CHICAGO -- Jose Abreu is not going to let the pressure get to him. Cheap Roberto Alomar Jersey . The touted rookie from Cuba hit a game-winning grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning for his second home run of the night, rallying the Chicago White Sox past the Tampa Bay Rays 9-6 on Friday. Evan Longorias two-run homer in the top of the ninth put Tampa Bay ahead 6-4, but the White Sox werent done. Abreus drive off closer Grant Balfour (0-1) won it after Chicago pitchers combined for 11 walks. Abreu, who signed a $68 million, six-year contract in the off-season, finished with three hits and six RBIs. He became the first rookie in major league history to hit nine home runs by the end of April. "I really didnt have any expectations. As a matter of fact, I was talking to Albert Pujols during spring training and he told me, Hey, dont worry about hitting the home runs early in the season since its your first season and all that," Abreu said through a translator. "So I wasnt trying to hit them -- they have just happened." Balfour gave up a one-out double to Alejandro De Aza in the ninth, then walked Tyler Flowers and pinch-hitter Paul Konerko. As Konerko trotted to first, Balfour and Konerko exchanged words. "I dont know. I know his thing after every pitch, he comes way in. Likes to get the ball, likes to stare at you, stare at the hitter," Konerko said. "Thats fine, no big deal. You know thats what he likes to do. After I walked there, he is close to me, eye contact was made and I start to run down the line and I heard yelling. I dont know what he was yelling about. I was just trying to make sure it wasnt toward my direction. Thats really it. I think he was probably yelling at himself to get going or get better. When someone that close is yelling, you want to find out why." Balfour said he wasnt trying to show up Konerko. "Im angry at myself, so if he wants to yell at me, whatever. I wasnt yelling at him. I was frustrated by the fact I missed by 6 feet back there," Balfour said. "This is a frustrating night for me. I know Im better than that. So Ill come back tomorrow and turn the page. If I get an opportunity, go out there and get it done." Adam Eaton hit a grounder to second base, but Tampa Bay was unable to turn the double play after getting a force at second. Rays manager Joe Maddon challenged the call, but Eaton clearly beat the throw to first and the ruling was upheld on replay. Balfour walked Marcus Semien to load the bases again and Abreu drove an 0-1 pitch to right-centre for his ninth home run. "Pretty impressive. Really a big, strong fella with a controlled attitude at the plate thats not a wild swinger. You have to make good pitches to him or hes going to hurt you like he did tonight," Maddon said. "Its not fun when that happens, but Im still going to go out for my Guinness tonight regardless." Matt Joyce drew his team-record fifth walk of the game leading off the ninth against White Sox reliever Matt Lindstrom (2-1). Longoria followed with his third home run of the season to centre to break a 4-all tie. Tyler Flowers had two hits and two RBIs for the White Sox in the opener of a four-game series. Chicago starter Erik Johnson couldnt get out of the second inning. The Rays tied a club mark by drawing 11 walks. Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer pitched six-plus innings. He allowed four runs and nine hits. With the Rays trailing 1-0 in the second, Yunel Escobar and Ryan Hanigan hit back-to-back RBI singles. Ben Zobrist followed with an RBI double. Johnson was chased after walking Joyce with the bases loaded on his 39th pitch of the inning, giving the Rays a 4-1 lead. The Rays batted around against Johnson in the second. Abreu hit a solo shot in the third and the White Sox tied it in the fourth when Flowers lined a two-run single with the bases loaded. But a baserunning gaffe by Chicago prevented a potentially bigger inning. Eaton grounded back to Archer, who caught De Aza between third and home. De Aza was eventually tagged out in a rundown, then Flowers was tagged out while trying to go to third. The Rays had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, but Hanigan grounded into an inning-ending double play. "Its one of those games, if you permit it to fester, it will, and if you dont permit it, it wont," Maddon said. "So for me, its a loss and a loss is a loss is a loss. Of course, we really had a chance to win that game, but youve got to come and play tomorrow -- you dont get a week off." After missing five games with a mild left knee strain, Eaton led off the first inning with a single and stole second. He later scored on Abreus single. NOTES: Before the game, the White Sox claimed reliever Hector Noesi off waivers from Texas. He is expected to throw a bullpen before Saturdays game. ... Rays LHP Cesar Ramos will start Saturday in place of LHP Matt Moore, who had Tommy John surgery Tuesday. Cheap George Bell Jersey . It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. Cheap Jesse Barfield Jersey . Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard. http://www.cheapbluejaysjerseys.com/ . Hattestad managed to avoid the carnage midway through the mens final, as a crash took out three skiers, essentially leaving two men vying for gold. The Norwegian posted a time of 3:38.39, outlasting Swedens Teodor Peterson, who took silver with a time of 3:39.CHICAGO - The young man with broad shoulders and a bright smile leans back, relaxed in his chair, and crosses his muscular arms, because young men like him, with broad shoulders and bright smiles dont have much to worry about. Theyre big enough for every moment. The world and its opportunities should belong to him: Hes 23, 6-foot-6, and a recent graduate of Iowa State — and oh, this Brampton boy is headline news in Des Moines, Iowa. And if this was Des Moines, and the young man was sitting inside the Hilton Coliseum - where the Iowa State Cyclones play - hed be affectionately crushed by so many wearing so much cardinal and yellow, because they know him. Hes Melvin Ejim: No one has played more basketball games for Iowa State (135). Few Cyclones have ever been as successful on a basketball court (12th in scoring with 1,643 points). But this isnt Des Moines, this is a big gymnasium on Chicagos west side. Its the second day of the NBA combine and in this large gym are plenty other large, young men with huge reputations from other corners of America. And they want to steal Melvins dream. Because in front of NBA general managers and scouts there are no pep bands to proclaim Ejims college achievements; all he has are his broad shoulders and a basketball - his tools to answer the crucial question: