Sitting in the rare position of being first in the AL East with the calendar approaching June, the Blue Jays are set to kick off a ten game homestand against fellow division leader, the Oakland Athletics.
[b]Cowboys Jerseys 2020[/b] . Toronto has won three straight and six of its last seven games overall to take a one-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. The Blue Jays concluded an impressive three-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park with Thursdays 7-2 victory. Mark Buehrle tossed seven innings of two-run ball for his major league-best eighth win of the season. Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista went back to back in the first inning off Red Sox starter Jon Lester. Toronto tacked on five more runs in the second and went on to out-hit Boston, 14-7. Right-hander Liam Hendriks was promoted from Triple-A to make his Blue Jays debut. Hendriks, who was claimed off waivers from the Orioles during spring training, went 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA in nine games at Buffalo. Hell look to the offense for some run support. Toronto leads the majors with 67 home runs to go along with an AL-best 168 extra-base hits. First baseman Edwin Encarnacion has been one of the main catalysts with 11 homers already this month. "You can see how weve been making adjustments at the plate," Encarnacion said. "Weve been looking for our pitch, weve been trying to be aggressive and trying to do our best to win games." For Oakland, Scott Kazmir takes the mound after being ejected by home-plate umpire Jerry Layne in the second inning of his last outing against Cleveland for arguing balls and strikes. The veteran left-hander walked three and struck out one in 1 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .215 off Kazmir this season, and that includes a .133 average with runners in scoring position. Manager Bob Melvin decided to keep Kazmir on his normal routine between outings since he did throw 41 pitches before getting tosses. "Were still trying to be careful and get him through the whole year," Melvin said. Over the teams last 13 games, As pitchers have posted a combined 1.58 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .185 batting average. Oakland has gotten hot with wins in 11 of its last 13 games to claim the best record in the majors. The team began Friday with a 3 1/2-game lead over the Angels in the American League West. The As, who are wrapping up a nine-game road trip with this weekends series, own a major league-best 18-7 road record this season. However, they are coming off Thursdays 5-2 loss at Tampa Bay in 11 innings. As starter Sonny Gray went eight innings and allowed just one run, but the offense could not help him out and the bullpen eventually imploded. Reliever Dan Otero yielded three hits in the 11th, including a two-out RBI single to Desmond Jennings to tie the game at 2-2. Luke Gregerson came on and promptly served up a walk-off three-run homer to Sean Rodriguez. Oakland has won eight of the last 11 meetings in Toronto.
[b]Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys[/b] . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings.
[b]Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop[/b] . "Yeah, [I heard them]," he said. "They made me miss the free throw." A year ago, Lowrys post-game antics may not have been so well received but what was snide and snarky is now endearing quick wit.The Oakland As have the best record in the American League at 13-5 and are second only to Milwaukee by a half-game for best record in the Majors. This organizations success, at times, defies logic. They play in the most in-need-of-repair stadium in the Majors and traditionally draw in the bottom third, if not worse, in the Majors. Yet, here they are at 13-5 atop the American League West after starting last season at 12-5 en route to a 96-win season. There were a couple of things that caught my attention about the As 4-1 victory over Houston. First, it was the starting pitcher. Jesse Chavez was actually with the Blue Jays back in 2012 as a reliever. He didnt see much action with a team that had three starters - Brandon Morrow, Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek - down with injuries. Later that year, the Jays lost the then 28-year-old on a waiver claim by Oakland. Last season, he worked in the As pen as a reliever. Now the As, thanks in part to injuries, have given the 30-year-old right hander the chance to start. So far, it looks as though the As have struck gold. Chavez has made four starts and in doing so, became the first starter in franchise history to go at least six innings in his first four outings and give up one or fewer runs in each. Sunday, he picked up his first Major League victory as a starter and has solidified his spot in the Oakland rotation. The other thing I noticed is the As lineup. Of the 11 players