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TORONTO -- Liam Hendriks already had a big day on the go before taking the mound for his Blue Jays debut Friday night. The Australian was called up from triple-A Buffalo, enjoyed his six-month anniversary with wife Kristi, and gave his mother Debbie a long-distance present as she celebrated her birthday Down Under. Hendriks capped a day to remember with an impressive 5 2/3-inning performance in Torontos 3-2 win over Oakland at Rogers Centre. The 25-year-old right-hander allowed three hits and one earned run for his first major-league victory since last August. "Its kind of a big deal today for me," he said. Steve Tolleson staked Hendriks to an early lead with a two-run shot -- his first homer of the season -- in the second inning and the Blue Jays scratched out another run in the third. Hendriks allowed a solo homer to Brandon Moss in the fourth inning. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and left to a standing ovation in the sixth inning. "That was incredible," he said. "I got tingles all over my body for that. This is such a good crowd up here. Its fantastic. They know their baseball up here." Hendriks, who spent parts of the last three seasons with the Twins, earned the callup with a sparkling 5-0 record and 1.48 earned-run average this season with the Bisons. He hopes to take full advantage of this second chance in the big leagues. "Its a huge thing for me," he said. "I was given opportunities in Minnesota and I didnt capitalize on them. Now Ive got a different mindset coming into the season of just getting ready, getting aggressive and getting after guys early. "I think its paid dividends so far and hopefully I can continue this trend and stay up here all year." Toronto manager John Gibbons was impressed. "I would definitely say hes earned another start," he said. The Blue Jays have won four straight games, nine of their last 11 and improved to 11-11 at home this season. Toronto (27-22) is five games over .500 for the first time in over two years. The Blue Jays also lead the American League East division. The last time they were alone in first place this deep into the season was way back on July 6, 2000. It was Tollesons first home run in a Toronto uniform and first in the majors since he went deep on June 10, 2012 with Philadelphia. "We have a tremendous lineup, I mean Melky (Cabrera), Jose (Bautista), Eddie (Encarnacion), all of these guys have been swinging the bat really well," said Tolleson, who batted seventh. "When the bottom of the order can get on base and they can drive us in or produce some runs ourselves that just helps everybody." Scott Kazmir (5-2) shouldered the loss for American League West-leading Oakland (30-18). He allowed five hits and three earned runs over seven innings. However, it was the southpaws throwing error in the third inning that allowed the eventual winning run to score. With Kevin Pillar aboard after a double, Kazmir threw to second base on a pickoff attempt but no one was covering the bag. Pillar ran to third on the play and scored when Jose Reyes hit a slow grounder to the right side of the infield. "That turned out to be costly," Kazmir said. "I should have held on to it. It ended up being the difference-maker in the game." Jed Lowrie was playing shortstop and Nick Punto was at second base. "(Kazmir) thought that I was going to go to the base and I was just there to hold (Pillar) on just a little bit longer because he was extending his lead," Lowrie said. "I wanted to stay there. He looked back and thought I was going to break and I didnt have any plans to." The Athletics made it a one-run game in the eighth inning and threatened in the ninth. Coco Crisp hit a two-out double off Casey Janssen and stole third but the Toronto closer got Lowrie to ground out for his sixth save in six opportunities. Notes: Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (4-4) will get the start Saturday afternoon against Jesse Chavez (4-1). ... The Blue Jays will host Tampa Bay and Kansas City during the homestand next week. ... Hendriks allowed three walks and had three strikeouts. ... Moss has 11 homers on the season. ... Bautista, who walked in the third inning, has reached base safely in 48 of 49 games this season. He leads the major leagues with 42 walks. ... Announced attendance was 21,007 and the game took two hours 37 minutes. Alex Manninger Jersey . Donald Young lost in straight sets to Israels Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-0. Querrey, ranked No. 61, is the second-highest ranked American, ahead of Johnson (64). Pedro Chirivella Jersey . 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"It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New Orleans Pelicans once again become road warriors on Friday as they travel to the Target Center to face the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Pelicans played one game in the Big Easy following a five-game road trip. New Orleans went 2-3 on that trip with wins over the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons and losses to the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. On Wednesday, the Pelicans returned home and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 96-80. Anthony Davis, who was named a starter for the Western Conference All-Star team, had 29 points and eight rebounds as the Pelicans pulled away from the Lakers in the fourth quarter. Davis returned from a three-game absence with a toe injury. Eric Gordon posted 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, while Tyreke Evans added 19 points for the Pelicans, who outscored the Lakers 27-12 in the fourth to turn the game into a rout. We just love Gordons floor game, having 10 assists was huge for us, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. New Orleans scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to grab a 10- point cushion at the 8:32 mark. The Lakers never got within less than eight the rest of the way. Following Fridays contest, the Pelicans head home for a six-game residency. The Timberwolves have lost two straight since winning two of threee.dddddddddddd Minnesota has dropped nine straight at home and hasnt won at the Target Center since Dec. 10 against the Portland Trail Blazers. On Wednesday, the home losing streak reached nine with a 98-75 setback at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Andrew Wiggins paced the Timberwolves with 18 points, with Thaddeus Young tallying 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in defeat. Nikola Pekovic, playing his first game since Minnesotas loss in Dallas on Nov. 15, had 14 points in 23 minutes in his return. The Mavericks hit on 11-of-27 shots from beyond the arc. Minnesota, in contrast, went a poor 2-of-15 on 3-point tries and shot just 34.8 percent overall. It felt like we were playing with deflated balls tonight, Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders joked in reference to the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots recent win in the AFC Championship Game. We couldnt shoot at all tonight. The Timberwolves might be getting some reinforcements soon in the form of Kevin Martin. He has practiced for almost a week and is listed as questionable for Friday. There is no return timetable for Ricky Rubio or Shabazz Muhammad. The Pelicans beat the T-wolves in New Orleans on Nov. 14 and have taken two straight versus Minnesota. The Timberwolves are 4-0 in their last four as the host in this series. 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