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PHOENIX -- Add a dramatic ninth-inning moment to whats looking more and more like a breakout season for A.J. Pollock. The young centre fielder, in his second full big league season, hit a two-out, two-run homer on the first pitch he saw in the ninth to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night. "We were standing there and we were saying Lets walk them off, lets walk them off," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said, "and he crushed the ball." It was the first game-ending homer of Pollocks career. "A really cool feeling," Pollock said. "Thats what you do. You come in here every day and put a lot of swings in the cages and you work hard and its really cool when you actually get up there when the team needs you in late innings and be able to win a game." Pollock, hitless in his first 13 at-bats this season, went 3 for 5 to bring his season average to .296. In his last 26 games, Pollock is batting .341 (31 for 91) with five doubles, four homers and 11 RBIs. "Hes just super-talented," teammate Cody Ross said. "Hes got all the tools to be a great player and you can see that hes getting comfortable." With their fifth loss in seven games, the Padres are just 2 1/2 games ahead of last-place Arizona in the NL West. Cliff Pennington was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Eric Chavez hit into a fielders choice ahead of Pollocks soaring homer to centre off Kevin Quackenbush (0-1). Pollock said the pitch "was probably a little out of the zone, but I just wanted to be aggressive." Yonder Alonso homered and Everth Cabrera launched a three-run shot off Arizona starter Brandon McCarthy in the fifth inning to give San Diego a 4-2 lead. Martin Prado doubled in a run and singled for the Diamondbacks, just back from a 2-4 road trip and opening a seven-game home stand. Brad Ziegler (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. "Great game, no doubt about that," Padres manager Bud Black said. "High intensity on both ends. We got back in the game after two nothing with a big inning. They bounced back, we bounced back with a home run. ... They got the last at-bat and put a good swing on a high fastball. " The Diamondbacks went up 2-0 in the second when Prado singled softly up the middle and Ross reached on a bloop hit to short right. With two outs, Pennington singled off third baseman Chase Headleys glove to bring in one run, and another scored when centre fielder Alexi Amarista didnt pick up the ball cleanly. McCarthy blanked the Padres through four, but just after the Chase Field roof opened Alonso hit the first pitch of the fifth inning into the swimming pool area in right. After two outs, Amarista and Tyson Ross singled, and Cabrera homered just inside the right field foul pole. Ross, San Diegos starter, couldnt hold the lead, facing five batters without an out in Arizonas three-run sixth. Pollock singled, then Gerardo Parra reached on a bunt. Paul Goldschmidt singled in a run, Miguel Montero singled home another and Prado barely missed a home run with a double into the cranny next to the Arizona bullpen, putting the Diamondbacks ahead 5-4 and ending Ross night. The lead didnt last long. McCarthy retired the first two in the seventh but was yanked after pinch-hitter Tommy Medica doubled. Lefty Joe Thatcher came on and allowed an RBI double to Cabrera and it was 5-5. Each manager challenged a call and both were rejected. Black challenged a call in the fourth when Seth Smith tried to stretch a double to a triple and was called out on an extremely close play. Gibson challenged a safe call on an attempted pickoff of Headley in the eighth. With two outs in the eighth Jedd Gyorko singled and was easily thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. NOTES: The Diamondbacks said day-of-game ticket sales totalled 5,563, the largest at Chase since August 2008. ... In the second game of the series Tuesday, San Diego sends Eric Stults (2-5, 4.97 ERA) to the mound, while Arizona goes with Wade Miley (3-5, 4.85). ... McCarthy leads the Diamondbacks in homers allowed (11). ... The Padres opened a six-game road trip with their first game at Arizona. Bobby Hull Jersey . That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life. Keith Tkachuk Jersey . The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. http://www.officialwinnipegjetspro.com/T...en-jets-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. Custom Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. Getting Creative The Pittsburgh Penguins will try their best to acquire Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks before the Trade Deadline. Laurie Boschman Jersey .In the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte, German champion Bayern Munich remained third but Barcelona dropped from second to fourth during its trophyless 2014.In the 2013-2014 financial year, Real generated 549.MEMPHIS - Rudy Gay has played 244 games in Memphiss FedExForum, perhaps none as vindicating as this one. Coming off the worst shooting night of his career - one of the worst in league history - in a devastating loss on Monday, the Raptors forward bounced back at an opportune time for both himself and his team. For the first time since the three-team trade that sent Gay from the Grizzlies, the only NBA team he had ever known, to Toronto last winter, the 27-year-old returned to Memphis on Wednesday and left with a convincing victory that the Raptors sorely needed. "I dont think it was for me as much as we needed it anyway," Gay said, deflecting attention off himself moments after he scored 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Torontos 103-87 upset win over the reigning Western Conference