TORONTO - September baseball can be particularly challenging for a player coming back from injury. The minor league affiliates wrap up their regular seasons on or around Labour Day, leaving returning players with no option but to find their offensive timing against the sports best pitchers. "Im hoping itll be the first at bat," said Colby Rasmus before Fridays 5-3 loss to the Orioles. "I feel good. My swing feels good and thats all Im worried about right now. The timing will come. Im just going to get up there and try to pretend like I havent even missed any games and go out there and just play a ballgame and have fun." Little did he know hed be pleased with the result. After popping out to Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado on the third pitch of his first at bat, Rasmus stepped up in the fifth and launched his 19th home run of the season to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. With the game tied 3-3 in the seventh, Rasmus singled to put Blue Jays at the corners with one out. Rasmus would be stranded and Toronto wouldnt score in the inning. Rasmus returned from a strained left oblique, which cost him 29 games. ENCARNACION RETURNS Edwin Encarnacion was back in Fridays lineup after missing five games with a sore left wrist. Hes four home runs shy of a second-straight 40-home run season. "I dont think about that," said Encarnacion. "I dont think about getting 40 home runs. Im just thinking about trying to be healthy, trying to finish the season playing and I dont think about whether Ill get two more or three more, whatever. If I get it, its good. If not, its all right." Encarnacion went 0-3 with a walk and a run scored. REDMOND GOES DEEP Todd Redmonds 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball marked the longest start of his major league career. DAVIS IN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY Chris Davis hit his 50th home run of the season in the eighth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie. In doing so, Davis launched himself into rarified air, joining only Babe Ruth (1921 - 59/44) and Albert Belle (1995 - 52/50) to hit 50 home runs and 40 doubles in a single season. The home run was Davis seventh against the Blue Jays this year and 16th against Toronto since the start of the 2012 season. "Hes having a great year," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Hes so strong, he hits them anywhere. It has nothing to do with the park here. You know, some guys will get some cheapies here but he doesnt get any cheapies. The thing that makes him so good is that he hits them anywhere. Even in that home run hitting contest in the All-Star Game he was the only guy hitting some home runs to the opposite field. Hes dangerous." ORIOLES NEED WINS Fridays win was crucial for the Orioles, who arrived in Toronto having lost the final three games of a four-game series, at home, with the New York Yankees. Baltimore entered play on Friday 2.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the final wild card spot. Both the Yankees and Indians are ahead of the Orioles but behind the Rays. Manager Buck Showalters club needs to turn things around. "Its why we do what we do," said Showalter. "A game in April has the same impact mathematically but because of the dwindling opportunities I think it creates a little more emotion about it, I guess." Baltimore is embarking on its final road trip of the season. After three in Toronto, the Orioles will visit the Red Sox for three and the Rays for four games. The season ends with a six-game homestand; three each against the Jays and the Red Sox. "Its why we all get up in the morning," said Showalter. "Proud that they are meaningful games but we need to win some more to have it continue that way." MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Whatever problems the New Orleans Pelicans face, playing the Memphis Grizzlies seems to resolve them -- including overcoming an eight-game losing streak. Anthony Davis scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Pelicans won for only the second time in January, claiming a 95-92 victory over Memphis on Monday. The Pelicans have won all three games against the Grizzlies this season, the only three games New Orleans has won in the Southwest Division. Meanwhile, Memphis has lost all 10 games against teams in the division. "It feels good to get a win," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "Like I told our guys, you cant get wins like this if you dont have big-time character and tough guys in your locker room." Tyreke Evans added 15 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. He also had seven assists. Brian Roberts scored 13 points and Eric Gordon finished with 12 for the short-handed Pelicans. Alexis Ajinca scored 10 points, and Davis added four blocks and four steals to his stat line. "Our defence was horrible," said Memphis forward Zach Randolph, who led the Grizzlies with 23 points and a season-high 20 rebounds, equally split between offensive and defensive boards. Courtney Lee had 19 points and Marc Gasol finished with 14 points. Mike Conley had 13 for Memphis, which saw an end to its five-game winning streak. The Pelicans won minus three key players -- Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith, all out with injuries. The trio, plus reserve guard Anthony Morrow, who didnt make the trip because of illness, left New Orleans with 10 available players. "Everybody contributed all the way down to the 10th guy," Davis said. "Everybody is stepping up, and thats what we need while guys are down." New Orleans players pointed to controlling Randolph and Gasol as a key component against the Memphis, which lost on its annual game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. "We jusst played really good defence," Gordon said.dddddddddddd. "We tried to attack them on offence to make them help. Our bigs did a pretty good job. Its been a tough time these past few weeks." The Grizzlies got within 93-91 when Lee hit a bank shot with a minute left, but Davis made a 15-footer with 35.6 seconds remaining as the shot clock was expiring. Memphis struggled with turnovers, committing 18 to the Pelicans 10. New Orleans led by 10 points in the first half. Davis and Randolph both struggled in the first half before taking over the scoring for their teams in the third quarter. Davis was 4 of 6 in the period and 7 of 8 from the line for 15 points in the quarter. Randolph hit 7 of 9 shots for 17 points, helping the Grizzlies take a 69-68 lead heading into the fourth. "We came out and fought for the whole 48 (minutes)," Davis said. "We didnt fall back in that third quarter like we usually do. Weve got to continue to do that." New Orleans took the lead for good with nine unanswered points in the middle of the fourth, five of them coming from Evans. And unlike Davis assessment of the Pelicans play, Memphis coach Dave Joerger saw a more ho-hum approach from his players -- a troublesome trend hes noticed for a week even though the Grizzlies have escaped with late bursts in their last two wins over Milwaukee and Sacramento. "We walked around," Joerger said. "We are not going to play better until we play harder. We have to run harder. We have to screen harder, and we have to defend harder from the first minute of the game." NOTES: Memphis is 5-7 all-time in MLK games. ... As part of the MLK Day festivities, the Grizzlies honoured former NBA players Jo Jo White, Dikembe Mutombo and Bernard King for their contributions to civil rights and human rights. ... At 0-10 in the Southwest, Memphis is the only NBA team without a win in its division. ... 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