General manager Marty Hurney felt he needed to upgrade team speed after the Panthers failed to win the NFC South the last two seasons.

He believes he's done just that in the NFL draft.

The Panthers selected field-stretching tight end Ian Thomas from Indiana and speed rusher Marquis Haynes from Ole Miss in the fourth round Michael Gallup Cowboys Jersey , and middle linebacker Jermaine Carter from Maryland in the fifth. They closed out the final day by taking middle linebacker Andre Smith from North Carolina and defensive tackle Kendrick Norton from Miami in the seventh round.

Carolina placed a major emphasis on adding speed, a pattern established in the first two days of the draft when it took wide receiver D.J. Moore from Maryland in the first round, cornerback Donte Jackson from LSU in the second and safety Rashaan Gaulden in the third.

"I have always believed that you can't teach speed 鈥?and that is a big part of this game," Hurney said. "You have to be big and you have to be physical, but you have to be fast, too. Coming into this offseason that was one of our goals to add speed, especially to the skill positions."

The Panthers had won three straight NFC South titles before Atlanta won in 2016 and New Orleans triumphed in 2017.

They lost three times to the Saints last year, including a wild-card playoff loss at the Superdome.

"One of the things that you have to do is look at your division," coach Ron Rivera said. "To get into the playoffs you have to win your division. ... So when you compare those teams in your division with what you have you most certainly have to be able to match up with those guys across the board."

THOMAS' TOUGH ROAD

The Panthers got the third day of the NFL draft started by selecting Thomas with the first pick in the fourth round. They believe he is from the same mold as Greg Olsen with the versatility to catch passes and block.

Thomas was raised by his siblings after both of his parents died before he was 10 years old 鈥攈is mother from a kidney infection and his father from a heart attack a year later. Thomas has eight siblings in all, but was primarily raised by his brother, Clif Farmer.

"I always thank him any chance I get for helping us growing up and for helping me become the man I am today Cody Bellinger Jersey ," Thomas said. "He knows how much love I have for him and how much love he has for all of us. I know it's just a blessing to have him as an older brother and a role model."

WHAT A JOKER

The Panthers are high on Haynes, even though he's slight for an NFL defensive end at 235 pounds. Still, he broke Greg Hardy's career record for sacks at Ole Miss with 32.

But Rivera also likes that Haynes can drop back in coverage and play the team's "joker" position.

Rivera says Haynes' pass-rushing skills remind him of current Panthers defensive end Mario Addison.

"I got a knack for my first step, getting off the ball, because it really makes the offensive lineman really think that they have to overstep, I could then take an inside move," Haynes said. "But if they don't, I can just run right around them and get to the quarterback."

SWAGGER TIME

When the Panthers pulled the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman two years ago, they lost some serious swagger in the secondary.

Well, that attitude appears back courtesy of second-round pick Donte "Action" Jackson from LSU. Although he's only 5-foot-10 and 178 pounds, Jackson is plenty confident. When asked who's the fastest player on the Carolina roster he responded quickly Youth Ed Dickson Jersey , "Me, Donte Jackson."

"Yeah I'm fast, but my mentality and my toughness and my confidence and my swagger is all there, it's all football," Jackson said. "You know, that's one thing I like to pride myself on. I never really liked to listen to people say I'm too small because I've been listening to that my whole life and it just adds fuel to the fire."

Jackson's father was in prison when he was growing up; he said he still speaks with him every other day.

STILL NEED

The Panthers never did find a replacement for running back Jonathan Stewart, cut during the offseason in a salary cap move. Rivera said that Cameron Artis-Payne will get "the first crack" as the No. 2 back behind Christian McCaffrey. Carolina also didn't draft a guard despite losing All-Pro Andrew Norwell to the Giants in free agency.

Ryan Rua has struggled over his young career as a pinch hitter for the Texas Rangers.

However, he made the most of the opportunity against the free-falling Baltimore Orioles.

Rua had a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Rangers held on to beat the Orioles 5-4 Friday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

”It was a situation where we just felt if we had runners on base we were going to go to Rua to give us an opportunity to drive some runs in,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. ”I’m not real sure if he’s had a pinch hit. I know he’s had some attempts and hadn’t really come through. But to get a big one in that situation was huge for us.”

Cole Hamels (5-8) won for the first time in almost a month, allowing four runs and five hits with three strikeouts and one walk over 6 1/3 innings in a matchup of last-place teams.

”I was still giving up four runs Authentic Logan Woodside Jersey , so that’s tough,” Hamels said.

Rua broke a 1-1 deadlock with the first pinch-hit of his career, off rookie left-hander Tanner Scott. Rua had gone 0 for 18 in his previous opportunities in that role.

”In my career I’ve had pretty good success against lefties,” Rua said. ”Pinch-hitting, not so much, so it was good to get that out of the way.”

Nomar Mazara added an RBI double later that inning, which made it 5-1 and boosted Scott’s ERA from 5.88 to 6.84 over 26 appearances.

Baltimore pulled within a run on Caleb Joseph’s three-run double against reliever Jose Leclerc in the bottom half of the inning. The Orioles loaded the bases in the eighth but Jake Diekman got out of the jam by getting Chris Davis on a short pop out.

Keone Kela got the last three outs for his 23rd save.

”I don’t know how many one-run games we’ve had where we’ve fought back, fought back and just haven’t been able to get that big push,” Joseph said. ”It’ll take a toll on you mentally, for sure.”

The Orioles have lost 17 of 20 and fell to 14-33 at Camden Yards, the second-worst home mark in the majors behind Kansas City.

Joey Gallo gave the Rangers the lead when he led off the fifth with a home run off Alex Cobb (2-12). The Orioles answered in the bottom half when Adam Jones hit a double just inside the left-field foul line and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Danny Valencia.

Cobb left his previous start against the Twins in the sixth inning with a blister on his right index finger. He did not appear hampered by the injury and allowed two runs and six hits with three strikeouts and no walks over 6 1/3 innings.

”They’re a pretty aggressive team Jordan Howard Jersey Youth ,” Cobb said. ”I tried to get ahead early, make them chase pitches that you want them to chase, and hopefully, they put it on the ground and find somebody.”

STREAKS EXTENDED

Rangers DH Shin-Soo Choo, who was celebrating his 36th birthday, hit a single in the third to extend his club record on-base streak to 49 games. It’s also the longest streak in the majors in the last 10 years. … Hamels has struck out at least one batter in 320 straight games.

STATS AND FACTS

The Orioles used their 90th different lineup, the most in the MLB. … Baltimore 1B Davis stole a base for the first time since last Sept. 24.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: RHP Chris Tillman (back) will have another rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday. He could be added to Baltimore’s roster after the All-Star break, manager Buck Showalter said.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (2-3. 9.67 ERA) will come off the 60-day DL from an elbow injury and make his first start since April 29. He went 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA and 19 strikeouts in three rehab outings (17.1 nnings).

Orioles: Rookie Yefry Ramirez (0-3, 3.93 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season. He allowed four runs and nine hits over four-plus innings in a loss to the Yankees on July 9.

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