HAMILTON, Ont. -- The only role that the Hamilton Bulldogs have left to play is that of the spoiler, and on Saturday, they nearly made victims of the Rochester Americans. Phil Varone scored the shootout winner as the Americans overcame a third-period collapse for a crucial 4-3 win against the Bulldogs in American Hockey League action. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre said he was pleased with his teams performance, even if it came in a losing effort. "Kudos to the guys, because although we came up short, it was great to see them show some grit and fight back against a team that needed those points," he said. Colton Gillies, Kevin Porter and Brady Irwin scored in regulation for the Americans (35-27-10), who extended their lead on the ninth-place Charlotte Checkers to three points in the Western Conference playoff race. Andrey Makarov made 35 saves for Rochester. Connor Crisp, Joonas Nattinen and Gabriel Dumont had goals for the Bulldogs (32-35-7) and Robert Mayer stopped 38 shots. Varone skated in slowly and out-waited Mayer before sliding the puck in at the far post. All three Rochester skaters scored in the shootout, while all three Hamilton attempts were denied by Makarov. The first quality chance in regulation time was by the Bulldogs five minutes into the first period, as the combination of Christian Thomas and Sven Andrighetto had several opportunities to shovel the puck past Makarov at point-blank range. But the Rochester goaltender successfully fought through a crowd to kick their weak shots aside. A burst of speed from Andrighetto paved the way as Hamilton opened the scoring at 15:01 of the first period. He raced past the defender along the right wing and managed to get a low shot off that Makarov could only kick into the path of the supporting Crisp, who easily slotted the puck into the gaping net. Just over two minutes later, the Americans tied it when Tim Schaller gloved down a clearing attempt by Nathan Beaulieu and found Gillies unmarked in the low slot. The forward had plenty of time and space in which to operate, and chipped a high shot over Mayers far shoulder at 17:07. Rochester capitalized on a strange bounce to take the lead just 11 seconds into the second period. A routine dump-in play by Matt McKenzie turned into something more when the puck ricocheted off a stanchion behind Mayers net and slid to Porter in front. He scored easily with Mayer scrambling to recover his position. Rochester doubled its lead at 7:08 of the period when Schaller received a centring pass and fired a low slap shot that Mayer knocked to his left, where Irwin was waiting to slot the puck in from close range. Despite trailing by two goals, the Bulldogs crucially killed two penalties, a 5-on-3 midway through the second and a double-minor to end the period, to keep the possibility of a comeback alive. "Penalty kills are always huge, when you can escape, especially the four-minute call," said Crisp. "We got some help there with the penalty against Rochester, but since Ive been with this team, our penalty killing has been really good." The Bulldogs closed to within a goal early in the third period, when Nattinen and Jack Nevins combined to overpower the Americans in the low slot. After Nevins outmuscled two Rochester defenders to get a backhanded shot on net, Nattinen gathered the loose puck and out-waited Makarov before lifting a high shot over his near shoulder at 5:07. Nattinen spoke highly of his young linemate, who he believes to have all the tools to succeed in the AHL. "(Nevins) seems like a really good player," he said. "You can see though, that hes used to playing bigger minutes. Hes good with the puck and makes good decisions. "He can definitely play in this league." Dumont completed the Bulldogs comeback at 10:56, springing a 2-on-1 break alongside Louis Leblanc and deciding to keep the puck, before snapping a hard wrist shot high and past Makarov at the far post. Hamilton piled the pressure on Rochester in the final minutes of the third, and it took the considerable effort of Makarov, and his left post, to send the game to extra time. Hamilton was 0-for-2 on the power play while Rochester went 0-for-4. Fake Soccer Jerseys . Lynchs attorney, Ivan Golde, told The Associated Press on Thursday of the plea deal that was reached with the Alameda County District Attorney Office. The plea will be formally entered in court in Oakland, Calif. Custom Soccer Jerseys . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. https://www.fakesoccerjerseys.com/. As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. Authentic Soccer Jerseys . The Big Man finished 3-1 in Week 19, and sits at 53-24 on the season. Now Schultz is ready for more action. Soccer Jerseys China . Wawrinka, who is seeded fourth, is in the top half of the draw with Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Swiss star outlasted Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal thriller last year and stunned Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title. PITTSBURGH -- Jean Machi has been playing professional baseball in the United States since 2002 when he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies team in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Yet the beefy right-handed reliever, now with the San Francisco Giants, had never been asked to bunt until the 13th inning Monday night. Not only did he successfully execute get the bunt for a sacrifice, but caused Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jared Hughes to rush a wide throw to first base. The error enabled Hunter Pence to score from second base and give the Giants an 11-10 victory. "I saw (Hughes) got a late break off the mound and slipped and I knew I had to run hard," Machi said through a translator. "I was excited because I did my job. They wanted me to move the runners up and I did that." San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said he was confident the 6-foot, 255-pound Machi could bunt despite the lack of experience. "Looks are deceiving in his case," Bochy said. "Hes a lot more athletic than he looks." San Francisco overcame a six-run deficit to run its winning streak to a season-best six games and also win for the 10th time in 11 games while sending the Pirates to their 18th loss in 23 games. Hughes (1-1) came on to start the 13th with the score tied at 10. With one out, he walked Pence and hit Juan Perez with a pitch to put runners on first and second base. Machi (5-0) then dropped down his bunt and wound up tied for the major league lead in victories with three starting pitchers: the Los Angeles Dodgers Zack Greinke, St. Louis Adam Wainwright and Torontos Mark Buehrle. Giants backup catcher Hector Sanchez had four hits and three RBIs, while Buster Posey, who got a day off from catching and played first base, had three hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. Pence finished with three hits and scored four times and Angel Pagan also had three of San Franciscos 20 hits. Michael Morse drove in two runs with a pair of doubless.dddddddddddd Posey forced extra innings when his RBI single in the ninth off Mark Melancon tied it at 10. Machi pitched two scoreless innings and Sergio Romo worked the 13th for his 10th save. "Its just one of 162 games and at the end of the day its about playing hard, playing to the end and never giving up," Pence said. The Pirates Andrew McCutchen had four hits and Pedro Alvarez homered and drove in four runs. Pittsburgh went ahead by six runs, 8-2, after scoring four times in the fifth inning but couldnt hold on. Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Pirates needed a spot starter after their rotation was scrambled last week by back-to-back rainouts in Baltimore. Six Pirates relievers gave up four runs in 7 2/3 innings and Bryan Morris let all three inherited runners scored when he relieved Locke. "Well, it basically got to our location not being good," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his bullpens struggles. "We were up in the zone more than we normally are." San Franciscos Yusmeiro Petit allowed eight runs in 4 1-3 innings. He started in place of Matt Cain, who was placed on the disabled list Sunday with a cut on his right index finger. "I thought we were dead in the water," Bochy said. "It was one of the grittiest games Ive been a part of in this group." NOTES: Bochy is confident Cain will make his next scheduled start Saturday against the Dodgers at Los Angeles. ... San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt, who entered in a 2-for-29 slump, did not start but went 1-for-2 with a walk off the bench. ... Pittsburgh RHP Jason Grilli played catch for the second time in three days but there is no timetable for when the closer, who is on the DL with a strained left oblique, will be able to throw off a mound. ... The Pirates optioned RHP Casey Sadler to Indianapolis to open a roster spot for Locke. ' ' '