who appeared in that 4-1 victory over Houston, only one was actually signed and developed by Oakland. That was budding Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes, who defected in 2011 and signed a four-year, $36 million contract with the As in February of 2012. All the rest were picked up in trades - many descript or on waiver claims or lower-tier free agents. Take Daric Barton, who came on late in the game to play first, but can also catch. He was picked up in a trade with St. Louis, along with infielder Kiko Calero and right hander Dan Haren, for then ace lefty Mark Mulder, who ultimately blew out his shoulder with the Redbirds, sat out a few years and ultimately had to abandon a comeback this spring. Barton is still contributing to the As and Haren is still going strong elsewhere. Josh Donaldson failed as a catcher in the Cubs organization and with the As. Then they made him into a third baseman and hes turned into a star. The As, with a limited payroll, just keep finding ways. If you roll back the clock to the year 2000 and then go over the As records over the following 14 seasons, theyve had nine winning seasons, four losing seasons and one .500 season. In fact, they had five seasons in a row between 2007 and 2011 where they only reached .500 once. But their successes have been mighty; two seasons with over 100 victories and seven more with at least 91. In 14 years, the As have finished first in the AL West six times. They have made the postseason eight times. Grant you, they have only won one division series and were defeated in the only ALCS they made it to. But I dont think I have to remind you there have been plenty of other teams that havent come closse to making the postseason over that 14 year span, teams that have a lot more money to spend and better venues to play in.
[b]Cheap Cowboys Jerseys[/b]. The other amazing thing about the As is their attendance. If you go back to when they were the Athletics in Philadelphia, where they resided for 54 years, the Athletics never broke one million in attendance once. During their 13 seasons in Kansas City, the As only surpassed one million twice, while in 46 years in Oakland, they have only bettered the two million mark, which is generally conceded to be the break-even point, 11 times. How good have they been over the last 14 years? Well collectively, they have finished 204 games above .500. The only two teams in the American League that have been head and shoulders better than them are the Yankees at 390 games over .500 with two World Series wins and two losses, and Boston at 265 games over .500 with three World Series triumphs. Billy Beane and Moneyball may have been overrated to a degree, but the As have proven to be one of the great franchises in the game against all odds. The Blue Jays have a significant homestand starting up Tuesday night. Baltimore comes to town for three followed by Boston for three. At 10-9, the Jays are one game ahead of the Orioles and Bosox. The Jays starting rotation will have to deliver more innings over these next six games. Last turn through the starting five, lefty Mark Buehrle was the only one able to get through the sixth and then beyond. The Jays have a bit of a psychological edge in both these series. The Orioles will be coming off an emotional Patriots Day game in Boston Monday morning and a draining series against the Bosox. Then Boston goes from that series to a three gamer with the Yankees. Both the Os and the Red Sox could be a little battle worn by the time they hit Toronto. Everybody talks about the Jays someday regretting trading Noah Syndergaard to the Mets. Well Henderson Alvarez is already in the Majors and looking dominant at times with the Miami Marlins. Saturday at home, he hit 96 MPH on the radar gun and pitched a complete game two-hitter, as the Marlins shut out Seattle 7-0. He faced just 28 batters, one over the minimum. It was Alvarezs first victory since he no-hit the Tigers on the final day of last season. He is 1-2 this season with a 2.66 ERA. Giants righty Tim Hudson is joining some exclusive company. He set a Giants record over the weekend by throwing 30 innings without issuing a single walk. He has also come close to a Major League mark by starting a season with four games of at least seven innings without walking a single batter. A gentleman by the name of "Tiny" Bonham also did that in 1944, according to ESPN, and Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander had a six game run in 1923. We mentioned right hander Dan Haren a little earlier in connection with the As. Well, hes trying to reboot his career with the Dodgers. His control has been impeccable in the early going. He has 20 strikeouts and just two walks. Of all active pitchers, Dan Haren has the top strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.09 to one. ' ' '
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