Who is Melvin Ejim? But dont they not know him already? "I dont think they knew as much about me," Ejim says, and his smile turns into a sneer. "If anything, people knew about me more in the Big 12 (NCAA conference), and everybody appreciated what I did, but it was still kind of downplayed. "But I think once I got the Big 12 Player of the Year, and I beat out Andrew Wiggins - who is a phenomenal player - people started to realize: Wait, Wiggins was in that league? Marcus Smart was in that league? Joel Embiid was in that league? And THIS guy got the Big 12 Player of the Year? It solidified for people: Well he might actually be pretty good, but it still left some doubt in people." Doubt? What kind of doubt? There was Ejim on Day 1, fluttering along the true NBA 3-point line, hitting more shots from distance than any other prospect. Then on Day 2 hes screaming on the court, communicating, waving his arms, exploding from one end to the other, making himself too loud and too energetic to be forgotten. Meanwhile, his fellow high-ranked Canadians, Tyler Ennis and Nik Stauskas, decided to participate in only selective drills. And Wiggins, Embiid, and Jabari Parker, the provisional Top three prospects ahead of June 26s NBA draft, decided to skip the event entirely. Doubt? There cant be any doubt of Melvin Ejims passion and potential. Does he really have to sell himself so hard to get drafted? "I think he does," says Matt Kamalsky, director of operations for the college prospect website DraftExpress. "When you look at guys getting drafted who are significantly older than their class, its very rare for guys over 23/24-years old to get picked at all, let a lone make a team, and then be successful at all in the NBA. "But just because it hasnt happened doesnt me it wont work for him." Its not a unique perspective: Too old and too small are ubiquitous descriptions of Ejims flaws in most scouting reports. He spent four years at Iowa State, while Wiggins, Ennis and Stauskass immediate talent created immediate hype. The highest Ejim is projected to be selected is somewhere in the mid-to-late second round. After the Top 30 draft picks, however, there are little-to-no guaranteed contracts. But criticism and long odds wont blunt Ejims smile. Defiance somehow makes it brighter. "People say Im too old, because on the paper it says Im 23 and the other guy is 22 and were born in the same year— its silly," Ejim says. "They say stay in college for four years, and I wasnt going to get any younger by staying. Its part of the process. "The undersized thing, Ive been hearing that from Day 1. That has kind of been overplayed now. Theyre saying Im undersized because they have to, because there is nothing else to say. Cheap Paul Molitor Jersey. . Can you say I cant shoot well enough because I think I proved that [on Day 1 of the combine]. What are they going to say? That I didnt do well enough on the perimeter? Thats what they do here, they criticize—they want to evaluate." And Ejim wants to be evaluated. He wants to be poked and prodded and tested, again and again. He graduated with a history major and business minor, and in the future he wants to go to law school. But thats tomorrow. Today, he measures his growth with every shot he attempts, and every defensive challenge. He can feel himself growing into an NBA player. "A lot of people dont think I can shoot from the perimeter, and a lot of people dont think I can defend the perimeter," he says. "Im just trying to prove them wrong, and I think that is just the first step. Letting them know I can be a knockdown shooter. I can space the floor. I did it in college and being able to translate that to the (NBA) 3-point line — just showing people that I have the capability to do that, the capability to play on the perimeter as a [small forward] and it was gratifying." "Just listening to him talk its very obvious - and its not with all these guys - he knows what he needs to do in order to put himself in the best position to get drafted," Kamalsky says. "Guys dont have that kind of degree of self-awareness and maybe that maturity is a positive." And maturity, and perspective are Ejims greatest strengths. He came to the combine not just to show, but to tell. He wonders: Why would a general manager just obsess over a freakish, young talent that needs constant work? When here he is, learning, adapting, and thriving. Ejim remembers those early, early mornings - sometimes 6 am - walking or biking or busing to the Brampton or Mississauga YMCA. Sometimes hed have to bring his brothers health card and pretend to be someone else, because money was too tight for a membership, and one person can only have so many guest passes. And most of the time young Melvin wouldnt even get on the court; hed be off to side with a ball, watching his uncle and his uncles friend play, listening whenever he was told to: "Melvin, work on your handles." And he grew bigger and stronger and better, but he was still often an inch or inch and a half shorter than many others. So he worked and worked, from Amateur Athletic Union basketball to the NCAA. He counts his uncle, David, AAU coach Mike George (now his agent) and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, as part of his inner circle because they ingrained in him the everlasting directive; and if you listen to older, wiser Melvin long enough the mantra hits you like his smile: "I still think I can do a better job of being a better player. Solidify in peoples mind that Im a player, that Im good, that Im good enough." Those ranked higher than Ejim completely agree. "Ive worked out with him," says Ennis, projected to be selected in the Top 20. "I think he really shoots the ball better than people expect. At Iowa State he was playing more (small forward), going forward I think he has the ability to dribble the ball well enough to move to the wing." "We (Michigan) played Iowa State this year - Melvins a beast," says Stauskas, also potentially a Top-20 pick. "Hes a little bit undersized. Hes a guy I feel is going to go to workouts and really impress some people." Only when asked about workouts and meetings with NBA teams does Ejim become skittish. Dig deep enough and he reveals a meeting with the Utah Jazz next week, and then maybe three or four other teams after that. But each session is like a little secret, meant only for him. "My dream is to play in the NBA, to be a contributing part of a NBA team and continue to work, and be a solid player - the best player I can be. However I get there, time will tell." Maybe its why hes smiling: This is Melvin Ejims moment, after all. His big shoulders can bear it. 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