finalists in Memphis. "For me personally, it was a little emotional, but other than that, especially coming off the Houston loss, we needed this game." After shooting an abysmal 11-for-37 from the field in the double-overtime loss to the Rockets, Gay eased into his return. He began the game with a concerted effort to get his teammates involved, but when he failed to convert on any of his first four field goal attempts, the look on faces around the arena spoke louder than words. Here we go again, everyone thought. But then Gay did what he does best. He kept shooting. This time he got into a rhythm and when hes locked in, as Grizzlies fans remember, he becomes an exceptionally dangerous scorer. "After last game, I just wanted to get my teammates involved first, move the ball around, get the offence moving and I picked my spots where I wanted to be aggressive," he said. "I missed shots," he acknowledged of the slow start. "Ive missed shots before, last game I missed a lot of shots, so its nothing. Im one of those guys that, if I go out there and miss two, Im going to make sure I make the third." He missed fou,r but then he made the next one and then the shot after that. In fact, he hit four straight, three of them from beyond the arc and just like that, the Raptors were firing on all cylinders. They led by as many as 15 in the first half, 11 at the break. The Raptors offence that looked so terrible in Houston followed Gays lead, as you would imagine. As he looked to distribute, so did DeMar DeRozan. Both players had four assists and Kyle Lowry added six in his best game of the season. As a team, Toronto had 11 assists in 24 minutes, one more than they accumulated in 58 minutes two nights prior. "Its a lot easier because we drew so much attention," said DeRozan, who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. It was the first of nine games this season where both he and Gay were effective at the same time. "One of us has to sacrifice. If we draw two or three guys, we have to kick it to the next man and hell create for the next player. Thats how we have to play. Once we play like that consistently, its definitely going to be hard to guard us." The start of the third quarter brought on another here we go again moment. The Grizzlies, as good teams do, made their run led by the explosive Mike Conley, who scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the period. With 15 minutes left to play, the home team had tied it up at 70. We have seen this narrrative before and we know how it plays out, generally.dddddddddddd Perhaps the Raptors have learned something from heartbreaking collapses of the past. Perhaps it was an outlier. But they refused to back down from the Grizzlies, a quality and always-intimidating opponent. They ended the third quarter strong and, by the time the fourth rolled along, the game belonged to Gay. It was his night regardless of whether or not his humility would allow him to accept it. "Thats where you find that extra motivation," DeRozan said, mindful of what this game represented for his teammate. "Every game you look for it somewhere, somehow and tonight we played a lot for him. We knew how much he wanted to come back here and win." The reception Gay received as he was introduced to the fans before tip-off was primarily a positive one, but by the time the game was out of reach for the home team, they certainly made him feel like an opponent. As Gay drilled a 19-footer midway through the fourth, giving his team their largest lead of the evening at 19, boos rained down from the stands. "Thats when I realized I dont play here anymore," he joked. What does this game mean in the larger scheme of things? No one knows. The Raptors, at least for now, hope to be a winning team and to do that theyll need to steal games like this. Sure, you can excuse them for cowering to superior teams - Miami, Indiana, Houston - but at some point you need to win one youre not supposed to. They did that on Wednesday and theyll need to do more of it to reach their ultimate goal. "It was a great night for our team," said Lowry, who finished with 21 points. "The effort we showed tonight is how we should play every night." Getting to the line The Raptors set the tone early in the game, aggressively attacking the rim and earning the benefit of the doubt from the officials the rest of the night. "This is a very physical team and we had to be the aggressor," said Lowry, another former Grizzly. "Their physicality can take anybody out of the game, so our goal tonight was to be really aggressive and try to get to the basket and get to the free throw line as much as we could." Toronto outscored the Grizzlies 33-11 at the line, outshooting them 39-17 from the stripe. Quiet, consistent production from Ross Last season, very little of what rookie Terrence Ross did was quiet. He would exchange several ineffective minutes on the floor - on both ends - for one highlight-calibre dunk that would almost mask the inconsistency that held him back as a player. For the second straight game, Ross has been quietly useful. Hes been efficient offensively, shooting three-of-five, where he may be starting to understand that sometimes less is more and, most importantly, hes been a standout on defence. "Hes very poised out there," Dwane Casey said of Ross, who contributed eight points in 20 minutes off the bench. "Hes growing as a player and thats what this year is about for him." Up next After playing six of their first nine games on the road to begin the season, the Raptors happily return home for six of their next seven. Theyll host the Chicago Bulls at the Air Canada Centre Friday evening, a game you can catch live on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7:00 pm et. ' ' '