CHICAGO -- The Tampa Bay Rays are making another run at the playoffs and Evan Longoria is leading the way -- again. . The Chicago White Sox are slumping at the worst time. Longoria hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning and Tampa Bay gained ground in the wild-card race with its eighth consecutive victory, handing the White Sox a 3-2 loss on Thursday night that damages Chicagos playoff hopes. "The belief has never gone away. Weve felt like we had a good chance to be a playoff team from the beginning of the year," Longoria said. "The pressure is not on us playing from behind. Its not ours to lose, its ours to win. Were behind, but were close enough." The Rays pulled within two games of Oakland for the second AL wild card, while the White Sox fell two games behind Detroit in the AL Central after their eighth loss in nine games. Tampa Bay and Chicago have six games to go, including three more against each other. The Athletics lost 9-7 to Texas and the Tigers beat Kansas City 5-4 earlier Thursday. The White Sox struggled to hit with runners on base, a recurring theme during their recent slide. They are hitting .123 with runners in scoring position over their last 10 games. They twice had the bases loaded and no outs Thursday night but managed just two runs. And then they failed to get down a bunt and made a major baserunning gaffe when they had the potential go-ahead run on base in the eighth. "There aint nobody to blame. I think everybody in here will take accountability for the way weve played," Chicago starter Jake Peavy said. "We had it right there in front of us a lot tonight and throughout the last week and a half, just hadnt been able to capitalize on either side of the ball. Weve tried to pitch well enough to give us a chance and just hadnt been able to do that quite enough and obviously offensively its been frustrating here for the last little bit." Longorias 14th homer came on the eve of the anniversary of his dramatic shot that beat the Yankees on the final day last season and gave the Rays the AL wild card. Now theyre hoping for a repeat performance. "Its one game. I hate to bring down the mood, but it doesnt put us ahead," Longoria said. "It brings us a little bit closer, but it doesnt guarantee anything. Its a good moment for us, good moment for me, but bottom line is its just one game." Joel Peralta (2-6) pitched an inning for the win and Fernando Rodney finished for his club-record 46th save in 48 chances. After giving up a two-out single to Kevin Youkilis, Rodney struck out Adam Dunn on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. "We have to get back to our DNA, which were starting to do," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, who earned his 600th career win, including a 19-10 interim stint with the Angels in 1999. "Great pitching, not just good defence -- great defence. We have to be great on defence. The fortuitous hit, the clutch hit has to show up for us to get back there." Brett Myers (3-4) gave up Longorias homer while pitching 1 2-3 innings. The right-hander has allowed a run in each of his last two outings after a run of six consecutive scoreless appearances. The White Sox wasted a handful of opportunities to grab control of the game. A.J. Pierzynski led off the eighth with a single. Pinch-hitter Dewayne Wise then struck out after failing out to get down a bunt and pinch-runner Jordan Danks was ruled out on a double play on Alexei Ramirezs fly ball when he failed to retouch second base on his way back to first. Chicago left 10 on base. "We didnt do the little things. Tonight we had an opportunity to get a guy in scoring position and didnt do it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Over the course of the last week or so, were not doing small things to win games. We have bases loaded, we only get one. Over the course of time that just builds up and its difficult on your pitching staff to do that over and over again." Paul Konerko hit into a double play with the bases loaded in the fifth, tying it at 2. Luke Scott started the fifth with a drive off Jake Peavy for his 14th homer, giving Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Carlos Pena had a sacrifice fly for the Rays in the fourth, but the White Sox tied it in the bottom half when James Shields walked two and gave up a single to Alex Rios to load the bases with no outs. One out later, Shields hit Dayan Viciedo with a pitch to force in a run, then retired the next two batters to avert the big inning. Shields gave up six hits in 6 1-3 innings, throwing 117 pitches. He struck out six and walked four. Peavy went 7 1-3 innings, leaving after walking pinch-hitter Sam Fuld. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked one. NOTES: The White Sox still have not named a starter for Sundays series finale to oppose Rays ace David Price. Jeremy Hellickson (9-10) goes for Tampa Bay on Friday against Gavin Floyd (10-11) and Saturday its Matt Moore (10-11) vs. Chicagos Chris Sale (17- 7). ... Rays C Jose Molina (right quad strain) missed a second straight game. Maddon said "hes doing better," but isnt sure when Molina will be able to return to action. ... Dan Johnson, who homered for Tampa Bay to tie the game with the Yankees on the final day last year, is now a reserve with the White Sox and lined out in the ninth Thursday night. "Its very strange that Dannys over there," Maddon said. "Great guy. Hes a big part of Devil Ray/Ray history. ... I know how calm he is in big moments." [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-julio-jones-jersey-ru-1... Jones Womens Jersey . The fines come as the league and its referees union were meeting amid reports they were close to ending the lockout of the regular officials. Belichick grabbed an officials arm at the end of Sunday nights game after the Ravens kicked a winning field goal. . - The Minnesota Twins recalled left-hander Francisco Liriano on Friday, and hes expected to make his first start after missing all of last season because of elbow surgery Sunday against the Kansas City Royals. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-roddy-white-jersey-gw-2... . The 31-year-old Victoria native became the first Canadian to win one of cyclings three major tour races when he won the Giro dItalia last month. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-brett-favre-jersey-jj-2... Favre Falcons Jersey . John-Michael Liles could only chuckle in amazement. “Im just sitting there shaking my head like ‘Why cant I do that?” he told TSN. . Blatter defended world footballs ruling body, saying that a reform drive underway was working and restoring FIFAs credibility. He used a news conference to renew FIFAs call for world football to fight match-fixing and illegal betting, and said FIFA would seek to protect players who reported attempts to fix games.WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama and New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin share the same goal -- getting back to the White House next year. Obama honoured the Super Bowl champions on Friday, noting the similarities between the Giants 2008 championship and its most recent triumph. "They ended up winning with a circus catch in the fourth quarter, MVP performance by Eli Manning ... a come-from-behind win over the Patriots. So this is all starting to sound kind of like deja vu all over again," Obama said. In his speech, Coughlin injected some political references for a president in the heart of a re-election campaign, telling his team and guests on the South Lawn that he hoped coming back to the White House "was not a twice-in-a-lifetime experience." "We both have a goal to get back here next year. We have a lot of work to do," Coughlin said to cheers and a pat on the back from Obama. Coughlin noted that his team overcame a 7-7 start to win their final two regular-season games and win the NFC East. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-garrett-reynolds-jersey... Reynolds Jersey. The Giants won four post-season games, capped by a 21-17 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. "Offence, defence and special teams doing their job. Each group having different objectives and motives but playing in harmony for each other, for the good of everyone. Wouldnt it be nice if Congress operated the same way?" Coughlin said, drawing a smile from Obama, who has frequently clashed with House Republicans. Obama also got into the act, reminding the team that it watched a highlight reel the night before the Super Bowl set to defensive end Justin Tucks good-luck music: Phil Collins 1980s song, "In the Air Tonight." "I dont know about a little Phil Collins before a big game," Obama said. "I may try that before a big meeting with Congress." The team presented Obama with a blue No. 44 jersey and a football signed by the players. ' ' '