Registrierung » pitching six innings to help beat Miami 6-1 Thursday

TORONTO – The Blue Jays put an end to an ugly four-game losing skid and afterward the manager was happy to state the obvious. “It was a much needed win, I will definitely say,” said John Gibbons after his club beat Boston 7-1. Baseballs a strange game. It was an ugly homestand, the Blue Jays lost four of six to divisional rivals the Orioles and Red Sox, yet are sandwiched in-between the two teams with Baltimore a half-game ahead and Boston a half-game behind. In five of the six games, Toronto at some point held a lead of three runs or more. The Jays won only two of those five games, Sunday afternoon being one of them. Yet a crisp, efficient win which combined strong starting pitching, clutch relief work, good defence and potent offence buoyed the mood of the club as it heads out on an eight-game road trip through Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. “It was a complete joint effort,” said R.A. Dickey, who tossed 6 1/3 innings of one run ball. “I felt like we all had a hand in todays game. It was a game that I felt really good.” Dickey, who didnt walk a hitter for the first time in his Toronto tenure, left with one out in the seventh. The Red Sox had runners at second and third following a hit batsman and a double. Steve Delabar came in and got Jackie Bradley Jr. to pop up to third baseman Brett Lawrie and David Ross to fly out to centerfielder Jose Bautista. Inning over, the 2-1 lead preserved and the Jays would tack on two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to issue a final score that doesnt reflect how close the game was played for most of the afternoon. Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and two RBI, hitting four line drives in his four at-bats. Combined with the final out he made in Saturdays loss, a line drive to centerfield, Gibbons is seeing signs his slugging first baseman is beginning to emerge from a near-dormant first month of the season. “Today I thought he was really using his hands well,” said Gibbons. “Hes like anybody else. Confidence can waver a little bit. I dont care how good you are, how long youve been around or how productive youve been the last couple of seasons. This games all confidence.” Brett Lawrie hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot off Jon Lester in the second inning. The timing was important; the Red Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning. “Definitely,” said Lawrie of the quick response. “This is one of those games you want to win, especially with an off day (Monday) and us going on the road and leaving a sour taste in 40-thousand peoples mouths when we go on the road (with a loss.) We want positivity going on the road.” The Blue Jays open a three-game set in Kansas City on Tuesday night. Right-hander Dustin McGowan will get the start against Royals left-hander Jason Vargas. MORROW UNFAMILIAR WITH McGOWANS DIABETES-RELATED FATIGUE As Dustin McGowan considers a change to his in-game regimen in an attempt to combat fatigue, fellow type 1 diabetic Brandon Morrow is in a comfortable routine and hasnt experienced anything similar to what McGowans going through. “Ive never felt physically fatigued during a game,” said Morrow. “I have nothing to compare it to. What would somebody without diabetes be feeling at the same point? I feel like I recover, physically, as well as anybody else with regulated blood sugar. I think its almost, not an advantage but you really learn your body well.” McGowan deals with wild swings to his blood sugar levels during games in which hes pitching. In Wednesdays outing against Baltimore, he took a reading of more than 300 milligrams per deciliter. To put that in perspective, the average blood sugar level for a resting, non-diabetic is between 100 and 120 milligrams per deciliter. He will wear his insulin pump in Tuesday nights game at Kansas City in the hopes of regulating his blood sugar level. Morrow, on the other hand, has a strict program he follows that begins about four hours before each start. There are six to eight checkpoints, as he calls them, during that time span. Morrows food and drink schedule is meticulous; his exercise and warm up routine equally so; he checks his blood sugar level about an hour and a half before first pitch. Shortly before game time, hes paying close attention. “If I ever go low its in the bullpen,” said Morrow. “Thats a two, three minute adjustment. During the anthem, the anthems always a time I check my blood sugar and if I need a juice or whatever we have something ready to go.” When the Blue Jays are on offence, Morrow will check his blood sugar level two or three times in the early innings of his starts. “My blood sugars crept up a little bit during games sometimes but Ive never felt like Ive just lost energy, like saying getting into the sixth inning and my body just shuts down,” he said. “Ive never felt that way.” High blood sugar levels can sap a diabetic of energy and can cause vision problems, particularly blurriness. Morrow says its never gotten to the point where he blames the condition for an inability to command his pitches. Low blood sugar levels can have an effect similar to drunkenness. There have been times when Morrows been awakened in the middle of the night. Hes in a cold sweat and his hands are shaking. He quickly drinks a glass of juice or eats a small portion and then waits the 15 minutes or so it takes for his body to regulate. WALKER DISCUSSES EJECTION Pitching coach Pete Walker wasnt pleased with home plate umpire Jeff Kelloggs strike zone in Saturdays 7-6 loss to the Red Sox. He was ejected in the third inning. Walker and Kellogg exchanged words following a mound visit. Perhaps the fact his pitching staff has walked 99 hitters so far this season is grating on Walkers nerves?