MINNEAPOLIS -- Jim Thome drove in four runs against his former team, including a long homer to pad Philadelphias lead, and the Phillies hung on for a 9-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. John Mayberry also had four RBIs, including a three-run home run in the first inning to give Cole Hamels (9-3) a six-run lead he barely held. Jonathan Papelbon got the last four outs for his 17th save in as many attempts. Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz both had three hits and scored two runs, helping the Phillies -- who have been in last place since May 5 -- win for only the second time in their last 11 games. Denard Span had three hits, Joe Mauer drove in two runs and Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe both homered for the Twins, who nearly erased deficits of 6-0 and 9-3. Papelbon promptly ended their rally by striking out Mauer in a perfect ninth. After a two-run single in the first, Thome took Anthony Swarzak deep -- really deep -- for a two-run shot in the fourth. Thome has talked often of the difficult adjustment to becoming a full-time pinch-hitter, finding a routine that works with his limited role, but when hes the DH -- as he was most of the time with the Twins in 2010 and 2011 -- he sure does fine. The distances are unscientific, estimated on the spot by Twins communications staff in the press box, but Thome has the four longest home runs in Target Fields three-season history. This one took third place, measured at 466 feet to the standing room above the batters eye in centre field. Since coming off the disabled list last week -- he missed more than a month because of a lower back strain -- Thome is hitting .435 in 23 at-bats with six runs, 10 RBIs and both of his homers this year. Twins fans enjoyed the soft-spoken, hard-hitting slugger so much in his two seasons here that they stood, cheered and clapped for the 41-year-old as he jogged around the bases. After three straight soft singles to start the game against P.J. Walters (2-2), Thome smacked one to right field to drive in two runs and prompt Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to visit the mound. Walters wasnt able to get loose, the team later announced, and left with no outs and stiffness and pain in his shoulder. Jeff Manship entered, and two batters after an RBI single by Ruiz, Mayberry cleared the bases with his three-run shot. Hamels, Pence and Papelbon have arguably been the only Phillies stars performing up to expectations in this injury-ravaged season, and even Hamels has been off his game lately. After going 5-0 in May, Hamels has fallen into his usual June swoon. Its the worst month of his career; hes 11-16 all time. After blowing leads in each of his last two starts and allowing a total of nine runs over 12 2/3 innings, Hamels failed to retire a batter in the seventh. Willinghams leadoff home run in the sixth trimmed the lead to 9-4. Nine of his 12 long balls this year are at home. Then came the seventh, which Brian Dozier started with a sharp double. Span drove him in with a double, summoning Antonio Bastardo from the bullpen. Ben Revere met him with an RBI single, Mauer did the same and another run came in on a groundout by Justin Morneau after a wild pitch moved the runners up to avoid a possible double play. NOTES: Thome has started at 1B four times this year, and manager Charlie Manuel hinted that he could do that more this summer once the DH option disappears at the end of their interleague road schedule. "Hes got to stay healthy, but theres always that chance we put him in the field," Manuel said. ... Willingham extended his hitting streak to 15 games, thanks to an error Sunday that was later switched to a single. ... Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (5-6, 5.40 ERA) pitches the series finale Thursday, with LHP Scott Diamond (5-1, 1.61) taking the mound for the Twins. Blanton has allowed five or more runs in each of his last five starts, winning only the previous one. Diamond has the lowest ERA for a rookie in Twins history after his first seven starts of a season. ... Placido Polanco returned at 3B for the Phillies after missing a week with a left wrist injury. ... Plouffe has 11 homers, second-most on the team, with 10 in the last 20 games. cheap jerseys from china . PETERSBURG, Fla. nfl jerseys china . Williams made the comments Saturday night in Chicago before the Hornets faced the Bulls with first overall draft pick Anthony Davis sidelined by a mild concussion. http://www.cheapjerseyfromchina.us.... . Kazmir, a three-time All-Star who led the AL in strikeouts in 2007, will have a shot at making the Indians starting rotation at spring training in Goodyear, Ariz. [url=http://www.cheapjerseyfromchina.us.com/]cheap jerseys . The Summerside, P.E.I., native may have pulled the trigger, but he says he wouldnt have even had the chance if not for team trainer Jan Antons. With Canada up 1-0 in the second period, Bridges had just finished a penalty-killing shift when coach Mike Mondin called for him to go back out on the ice. wholesale nfl jerseys . Paraguay, which has not won any of its five matches in the tournament, booked its place in the final following a goalless draw and a 5-3 victory on penalties.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- In between trade talks and early negotiations with free agents, baseball general managers considered some wide-ranging changes that include broader use of instant replay by umpires, changed roster limits for September and protective headgear for pitchers. On the first day of the GMs three-day annual session, the Colorado Rockies hired Walt Weiss as manager Wednesday and the New York Mets announced they had reached an agreement to terminate outfielder Jason Bays contract with one guaranteed season remaining. The Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a deal to hire Mark McGwire to be their first base coach. Arizona general manager Kevin Towers said hed listen to trade offers for two-time All-Star right fielder Justin Upton but thought a swap was not likely. And Texas GM Jon Daniels said the Rangers remained interested in re-signing All-Star slugger Josh Hamilton. During the formal part of the meetings, the GMs talked about instant replay. Video review in baseball began in August 2008 and has been limited to checking whether potential home runs were fair or cleared over fences. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has been saying since early 2011 he wants to expand it to two additional types of calls. "He was talking about really basically fair-foul, trap plays. But were looking into more than that," said Joe Torre, MLBs executive vice-president for baseball operations. Torre did not detail what types of calls a broader expansion might include. During tests late this year at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, MLB experimented with the Hawk-Eye animation system that is used to judge line calls in tennis and the TrackMan radar software used by the PGA Tour. "We still have some questions on the way it is now, if thats going to fit with baseball," Torre said. "Im not saying it cant be adjusted or they can do something that would make it work for our game." Depending on what baseball decides, changes might have to be negotiated with the umpires and players unions. GMs also discussed altering the longtime rule allowing active rosters to expand from 25 to 40 from Sept. 1 through the rest of the regular season. Some teams have been reluctant to use the larger limit late in the season. They have cited not wanting to disrupt minor league teams in their playoffs, and those decisions have led to big league games in which teams have differing numbers of available players. "Each team should have equal number of players available every day," Torre said. "I just think you play the whole season with one set of rules and the most important time of the year, especially for clubs that are in a pennant race, I just dont think its fair for it to be done (with a) different number of roster people." Torre said one possibility would be setting a fixed number of players who must be on the active roster for September games. "Weve talked about 28. Weve talked about 30," he said. "It was talked about at length today." GMs also went over ways to protect pitchers from injuries after two were hit on the head by line drives late in the season. MLB staff have said a cap liner with Kevlar, the high-impact material used by miliitary, law enforcement and NFL players for body armour, is among the ideas under consideration.dddddddddddd. "If we settle on something that is going to make sense, and obviously the pitcher has to be comfortable with it, well obviously put that in as soon as possible," Torre explained. Oaklands Brandon McCarthy was hit on the head by a line drive in September, causing a skull fracture and brain contusion that required surgery. Detroits Doug Fister was hit on the head by a liner off the bat of San Franciscos Gregor Blanco during the World Series. Fister was unhurt and stayed in the game. MLB medical director Dr. Gary Green is to give a report at next months winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn. MLB senior vice-president Dan Halem has said protective headgear for pitchers could be in place in the minor leagues for next season. After the formal meetings ended at the hotel owned by Colorado owner Dick Monfort, the Rockies announced the hiring of Weiss to replace Jim Tracy, who quit Oct. 7 following a last-place finish in the NL West. The 1988 AL Rookie of the Year with Oakland, Weiss played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97 and was a special assistant to ODowd from 2002-08. He left to spend more time with his family and last season coached Regis Jesuit High School outside Denver, in Aurora, to a 20-6 record and the 5A semifinals of the state championship. Weiss son, Brody, is in his senior year at the school. As for player talks, the Mets agreement makes the 34-year-old Bay a free agent and allows the team to spread out the remaining $21 million it owes him. After signing a $66 million, four-year deal before the 2010 season, the three-time All-Star hit .234 in three injury-plagued seasons with 26 homers and 124 RBIs, including a .165 average with eight homers and 20 RBIs this year. Sidelined by concussions and rib injuries, he played just 288 games for the Mets. "I still feel I have plenty to give to this game and that I can play baseball at a high level. But after serious consideration, both sides agree that we would benefit from a fresh start," Bay said in a statement released by the team. McGwire, whose 583 homers rank 10th, joined the Dodgers after three seasons as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was, lured by the chance to spend more time with his wife and five young children. "Its the first time in my baseball career I have an opportunity to live at home and work at home," McGwire said. "To do what I love, still be in the game of baseball and to be at home, it just fit perfectly." Daniels hopes Texas remains a fit for Hamilton, a slugger who appears likely to leave after helping the team win AL pennants in 2009 and 10. "I think theres this perception that we dont want Josh back. Thats not accurate. Id love to have Josh back. Its got to work for both sides," Daniels said. "Whether he ends up here or not, I feel like some need to defend him right now that everyones kind of throwing out the negatives with him. The reality is like this guys been a stud for this franchise for the last five years and done some things that have enabled us to reach levels we hadnt previously reached." cheap jerseys from china ' ' '