ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Splitting a four-game series felt pretty good to the Texas Rangers. "You can see how everythings starting to fall on track," said Elvis Andrus, who drove in three runs in the 8-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. "Everybodys feeling better, relaxed out there. Our pitchings doing great ... thats what were looking for." The split left the Rangers tied with the Rays for the ALs top wild-card spot. The Rangers won the season series with the Rays 4-3, earning home-field advantage should the teams finish in a tie for the two wild-card spots. They each have 10 games left. The Cleveland Indians pulled within a half-game of the leaders by beating Houston 2-1 in 11 innings. Andrus said Thursdays game was a must-win for Texas, which carried a seven-game losing streak into the series. "Yesterday (a 4-3 loss in 12 innings) was a tough loss, so to come back today and win the way we did, that was huge," he said. Yu Darvish won for the first time in seven starts since Aug. 12, surviving a 40-pitch first inning in which he hit a batter and walked three, falling behind 2-0. Darvish (13-9) made it through five innings despite walking six, throwing 109 pitches. "When he had to make a pitch, he made a pitch," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Sometimes you have to figure out ways to get things done when youre not at your very best or even at your minimal, and he did that tonight." Mitch Moreland, Andrus and Alex Rios homered off Matt Moore in the third inning to put the Rangers ahead to stay. Andrus drove in two runs with an infield single in the fourth, stretching the lead to 6-2. Craig Gentry had four of the Rangers 16 hits and three of their five stolen bases, the most against the Rays this season. "The way we ran the bases tonight, the at-bats we put together, when we start doing that throughout the lineup, thats when we play good baseball," Washington said. "In the four games here, we played good baseball and we won two games." Andrus homer was his second of the series and fourth of the season, all since Aug. 4. Moreland, the only left-handed hitter in the Texas lineup, hit his 23nd long ball and Rios his 17th. Geovany Soto added his eighth home run, off Cesar Ramos in the ninth. The Rangers were down 2-1 when Moreland led off the third with long drive to left-centre. Following Ian Kinslers fly out to the warning track in left, Andrus and Rios hit consecutive home runs to left. "That was a big inning for us all the way around," Moreland said. "We hit two more after that, so three home runs in one inning definitely swung the momentum in our favour. "Darvish had to fight tonight. He kept us there and we made the most of it." Moore (15-4) gave up six runs, five earned, while striking out six in four innings. He served up three homers in a game for the first time this season after giving up only four in his 16 preceding starts. "Theres someone responsible for the damage and Im that person," Moore said. "Going into today I had a chance to keep us on top of the leader board as far as the wild card goes. Its frustrating tonight, but were back at them tomorrow." NOTES: Tim Beckham, the Rays first overall draft pick in 2008, singled as a pinch-hitter in his major league debut. ... Texas OF Nelson Cruz (suspension) has started playing games with the Rangers instructional league team in Arizona. ... Tampa Bay sent Class-A LHP Matthew Spann to Washington as the player to be named in an Aug. 23 trade in which the Rays obtained OF David DeJesus. ... Rays rookie OF Wil Myers got his first haircut since spring training, which garnered a lot of attention in the clubhouse. "He told me he paid $14 for it, and thats $14 too much," pitcher David Price said. . . . Rays RHP Jesse Crain (right shoulder strain) threw 26 pitches in an instructional league game. The Rays expect to activate him soon. Fernandinho Brazil Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. Douglas Costa Brazil Jersey . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups. http://www.soccerbrazilonline.com/Marcel...America-Jersey/. Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Alisson Brazil Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, the Green Bay Packers have re-signed the cornerback to a four-year, $39 million deal with a $12. Thiago Silva Brazil Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors.Hours before the Stanley Cup finals began, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman proudly proclaimed that concussions are down across the league and there are numbers to back him up. That does not mean the league has figured out how to prevent head injuries among its players. Or that the numbers tell the whole story. According to data from STATS provided to The Associated Press, there were 53 concussions during the regular season, a sharp decline from the 78 reported during the leagues last full season two years ago. But even Bettman said there is only so much the league can do about a player hiding a head injury to stay on the ice. "Obviously, its difficult for us to get into a players head, no pun intended, with this concussion discussion," he said. "But if a player is going to not follow the protocol, not say exactly what hes feeling, thats pretty difficult to address." Dr. Jeff Kutcher, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based neurologist who works with NHL players believed to have concussions, wasnt sure the lower numbers indicated a dramatic change. "Im not surprised that the numbers are down, but I wouldnt read too much into those numbers," Kutcher said. The NHLs concussion protocol, like other leagues, requires players to get a team doctors OK before they can return to play. They are taken to a quiet place for evaluation, questions and tests of their memory, balance and general awareness. Players, though, seem to be able to skate around the protocol. Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman James Wisniewski said he avoided return-to-play protocol after he went head first into the boards during the playoffs. He wanted to keep playing. The Montreal Canadiens were criticized for letting forward Dale Weise return to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals after a blindside hit sent him to the dressing room. General manager Marc Bergevin insisted the team did not know Weise had a concussion until the next day and that the leagues protocol was followed. "Its flawed, but Im not a doctor," Bergevin said. "We all worry about our players, but we can only go by what were given." Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan, who was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to be their president two months ago after he was the NHLs chief disciplinarian, said it is good for the game that concussions are part of the conversation. "When there are situations like weve had in the playoffs, whether it is a hit to the head or mis-reporting, it gets put in the spotlight and it should," Shanahan said. "That is part of the continuing change of culture, and its going to be an ongoing process. I dont think there ever will be a perfect system because players are always going to want to play.&quuot; The NHL Players Association says it has taken steps to educate its players about the dangers of concussions, including bringing doctors to each team before the season for discussions.dddddddddddd. "The players understand the seriousness of concussions, and along with our consulting doctors we continue to discuss with them the importance of early diagnosis, treatment and proper recovery," NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said. Detroit Red Wings forward Drew Miller said players choose to keep playing with head injuries for at least a few reasons. "Guys downplay the symptoms or dont report them because of job security and they dont want to lose their spot," Miller said. "And, guys want to keep playing because they want help their team. In the back of our minds, too, you dont want other teams to know you have a head injury." Retired players Dave Christian, Reed Larson and William Bennett filed a class-action suit nearly two months ago in federal court that alleged the league has promoted fighting and downplayed the risk of head injuries that come from it. They joined another group of former NHL players in the fight for compensation for head injuries they blame on a game that promotes hard-hitting action. Current players seem to be adapting to the NHLs emphasis on safer play: Physical penalties -- such as illegal checks to the head, checks from behind and elbowing -- have dropped in each of the last six regular seasons. An average of 1.03 physical penalties were called per game during the 2013-14 season, according to STATS, down from 1.14, 1.16, 1.25, 1.36 and 1.39 the previous five years. Suspensions have generally held steady at around 35 per season the past few years, and players are sometimes forced to sit even if no penalty is called. Montreals Brandon Prust wasnt penalized for a hit that broke the jaw of New York Rangers forward Derek Stepan during the Eastern Conference finals, but he was suspended for two games by the league. Stepan sat out one game after going through a series of tests. "The protocol helps make sure that the player is OK and that he is not playing with something that he shouldnt be," he said. "I think its a good step in the right direction." Ultimately, though, players have to protect themselves and each other. "It comes down to the guys on the ice respecting each other and playing it as safe as possible," Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp said. "You see some of the big hits this year, inevitably youre going to catch a piece of the head and cause a problem, but the leagues done well with suspensions and penalties and the players have done a good job as far as the respect factor." ' ' '