“Maybe its been building, I dont know,” said Walker. “Its frustrating to watch the staff that we have walk guys because they are guys that know how to throw strikes, know how to attack the strike zone. Their philosophy and our philosophy is to attack early and expand late. It seems like were getting behind and making poor pitches behind in the count.” Heres another frustrating fact: entering Sundays play, the Blue Jays have had leads of at least three runs in four of the first five games of this home stand. The record in those four games: 1-3. The pitching isnt holding up. One day its the starter and the next its the bullpen. “Its really slight, slight mechanical adjustments for a couple of guys but for the most part its their mentality of attacking the zone and trusting their stuff and not buying into the fact that something like this can become contagious,” said Walker. “You walk a few guys, you start thinking about it. The sooner they can get out of their own heads and just get back to pitching and making pitches and trusting their stuff, the sooner we get over this hump.” Julian Love Giants Jersey . -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City. Odell Beckham Jr Giants Jersey .Under the agreement announced Monday, the Cuban defector is guaranteed $68.5 million over six seasons.Tomas gets a $14 million signing bonus that is payable within 30 days of the deals approval by Major League Baseball, and then salaries of $2 million next year, $4 million in 2016, $6 million in 2017 and $10 million in 2018. http://www.authenticnygiantspro.com/Eli-manning-giants-jersey/ . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). Michael Strahan Youth Jersey . - The Cleveland Indians will place centerfielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list before their opener at Oakland on March 31. Michael Strahan Giants Jersey . The Yankees made the moves before Tuesdays game against Baltimore. Robertson was listed retroactive to Monday. Robertson posted two saves in three games as the replacement for retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before getting hurt.NEW YORK -- For Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, seeing Deron Williams back far outweighed seeing the Celtics again. Williams scored a season-high 25 points in his return to the lineup, Brook Lopez added 24, and the Brooklyn Nets beat Boston 104-96 Tuesday night in the first matchup for Pierce and Garnett against their former team. "D-Will set the tone for how we were going to play tonight," Garnett said. Garnett had 11 points, just his third time in double figures this season, and grabbed nine rebounds. Pierce finished with four points and seven rebounds in his first appearance off the bench in six years after making a quick recovery from a broken right hand. But the key was Williams, who had missed nine straight games and 11 overall with a sprained left ankle, and hadnt been sharp in the games in which he did appear. "Hes the head of the snake," Pierce said. "I mean hes one of the most important pieces of what were trying to do here, what were trying to build and trying to win a championship." The Nets won consecutive games for the first time this season, a stunning stat for a team that considered itself a championship contender after acquiring Pierce and Garnett in a blockbuster that was agreed to on draft night. Both veterans had struggled, with the 12.4 points per game and .368 shooting by Pierce easily the lowest of his career before he was hurt on Nov. 29. The Nets had lost six straight at home, their longest skid since moving to Brooklyn. "Were starting to get whole and its definitely good to have everybody back," Williams said. "Even though Paul didnt start, I thought he came in and gave us a big boost off the bench. It seemed like our energy level was a lot better. More intensity on both ends of the floor." Avery Bradley scored 22 points and Jeff Green had 19 for the Celtics, who have been competitive after trading away two of their most important players from their 2008 NBA championship team. Boston had a three-game winning streak snapped and its Atlantic Division-leading record fell to 10-13. "The players that they had come back tonight, I still feel like they were a very good team. But obviously hhaving two of their leaders as in Deron Williams and Paul, you know that definitely helps them out a lot," Bradley said.dddddddddddd The Celtics had started with 14-0 and 12-0 leads in their last two games, the latter eventually ballooning to a 45-point bulge in a 114-73 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday that was the NBAs most lopsided game this season. Brooklyn got off to the strong start in this one, pulled away again after Boston tied it, and put it away when Williams, who came in averaging just 9.3 points, scored eight in the final period. "They played great tonight. Played really hard, really together. They took us out of what we wanted to do," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "Like I said, we werent playing the New Jersey Nets that played without D-Will for those 10 games. That is their team and theyre a good basketball team." Pierce was expected to miss two to four weeks, but sat out only four games before returning to practice Monday. He received a nice ovation when he checked in with a protective glove covering his hand midway through the first quarter, no doubt aided by the many Boston fans that were noticeable all around Barclays Center. He said hes still getting used to the glove, joking he might take it out to the movies, and might have to get used to a new role. Coach Jason Kidd said he would consider whether Pierce would remain with the second unit. Garnett gave a pat on the head and a little hug before the opening tip to Bostons starters, who go on to face former coach Doc Rivers and the Clippers on Wednesday. The Nets led 31-20 after one, their largest lead after the opening quarter this season, and 56-47 at the half. Boston quickly tied it at 60, but the Nets responded with 10 straight points, going ahead 70-60 on Williams jumper, and the lead reached 85-68 on Pierces free throw with 1:14 left. NOTES: It was the first time Garnett played against the Celtics since March 4, 2007, for Minnesota. ... Boxer Paulie Malignaggi was presented with the championship of Brooklyn belt by Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark in the second quarter after beating fellow Brooklyn product Zab Judah in a welterweight bout here Saturday. ' ' '