Video's » BI single in the five-run eighth. Houston, which has

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Two wins do not make a playoff contender, unless youre in the NFC East. Despite opening the season with six straight losses, the New York Giants (2-6) remarkably are still in the playoff hunt heading into their bye week. The Giants won their second straight game Sunday with a 15-7 decision over the Eagles in Philadelphia. Things only got better after the game when Detroit staged a furious last-minute rally to knock off the division-leading Dallas Cowboys (4-4). The math is simple: New York is two games behind with eight to play. Its not the best position and the chances that the Giants will make the playoffs are not good unless they run the table. "We won our last couple of games, which is a great thing. Are we back?" safety Antrel Rolle asked Monday, and then answered, "Well be back once we reach that post-season. Thats when Ill say that were back. Right now were grinding. Were grinding, were fighting extremely hard and, you know, being 0-6, like I said several times before, can do a lot of things to you. Ive had to dig extremely deep, had to be so mentally tough to overcome it because Ive never been in that stage in my life either. "Right now, as a team, were grinding. Were grinding and were pushing ahead and more importantly were staying together." The Giants still have a chance because they have corrected some of the errors that led to their worst start since coming out of the gate with a franchise-worst nine straight losses in 1976. In the past two games, Eli Manning and the offence have not turned over the ball. The defence, which has improved since getting middle linebacker Jon Beason in a trade with Carolina, has not allowed a point. The only major mistakes have been by special teams that gave up a punt return for a touchdown against Minnesota — the third one this season — and handed the Eagles a recovery for a TD late in the fourth quarter with a bad snap on a punt. The only turnover in the past two games was a lost fumble on a punt return. If they can avoid the turnovers, get the offence a little more in gear and continue to play good defence, the Giants will be competitive. The problem is the Giants have not been a good team in the second half of the season in recent years, and the schedule is tough even with five home games, including three straight out of the bye — Oakland (3-4), Green Bay (5-2) and Dallas. They also have games with the Chargers (4-3), Lions (5-3), Seahawks (6-1 heading into Monday night) and two with Robert Griffin III and the Redskins (2-5). "We havent done nothing yet," said cornerback Terrell Thomas, who made his biggest stride returning from two ACL surgeries by playing every down against Philadelphia. "Were 2-6. It feels great to have two wins. There are smiles around here and everyone is confident. This team has a makeup to make a run. Weve been in this position before and we are better when our backs are against the wall." Coach Tom Coughlin plans to self-scout his team over the bye week and he expects running back Andre Brown, who broke a leg in the preseason, to be ready to return from injured reserve after the bye. "I think theres some excitement," said Coughlin, who did an outstanding job keeping his team together after the horrible start. "Were certainly not blind to the issues that we do have, but by the same token were excited about having an opportunity to improve on those areas and excited about the second half of the year." Defensive end Justin Tuck said the key for the second half will be to continue doing what they have done the past two weeks. "Its really that simple," Tuck said. "We cant allow ourselves to think about the past or future, all we can think about is whats next. Thats the day-to-day life of a football player. We have to make sure once we get back in the swing of things that the only thing were thinking about is Oakland. Not thinking about what Dallas did or Philly or Washington or whoever else. We can control what we can control and thats how we play." While its a long shot, the players still maintain the hope they can be the first team to play in a Super Bowl in their own stadium. The title game at Met Life Stadium, the home of the Giants and Jets, is Feb. 2. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org Cheap Celtics Jerseys .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Cheap Terry Rozier Jersey . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. http://www.cheapcelticsjerseys.com/?tag=...g-monroe-jersey. - The Minnesota Vikings have ruled Christian Ponder out for Sundays game at Baltimore, because the quarterback has not yet passed all of his post-concussion tests. Cheap Celtics Jerseys China . Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons also scored for the Admirals (22-13-10), who are 2-0-2 in their last four outings, while Roussel tacked on an assist for a two-point night. Greg Pateryn scored once for the Bulldogs (20-22-4), who lost their fifth straight contest, and also assisted on Gabriel Dumonts goal. Cheap Jayson Tatum Jersey . So much so that even a simple foul pop up to the first baseman turned into a run. Houstons four-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night was capped by a bizarre play that started as Crowe fouled out to first baseman Justin Smoak with runners on second and third. DETROIT -- Robbie Ray provided a glimpse of what the Detroit Tigers saw in him when they acquired the pitching prospect for Doug Fister. Ray gave up one run in his major league debut and got plenty of run support, especially from Miguel Cabrera, to help Detroit rout the Houston Astros 11-4 on Tuesday night for its season-high seventh straight win. When Ray walked off the mound and toward the dugout in the sixth inning, he was given a standing ovation by a crowd that included his mother, father, fiancee and her family. "I did enjoy it," he said. "I started tearing up a little bit." Some of those same fans may have wondered what the Tigers were thinking when they traded a 14-game winner to Washington for the 22-year-old Ray during the off-season. "I got the sense that before today, they didnt know who I was," Ray said. Now, they know and 27,939 fans probably liked what they witnessed from the hard-throwing lefty. Ray (1-0) gave up one run, five hits and a walk, and struck out five in 5 1-3 innings. He probably earned another turn in the rotation because Anibal Sanchez is on the disabled list with a cut on his right middle finger. "Id be surprised if it was somebody else," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. Ray responded well when Jose Altuve led off the game with a bloop down the right field line, which he turned into a double. Dexter Fowler followed with an infield single after Ray ran past first base when Cabrera tossed him the ball. With the poise Ausmus predicted he would have, Ray struck out the third and fourth batters in Houstons lineup and an inning-inning groundout got him out of the jam. "That was a big inning," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "You have a guy whos making his first major league start on the ropes with the middle of the order coming up. "But to his credit, he was able to get out of it." The former Nationals prospect had a shot to have a scoreless start, but second baseman Ian Kinsler dropped a popup that allowed Fowler to score in the sixth innning.dddddddddddd "Hes got good stuff and a good head on his shoulders," Tigers catcher Alex Avila said. "But people cant -- or shouldnt -- put pressure on the kid about being part of the Fister trade." Cabrera homered in the first inning for his first of four hits and four RBIs. He raised his batting average to .293 after it was .206 on April 21. The reigning two-time AL MVP, who matched a season high with the four hits, had an RBI single in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth. "Every player goes through a little bit of a lull once in a while," Ausmus said. "Its just that I think Miggy has set such a high standard that people dont expect it." The Tigers scored two runs in the third inning and another in the fourth. J.D. Martinez was the only player in Detroits lineup who did not have a hit until he had an RBI single in the five-run eighth. Houston, which has the worst record in the majors (10-23), lost its fourth straight and sixth in seven games. "Its a little tough, you know," right-hander Josh Fields said after giving up five runs and getting only two outs. "Were struggling. But itll be all right." Brett Oberholtzer (0-6) allowed four runs, nine hits, two sacrifice flies and a walk over six innings. "I thought he did a good job of battling and did a good job of leaving us in a good position when he left the game," Porter said. The Astros bullpen, though, ended any shot of at least staying competitive in the game by giving up seven runs. "Extremely troubled," Porter said. "If our bullpen would have been able to keep it there, it would have been a different ballgame." NOTES: Detroit OF Torii Hunter extended his hitting streak to 13 games and had the first of Detroits three sacrifice flies. ... Porter said RHP Scott Feldman, who has been on the DL since mid-April with right biceps tendinitis, will start Friday at Baltimore and said a decision will be made Wednesday or Thursday about who will be taken out of the rotation. ' ' '