NEW ORLEANS - Jonas Valanciunas stay in The Big Easy will be a brief one.
[b]Fake Mariners Jerseys[/b] . After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead. Valanciunas, who scored four points in 19 minutes for the victorious Team Hill in the annual rookie-sophomore showcase, will spend two days on a beach in Mexico. How soon does he leave? "As soon as possible," he joked after Fridays game. "I want to see that sun." Scheduled to take off from New Orleans Saturday morning, Valanciunas vacation will also be short-lived. He and the rest of the team will reconvene in Washington Monday for practice but a little relaxation before that could go a long way for the Raptors young centre. "[I can] just relax my body," he said of the excursion, "have some time off to relax my mind, relax my body and be ready for the next half of the season." With 30 regular season games and - barring a complete Raptors collapse - at least a few playoff contests to go, Valanciunas should surpass his minute total from last season in the next week, hes 32 minutes shy of matching his rookie mark. After a strong eight-game stretch, averaging 15.4 points and 10.8 rebounds, to close out last month and begin February, the 21-year-old was rusty going into the break. Despite grabbing 14 boards, he connected on just one of his nine attempts, logging just 24 minutes in Wednesdays win over the Hawks. "He needs a rest," Dwane Casey said after that game. "He needs a mental rest." The stretch run will be uncharted territory for Valanciunas and the Raptors will need him at full strength, both physically and mentally. His time in New Orleans, however brief, was not especially taxing. Valanciunas four points was tied with Phoenixs Miles Plumlee for lowest in the game. In general the event is not one that lends itself to prototypical big men. Its a high-scoring, up and down display of athleticism and three-point shooting. "Everybody wants to score," he said. "Everybody wants to do some beautiful dunks, beautiful shots and my job is to bang inside." Valanciunas may have been the only one on the court looking to set screens and box out. Offensively, he was out of place, failing to convert three alley-oops, getting a hook shot blocked by the Pelicans Anthony Davis and even missing a rare three-pointer. "That was my goal the whole game," he said with a smile. "To make a three." Valanciunas team, drafted by Grant Hill, was victorious by a score of 142-136 over Team Chris Webber. Detroits Andre Drummond was awarded MVP, voted on by the fans, after scoring 30 points and grabbing 25 boards. Clevelands Dion Waiters had 31 points and the Knicks Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 36 for Team Webber.
[b]Seattle Mariners Pro Shop[/b] . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final.
[b]Stitched Mariners Jerseys[/b] . Radulov scored the lone goal in the shootout, and the Predators edged the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday night to reach 100 points for the second time in three seasons and fourth in seven.TSN 1050s Scott MacArthur and TSN contributors Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star and Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com discuss why the Blue Jays are so inconsistent, J.A. Happs future in the rotation and manager John Gibbons usage of R.A. Dickey. Click here to listen to The Baseball Podcast. TORONTO - R.A. Dickey may have gotten the win on Tuesday night, his fourth victory of the season, but he suggested afterward he would spend the next 18 hours beating himself up over the way that seventh inning played out. Dickey started the inning with a 5-1 lead, the Jays had just scored three in the sixth to pad their advantage, but he wouldnt finish the inning. In fact, he didnt get an out over four batters. A lead off single by Asdrubal Cabrera could have been erased on a double play ground ball by David Murphy, but Brett Lawrie booted the hot shot at second base. A walk and a hit batter later, Torontos lead was cut to 5-2 and Dickeys night was over. Aaron Loup came in and chipped his way out of Dickeys jam, although two inherited runners scored to trim the lead to 5-4. That would be the games final score. The knuckleballer wants to pitch deeper into games but he knows his stat line isnt the top priority. "We want to win ballgames," said Dickey. "Regardless of how I feel about how deeply I go. If thats the right move, its the right move and if it ends in a win, great. I just think that Im more than capable with the stuff that I possess presently to be able to go deeper into games and I think I will." Dickeys thrown 53 2/3 innings over nine starts. Thats relatively simple math: hes averaging just less than six innings per start. Last year, Dickey averaged almost 6 2/3 innings per outing. There are a lot of starts left but using the current numbers, a two out per start difference means the Jays bullpen would be asked to pick up about 70 more outs in Dickeys starts over the course of a full year. "More frustrated is kind of how I feel," said Dickey. "I think some of its just baseball, i.e. a hit batsman or a single on a 1-2 count that you should have gotten the guy out on. I dont want to over-think it or overanalyze it but at the same time I also want to be honest about the things I maybe could do differently to get us deeper into the game." Dickey is healthy, something he couldnt say this time last year as he pitched through a strained muscle in his upper back. He isnt tiring later into games, something he suggested was happening earlier this season and when he studies his velocities inning-over-inning the readings reflect improved durability. Hes pleased just as much with the movement on his knuckleball. "I think, from my end, I just have to keep feeling good," said Dickey. "I think as long as Im healthy and feeling good over the course of the next 24 starts, quite a few of them Ill be able to go deeper into the game if I can just stay healthy." Dickey was drafted way back in 1996. He laughs when hes told it was 18 years ago, as if hes hearing it for the first time and ccant believe how quickly time has passed.
[b]Cheap Mariners Jerseys[/b]. Theres certainly some truth to the latter. He remembers breaking into the game at a time when it was assumed starters would take the ball and for better or worse, keep it. "Its obvious that the majority of pitchers now, generationally that are new that come up into the game, have this 100-pitch threshold where its almost like theyve been convinced that thats as far as they are capable of going because thats always when theyve been taken out of games," said Dickey. "Early on, and Im talking about 2000, 2001 when I was first up, guys would routinely throw 120 (pitches) like it was nothing and they would just suck up the innings as much as they could." Dickey subscribes to the notion that strict pitch counts can affect a pitchers approach as a game wears on. "A starter that sees that hes close to 100 pitches maybe starts to anticipate that his time may be done instead of thinking to himself, Im going to keep going through this because this is my game," said Dickey. "Theres been a shift in mentality for sure." He remembers a start at Fenway Park last September. Dickey threw a complete-game eight innings in a 5-2 loss to the Red Sox. He was in trouble early but settled down, gave his team a chance to win and saved the bullpen a days work. He points to Drew Hutchisons start earlier this month in Philadelphia. Staked to a 5-0 lead and cruising, Hutchison coughed up five runs in the sixth inning but hung in to pitch the seventh and eighth. The Blue Jays would win 6-5 in 10 innings that night. "I do think that there are certain times on a case by case basis, depending on the game situation, where its good for the starter to grind through that seventh and eighth inning," said Dickey. "I did that a number of times last year when I would give up four or five runs and go seven or eight innings just to save the pen. Now, were early in the year, were trying to get wins, however (Gibbons) thinks that we can do that, thats what we should do." WAGNER ON THE CAROUSEL Neil Wagner is back with the Blue Jays, recalled before Wednesdays game against the Indians. Hes up for the second time this season. As a player with options remaining, trips to and from Buffalo are to be expected when part of an organization that sees value in regular player movement. "The fact that you know that thats just kind of how it is and that theres nothing that can be done about it doesnt make it any less frustrating but the bottom line is that if you go down there and put up your numbers and do your thing," said Wagner. "If you sit and mope youre not going to come back." Wagner replaces Chad Jenkins, who was optioned back to Buffalo for a third time, already, this season. Also, the Blue Jays recalled catcher Erik Kratz from the Bisons to fill the roster spot voided by Dioner Navarro, who was placed on the bereavement/family emergency list. Navarro can return at any time and has up to seven days to be away from the team. ' ' '
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