ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Baltimore Orioles are heading to Detroit for an important series after a tough one-run loss to the last place Tampa Bay Rays.Corey Dickerson had a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning to help the Rays beat Baltimore 7-6 on Wednesday and deny the Orioles a three-game sweep.Baltimore is one game ahead of Detroit for the second AL wild card and started the day one game back of AL East co-leaders Boston and Toronto.The Orioles and Tigers begin a three-game series Friday night.Now we go into another hostile place, and I tell our guys to stay focused on how much fun it is to be playing in these type of games, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Our guys arent dreading it at all. Theyre looking forward to being in that arena and being on that stage because theyve earned the right to be there.Dickerson, in a 2 for 28 slide, tied the score 6-all with an RBI single in the fifth and got the decisive hit during the seventh off Mychal Givens (8-2).J.J. Hardy drove in two on a second-inning double and Michael Bourn hit a solo homer during a three-run third that put Baltimore ahead 5-3.I was able to catch one today but especially in a pennant race I rather win, Bourn said. Its hard to sweep a team. As many series as Ive played, I think about how many sweeps Ive had and its not a whole, whole bunch.Baltimores Dylan Bundy and Tampa Bays Drew Smyly each allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.Kevin Kiermaier and Nick Franklin homered for the Rays. Brad Boxberger (3-0) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win and Alex Colome got three outs for his 31st save in 33 chances.Kiermaier hit a solo shot in the first and then pulled the Rays even at 5 with a two-run single in fourth. He has a career-best 11-game hitting streak.He sets the tone quite a bit, Rays manager Kevin Cash said.Franklin had a two-run homer in the second.You score six runs, youd like to have a little better result, Showalter said.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: 1B Chris Davis (sore left hand) got the day off. ... RHP Chris Tillman (right shoulder) is expected to start Sunday against Detroit. ... RHP Darren ODay (right shoulder) could pitch a simulated game Monday or Tuesday.Rays: RHP Chase Whitley (Tommy John surgery) threw off a bullpen mound, which lines him up to make his first appearance this weekend.COACHING CORNEROrioles: Pitching coach Dave Wallace has returned home and will return for Monday.Rays: New hitting coach Chad Mottola will join the team in New York for Thursday nights game at Yankee Stadium. Derek Shelton was fired Tuesday.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Kevin Gausman (7-10) faces Tigers RHP Michael Fulmer (10-6) Friday night.Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (0-0) makes his second start Thursday since returning from Tommy John surgery, facing the Yankees and LHP CC Sabathia (8-12). Theyre still in, Cobb said. Weve got a lot riding on this last month, seeing what we have going into next year. Air Force 1 Lv8 Nz . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Air Force 1 Nz . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. http://www.airforce1salenz.com/air-force-1-low-nz/mens.html . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Air Force 1 Sage Low Nz . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Sf Af1 Nz . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level.The Tampa Bay Lightning are parting ways with their longest-serving player, as the club will buy out the rest of Vincent Lecavaliers 11-year, $85 million contract. "Vinny has been a significant reason for many of our past successes, including the 2004 Stanley Cup, and his contributions to the community are immeasurable," said general Steve Yzerman in a statement on Thursday. "The Lightning organization is indebted to Vinny; we thank him for all he has done here and we wish him well as he moves forward. "After much internal deliberation, we believe this will prove to be a pivotal move for us as we strive to achieve our long term goal of competing at the highest level, year-in, year-out. The economics and structure of the CBA are necessitating this decision and we at the Lightning are excited at the newly created opportunities this presents to us." A compliance buyout of the the deal - paying out a total of $32.67 million - rids the Lightning of a $7.7277 million salary cap hit through the 2019-20 season.dddddddddddd Lecaveliers agent Kent Hughes was a guest on The Montreal Forum on TSN 690 Radio and said he spoke to Lightning management about his clients situation. "We understood that his contract and its structure - its cap number - were problematic for the Lightning," said Hughes. "I spoke with Steve Yzerman when the season ended and said to him that I didnt want to go through the next few months pretending that we dont see or acknowledge that this may be an issue. We acknowledge it; we dont want you to ignore it. Just let us know and the more informed we are the better the process will be if thats the decision that you take." Lecavalier, 33, had 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games last season. He spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Lightning, scoring 383 goals and 874 points in 1,037 regular season games and helped lead the Lightning to their first-ever Stanley Cup victory in 2004. ' ' '