DETROIT -- Max Scherzer could have probably pitched one more inning after breezing through the first eight. Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. With a big lead and Scherzers pitch count in triple digits, manager Brad Ausmus decided to go to the bullpen for the ninth inning, instead of sending his starter back to the mound for three more outs. "I had it in me to be able to do it, and I had an extra day (of rest) coming up this next time," Scherzer said. "But given the context of the game, it wasnt the right decision for me to go back out there. Its an 8-1 game. Ive got my work in." Scherzer retired 23 of the last 24 hitters he faced, and Ian Kinsler, Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter all homered as part of a five-run first inning for the AL Central-leading Tigers, who have won 12 of 14. Tampa Bays five-game winning streak came to an end. Detroit leads second-place Kansas City by five games. Scherzer (10-3) allowed a first-inning sacrifice fly by Evan Longoria, but that was the first of 10 straight hitters retired by the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. After allowing a single in the fourth, Scherzer retired another 13 in a row before he was pulled with a pitch count of 106. There would be no talking the manager into another inning. Ausmus met Scherzer in the dugout and shook his hand. "He was done. I was just confirming to him that he was done," Ausmus said. "It didnt really matter what he said. That was going to be the end for him. There was no reason to send him back out at that point." Erik Bedard (4-6) allowed six runs and eight hits with two walks in two innings. Miguel Cabrera had two doubles, a single, a walk and four runs for Detroit. The Rays are still at the bottom of the AL East, and the improved starting pitching that fueled their recent run was nowhere to be seen Thursday. After a leadoff single by Austin Jackson in the first, Kinsler homered to put the Tigers ahead. Cabreras walk was followed by Martinezs 21st home run. Hunter added a solo shot with one out to make it 5-1. It was Martinezs first game back after he missed three with soreness in his side. Cabrera doubled in the second and scored on J.D. Martinezs single. He also scored on a single by Hunter in the fourth. Scherzer, coming off a 13-strikeout performance against Houston in his previous start, fanned seven with a walk, and the Detroit defence played well behind him. Nick Castellanos made a diving catch in the third when Desmond Jennings hit a line drive to the third basemans left. Then Detroit shortstop Eugenio Suarez jumped high in the air to snag a liner by Ben Zobrist. The first seven spots of Tampa Bays batting order, listed by position, went CF-SS-LF-3B-1B-DH-RF -- or 8-6-7-5-3-0-9. Rays manager Joe Maddon called it a "Tommy Tutone lineup" before the game, in reference to that bands early-80s hit "867-5309/Jenny." Maddon may have scored points with pop music fans of a certain age, but he couldnt have enjoyed watching his hitters scuffle against Scherzer. James Loneys single in the fourth was the only baserunner the Rays managed after the first inning. "We had some good at-bats," Maddon said. "I thought we played well today, but we just got ourselves in a hole, and that let him be more aggressive." Scherzer has only one complete game in his career -- a shutout of the Chicago White Sox less than a month ago. NOTES: The Tigers sent substitute Don Kelly to the on-deck circle in the fourth instead of Castellanos. Ausmus said Castellanos was in the bathroom, and Detroit wanted someone in the on-deck circle if there was a play at the plate -- to signal to the runner whether to slide. ... Scherzer has reached 10 wins every year since the Tigers traded for him before the 2010 season. ... Detroit LHP Drew Smyly (4-7) faces Tampa Bay RHP Alex Cobb (3-6) on Friday night. Shoes NZ 2020 .ca. Mr. Fraser, It looks like Martin Brodeur is coming back to play for the Blues. I was wondering if you have any great stories or fond memories of your time on the ice with Brodeur - in the NHL, or maybe even the Olympics. Shoes NZ From China . -- David Ortiz saved his only hit for a key moment for the Boston Red Sox. https://www.shoesnzonline.com/ . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. Wholesale Shoes NZ . So what happens? Stevenson lands a huge left to Dawsons temple only 76 seconds into the opening round and walks away with the championship belt. "I said Id knock him out," said Stevenson (21-1). Shoes NZ Sale .C. -- The Bobcats announced theyve signed centre Justin Hamilton to a 10-day contract.The Montreal Canadiens, behind a 35-save performance from Dustin Tokarski, squeezed out a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Game Three, cutting the Rangers lead in the series to two games to one. Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. The Rangers had 58.2% of the shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. The winning goal, at 1:12 of overtime, came on a rebound that was kicked out by Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist and hit Canadiens LW Alex Galchenyuk in the neck, bouncing back into the Rangers net. It was Galchenyuks only shot attempt of the game in his second game of this years playoffs. The games last three goals all came on unusual bounces. The Canadiens took a 2-1 lead with 3:02 remaining when Daniel Brieres attempt to stuff a rebound off the end boards was knocked in by a sliding Ryan McDonagh. Then, with the Rangers goaltender pulled in the final minute, Dan Girardi sent a puck towards the net, it deflected off Rangers LW Chris Kreider, then off the heel of Canadiens D Alexei Emelin, earning a tie with 29 seconds left in regulation. Galchenyuk wasnt the only Canadiens player to score his first of the postseason in Game Three. Veteran D Andrei Markov scored Montreals first goal. The Rangers first goal was knocked in by Carl Hagelin, his fifth of the playoffs, tying him with Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards for the Rangers team lead. St. Louis had a game-high 11 shot attempts in Game Three, including a couple of Grade A chances, including a onne-time shot on a 2-1, which immediately preceded Hagelins goal, and was stopped by Canadiens D Josh Gorges.dddddddddddd. Rangers D Kevin Klein doesnt get the tough matchups, but he had success in his role in Game Three, on the ice for 24 shot attempts for and six against (80.0%) during 5-on-5 play. The Rangers had 50.0% of the even-strength shots when Klein was off the ice. Klein and partner John Moore started every one of their shifts in the offensive or neutral zone. Canadiens C Lars Eller was the opposite to Klein, on for 23.1% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 and Eller didnt attempt a shot the entire game, in 15:02 of ice time. Montreals win makes for a much more interesting series, to be sure. Game Three brought out some hostility that hadnt appeared earlier in the series. Canadiens LW Brandon Prust laid out Rangers C Derek Stepan (who returned to the game) with a late hit and later fought Derek Dorsett, but it wasnt just Prust. There were more extra pokes and physical confrontations throughout the game. Canadiens RW Brendan Gallagher and Rangers D Ryan McDonagh waged quite a battle throughout the game. While hostility between the clubs can make for a more interesting series, the fact that the series is 2-1 in favour of the Rangers, rather than 3-0, is reason enough to believe that the Canadiens have a chance to make something out of this situation. They probably cant count on having Tokarski get the better of Lundqvist in the goaltending matchup too often, but that got the Canadiens through Game Three and thats enough to keep their hope alive. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '