 12th homer one out later, ending Odorizzis night and trimming Baltimores deficit to 3-2. NOTES: A moment of silence was observed before the game in honour of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died Monday. ... The Orioles plan to activate RHP Miguel Gonzalez (strained right oblique) from the 15-day DL to start Tuesday nights game against Tampa Bay LHP Erik Bedard. Both are 3-4 this season. ... Showalter agrees with Maddon that a team shouldnt lose a replay challenge when the contested call stands instead of being confirmed. "A great idea," Showalter said. "Hes right. A lot of times they just say theres nothing conclusive. You may be right, but we cant overturn it. So, why should you be penalized for that?" ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson (right elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his third minor league rehab start Tuesday, when Triple-A Durham visits Louisville. Yeezy Boost Clearance . - Mike Zimmer has brought a demanding style to the Minnesota Vikings. 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After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports.TORONTO -- Rudy Gay had no idea how bad his vision was until he went to renew his drivers license last year and nearly failed the test. "They said Do you wear glasses? I said no. They said, Well you need to wear glasses," Gay recounted, with a laugh. He wasnt laughing at the time. For a guy who makes his living tossing a ball through a hoop from a distance, the news was rather disconcerting. So after a brief and unsuccessful experiment with corrective goggles, the Toronto Raptors small forward underwent surgery to correct his vision during an off-season that was otherwise devoted to improving his shooting, and beefing up his body. One day into training camp, and Gay said hes feeling like a much-improved player than the one who led the Raptors in scoring last season but also had career lows in both field goal and three-point percentage. He joked that any improvement in his game this season will be credited solely to his better vision. "Honestly, I was talking to my trainer, and he said if you come out and have a great season its going to be because of your eye, not because of the work you put in," Gay said. The 27-year-old Gay wouldnt wear contact lenses, as he had an aversion to touching his eyes. The Raptors medical staff provided him with prescription goggles but he wasnt keen on those either. So he underwent surgery early in the summer, which he said wasnt fun. "Recovery was horrible, it was terrible," Gay said. "Probably (lasted) about two weeks. First week I couldnt see, second week I could. And then months and months of putting eye drops in. "But it was one of those things that needed to happen if I wanted to continue my career." Gay averaged 19.5 points to top Toronto in scoring after he was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in a mid-season trade. The Raptors went 16-30 prior to the trade, and finished 18-18 with Gay on the roster. Still, he was far from his best, shooting a career-low 40.8 per cent -- down from his career high of 47.1 per cent two seasons earlier -- and 31 per cent from three-point range. So he committed every day of the off-season, he said, to being a better shooter. "I started from the basics. . . form, worked on my form. From there just rhythm, shooting, shooting, shooting, becoming comfortable with it. "I made about 300 shots a day, sometimes more, on a light day probably 300." Gay has been criticized for taking low-percentage shots -- namely long two-pointers. But at the urging of Raptors coach Dwane Casey, he sounds like hes starting to see the light when it comes to shot selection. Casey said hes been drilling Gay and Torontos other sharpshooter DeMar DeRozan about higher percentage shots. "Corner threes, paint, get to the rim, get to the free throw line, and subsequently shooting percentage is going to go up,&" Casey said.dddddddddddd Gay spent a lot of summer working on his three-point shooting, and pointed out that at the end of Monday mornings practice, the entire team was doing a three-point drills. "I got it from the coaches that were going to be a team thats going to get a lot of threes up, and obviously if it comes from the top, youve got to practise it," he said. Gay also said he put on 20 pounds of muscle working with his trainer Dustin Gray back home in Baltimore. "Hopefully you can see it," Gay said laughing, puffing out his chest ever so slightly. "Maybe I should do some push-ups or something. "My trainer basically lived with me." The weight gain, said Casey, was by design, and with the intention of using Gay at power forward rather than small forward. "We talked about it, because when you look at the Eastern Conference, youve got Carmelo, LeBron, big threes playing fours, and he wants to do that and it fits us really well too, him going to the four," Casey said. "What he doesnt want to do is gain a lot of unneeded weight, just some good solid (muscle), which hes done. Hes really solid in his upper body. You can see it, it looks good. If it helps him psychologically, making contact, getting to the rim, its great. "Its going to help him be in the paint a little bit more. When you get caught outside in that non-paint area, to drop that shoulder, use your body to get into the paint to create a foul, contact, and get to the free-throw line." Casey calls Gay one of the top offensive players in the league, and said the main thing missing that could make him an all-star is winning. "Winning gets you in that conversation of being one of the top players in this league," Casey said. "The league rewards winners." Granted training camp is only a day old, but Gay has seemed more at ease, cracking jokes with reporters. When someone pointed out to Casey that Gay seems happier than he did last season, the coach said everyone was. "I think theres a different vibe," Casey said. The coach said it starts with Masai Ujiri, the Raptors new president and general manager. "Masai gave them an impassioned speech (Monday) night about what he expects from them, the passion guys have to play with, leaving all the problems all the issues, check them at the door. It sets a tone, and thats been huge," Casey said. "Hes empowered everybody to do their job. The cop-outs are gone, now its about playing and having fun, and the way you have fun is by kicking peoples butts and competing." The Raptors practise at the Air Canada Centre until Thursday and then training camp moves to Halifax for two days. They open the pre-season Monday at Boston, and are back home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves next Wednesday. ' ' '