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DETROIT – Its the annual rite of the first week of June, baseballs amateur draft, where clubs take part in a three-day, 40-round marathon, selecting more than 1,000 players they hope will improve their fortunes in the years ahead. The Blue Jays had two picks in Thursday evenings first round – ninth and 11th overall – and used them to take a pitcher and a catcher. First, the club took right-hander Jeff Hoffman, a 21-year-old from Latham, New York, who attended East Carolina University. Two selections later, the Blue Jays selected Kennesaw State University product, 21-year-old catcher Max Pentecost from suburban Atlanta. Major League Baseball uses a slotting system – a recommended signing bonus value based on where a player is taken – and the Blue Jays, if they pay in full, will be on the hook for about $6 million for their two picks. Hoffman is an interesting case. He has a plus fastball, mid-90s miles per hour which can top out in the high 90s, a strong curveball and a developing changeup. But, just last month, Hoffman underwent Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. The procedure, now so routine its rarely flawed, was hardly a concern to Torontos front office and top scouts. "We just felt like the talent was too big to walk away from," said Blue Jays director of amateur scouting, Brian Parker. "This guy was going to go top three, top four picks prior to his injury and we just felt like even with the Tommy John, we felt this was a good gamble for us." Pentecost was a seventh round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2011. He was projected to go higher but suffered a stress fracture in his throwing elbow, which dropped his stock. He didnt sign with Texas, choosing to go to school instead. The first catcher the Blue Jays have taken in the first round since, take a breath, J.P. Arencibia in 2007, Pentecost is a versatile player who projects to be a good hitter, although more gap-to-gap than for power. A.J. Jimenez is the Jays top catching prospect, currently toiling at Double-A New Hampshire more than a year removed from Tommy John surgery of his own, and the Blue Jays have shipped out catchers like Arencibia, Travis dArnaud (to the New York Mets in the R.A. Dickey trade), Yan Gomes (to Cleveland for Esmil Rogers) and Carlos Perez (to Houston in the J.A. Happ deal) in recent years. "Taking Max had nothing to do with any of those trades or getting rid of any of those players," said Parker. "When you pick nine and 11, you just have to line up your board and take the best player and thats what we did. We like Max, we scouted him pretty hard from last summer in the (Cape Cod League) and throughout this spring. Hes an athletic, two-way position player and we like the bat. I think theres a lot of positives with him. Obviously, a guy at a premium position that can help out offensively and defensively is something that attracted him to us." In two of the last three drafts, the Jays have failed to sign their first round pick. In 2011, it was Tyler Beede, who instead chose to go to Vanderbilt University and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants 14th overall on Thursday night. Last year, the Jays failed to land right-hander Phil Bickford, who instead went to California State-Fullerton. The pick that landed Pentecost was compensation for missing out on Bickford. Going with two college kids, including one coming off an injury, increases the likelihood of the player being willing to sign. Neither has a full school ride to fall back on. Hoffman, who is pleased with the progress hes making early in his rehabilitation from elbow surgery, sounds eager to put pen to paper. Chris Kline, the Blue Jays area scout in the Carolinas, did most of the legwork on Hoffman. Mike Pidick, an area scout whose region includes Georgia, watched Pentecost. Jack Ham Jersey . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Merril Hoge Jersey .Y. - Carey Price had an early feeling that one goal might be enough to settle the latest matchup between his Montreal Canadiens and longtime Original Six foe, the New York Rangers. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-John...h-Elite-Jersey/. The 10-horse field of 3-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at approximately 10:14pm et. Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field. Dermontti Dawson Steelers Jersey . -- The Denver Broncos are shuffling their offensive line this off-season and Orlando Franklin provided some insight into their plans Monday by tweeting that hes moving from right tackle to left guard. Custom Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys . Trailing 5-4 in the third set, the 12th-ranked Isner fought off two match points and evened it at 5-5 with consecutive aces. The former University of Georgia star had his only service break of the match to go up 6-5 before firing the last four of his 30 aces to close out Ginepri, an Atlanta resident ranked 281st. BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays took a break from their miserable season to put on a dazzling hitting performance against the Baltimore Orioles. Now if they can find a way to sustain the momentum for a bit, the Rays just might make some real noise over the next three months. Matt Joyce homered twice, had a career-high five hits and drove in four runs to power the Rays to a 12-7 victory Sunday. Tampa Bay totalled 11 extra base hits -- five homers and six doubles. The Rays trailed 4-3 before Kevin Kiermaier and Logan Forsythe went deep during a seven-run sixth inning that sent many in the crowd of 32,665 scattering toward the exits. "We havent had anything like that all year," Joyce said. "It was nice to come out here and win a big series and swing the bats like we did." Ben Zobrist also homered for the Rays, who took three of four from Baltimore after starting the series with a 1-7 record against their AL East rivals. The 12 runs were Tampa Bays second-most this season behind a 16-run outburst on April 19 against the Yankees. The Rays still own the worst record in the majors, but now theres hope as Tampa Bay prepares for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium beginning Monday night. "The season weve had, were playing better baseball," Joyce said. "This was a big series for us going into New York. It was nice to come in here and swing the bats well." Joyce doubled in the first inning, hit a solo shot in the third, singled in both the fifth and sixth innings and added a two-run drive in the seventh. His five hits and 12 total bases tied club records. Although the Orioles finally got Joyce out in the ninth with the outcome already decided, his 5-for-6 performance upped his batting average 15 points to .274. "You really dont have very many days like that," Joyce said. "Its nice to have one of those days and enjoy it." Alex Cobb (3-6) got the win despite giving up four runs and eight hits in five innings. "Its really important to keep it going," manager Joe Maddon said. "The focus has to be on winning series. We did this one." Manny Machado and Ryan Flaherty homered for the Orioles. Flaherty hit a three-run drive in the ninth to snap an 0-for-16 skid. But the 12 runs and 18 hits were the most allowed by Baltimore this season.dddddddddddd "Times like this, youd like to come out with a W when you score seven runs," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. The game turned in the seventh, when the Rays set season highs with seven runs and seven hits. After Kiermaier homered off Evan Meek (0-3), Joyce singled in a run and James Loney delivered a two-run double. Brandon Guyer followed with an RBI double and Forsythe capped the barrage with a two-run homer off Brian Matusz. "Its wonderful. We havent really done that," Maddon said. "Balls are falling in, missing defenders, balls going over the wall. Good at-bats." In the eighth, Joyce hit a shot to right to make it 12-4 and complete his third career two-homer game. Coming in, he had three home runs this season -- none since May 11. Tampa Bay went up 1-0 in the first inning when Desmond Jennings walked and scored on a double by Zobrist, who was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. After Joyce homered in the third, Nick Markakis doubled in the bottom half and came home on a two-out single by Steve Pearce. Machado put Baltimore up 3-2 with a two-run drive in the fourth. After Zobrist connected in the fifth to tie it, Tampa Bay loaded the bases before Meek replaced starter Miguel Gonzalez and struck out Forsythe. Gonzalez gave up three runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing in seven starts since May 5. "Command," he said. "Ive got to keep working on that. I think that has been my biggest issue this year. Other than that, I felt good." Baltimore took the lead for the last time when Markakis scored on a passed ball to make it 4-3 in the sixth. NOTES: Rays RH Chris Archer on Monday will attempt to become the first pitcher to win his first five games against the Yankees since Walter Johnson in 1907-08. ... Baltimore sends Ubaldo Jimenez to the mound in the opener of a four-game series against visiting Texas. ... The Rays played a fifth straight game without shortstop Yunel Escobar, who has a sore right shoulder. ... Markakis became the eighth player in Orioles history to have at least nine seasons with 100 hits. 19:00ET 29-06-14 ' ' '