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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Toronto Blue Jays went limping home from their long, losing road trip. Rod Brind Amour Jersey . The struggling AL East leaders lost infielder Brett Lawrie and right fielder Jose Bautista with injuries and fell to the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Sunday. Toronto was 3-7 on its visit to Baltimore, Yankee Stadium and Cincinnati. Lawrie, twice hit in the left hand by pitches earlier in the week, sustained a broken right index finger when he was hit by a pitch from Johnny Cueto in the second inning. The team didnt immediately announce how long he would be out. "Its definitely tough," said Lawrie, who said he expects to be placed on the disabled list. "Were big pieces of the puzzle, especially (Bautista). Its tough on the team to not have all its bullets. We just have to keep on grinding." Bautista left because of tightness in his left hamstring, manager John Gibbon said. The All-Star outfielder had a single and a sacrifice bunt before leaving. Cueto pitched eight effective innings and Todd Frazier broke a 2-all tie in the fifth with a two-run homer off R.A. Dickey (6-6). Toronto has lost five of six, and has dropped five straight series. Cueto (7-5) gave up three runs -- one earned -- and leads the NL with a 1.86 ERA. He gave up seven hits and struck out eight while winning his third straight start. Gibbon became just the latest opposing manager to be dazzled by Cueto, though he also was impressed by his own starter, who got two extra days of rest after his last start because of a sore groin. ""I thought (Dickey) was pretty good, except for the home-run ball," Gibbon said. "Thats been his nemesis. It was a hot day, but he stayed out there. Cueto was just a little bit better. Hes good. Hes in a different class." Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for his 13th save. Cueto led off the fifth with a bunt single. One out later, Frazier lined his team-leading 17th homer of the season, and the sixth allowed by Dickey in his last four starts. "I felt good," Dickey said. "I gave up nine hits, but I think only two or three of them could be described as hard-hit. I think all but one of my earned runs over my last four or five starts have come on home runs. Thats tough to overcome, especially against a guy like Cueto. I knew it was going to be a scrappy game from the beginning." The Reds had their own injury concerns. Second baseman Brandon Phillips left the game in the middle of the fifth with a bruised right heel, and Cueto had to shake off a hamstring cramp to stay in the game. "When Frazier hit that ball, I went back to tag and I felt it," Cueto said through a translator. "It was just a cramp." Frazier is tied with Pittsburghs Andrew McCutchen and Baltimores Adam Jones for the most home runs in the month of June, each with seven. Edwin Encarnacion led off the Toronto eighth with his 24th home run, connecting against his former team. He hit a pair of three-run shots Friday night while Toronto was coming back from an 8-0 deficit to grab a 14-9 win. The Reds used Encarnacions error at first to take a 1-0 lead in the first. With Frazier on first and two outs, Phillips was safe when Encarnacion couldnt handle third baseman Juan Franciscos throw on a chopper. Jay Bruce converted the error with an RBI single. The Blue Jays got help from two errors to take a 2-1 lead in the third. Munenori Kawasaki reached on first baseman Joey Vottos throwing error, Melky Cabrera singled and Toronto loaded the bases on Cuetos misplay of Jose Bautistas bunt. One out later, Colby Rasmus lined a two-run single. The Reds tied the game in the fourth on Bruces leadoff double, Ryan Ludwicks single and Brayan Penas run-scoring double-play grounder. Encarnacion homered off Cueto into the left-field seats. NOTES: Bautista was scheduled for an MRI on Monday. He left for pinch-runner Jose Reyes, who didnt start after fouling a ball off the side of his left knee on Saturday. ... Toronto is scheduled to open a seven-game homestand with the first of three against the Yankees on Monday. ... The Reds are due to open their second 10-game road trip of the season with the first of three games against the Cubs. Justin Faulk Jersey . We wonder if the price of a Roberts rookie card has at least gone up a few cents? Tribute Tweets #Padres Tony Gwynn had 287 career plate appearances against #Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz, he hit . Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . But this time, the Gunners weathered the storm. Arsene Wengers team was on the ropes in the early stages of a lively FA Cup tie, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal against the run of the play. http://www.hurricanessale.com/ . Nikolai Khabibulin was yanked in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators looked ready to put away a big road win.TORONTO – Joffrey Lupul wanted to apologize to the fans that paid good money to see what was dubbed an embarrassment by those in the Toronto dressing room. "Were getting booed off the ice in the first period, second period and the end of the game," said Lupul. "And we deserved it." He and the Maple Leafs were hammered 7-1 by the New York Rangers on home ice, their three-game win streak and six-game point streak ending with a loud thud on Saturday evening. "Sometimes you have losses where you take some positives," Lupul said. "Tonight we did nothing well. Theres nothing we can take out of this other than just not wanting to have this feeling in here again." It was an all too familiar reminder of the inconsistency and unpredictability that has plagued the Leafs all season. All that seemed to be trending in mildly positive directions in the past week and a half was blown up in yet another embarrassing loss for the club at the ACC. "We felt that we were becoming more competitive in the [required] areas and this one sent an A-bomb [through that]," said a despondent Randy Carlyle afterward. With plenty more determination and good bursts of speed on the second end of a back-to-back – they were thumped by Pittsburgh on Friday – New York pounded 50 shots at the helpless Toronto pair of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, the former pulled for the first time all season. Carlyle was taken aback by the hapless effort, most disappointed by the lack of pushback at any point in a flat night. "We didnt check," he said. "They had the freedom to roam about the ice and do what they wanted to do. We didnt engage in the competitiveness side of it of limiting their space, stepping in front of anybody, skating in front of anybody to impede the progress. Obviously we left our goalies hanging high and dry." Unpredictability has been an unfortunate staple of the Leafs identity at the midway point of the season. Theyve shown the ability to look so thorough, determined and capable one night only to emerge as something much different the next. Coming off a triumphant result at Wednesdays Winter Classic and their first three-game win streak since the end of October, Carlyle mused that "we just need a performance to support that now", the uncertainty of what might lay ahead evident in his voice. "Now its back to the drawing board," he said. "Were not proud of that game," Lupul concluded of the defeat. "Its embarrassing. [We] apologize to the people who paid money to see us play like that." Five Points 1. Berniers Roll Ends Just when it appeared that Jonathan Bernier might be wrangling full control of the Maple Leafs crease did the 25-year-old suffer his worst fate this season – through little fault of his own. Bernier, who was making his fifth consecutive start in goal – the longest stretch for any Leaf goaltender this season and longest of the Quebec natives career – was pulled for the first time all year, yielding five goals on 32 shots. Only the second marker, a sneaky shot from the right circle by Dominic Moore that snuck five-hole could be pinned on the goaltender. "Obviously the second goal shouldnt go in the net and hed be the first guy to tell you that," Carlyle said of Bernier. "But we gave up three breakaways in the second period where our defenceman got beat and they went clearly uncontested to the net." One such example saw Chris Kreider blow by Cody Franson before beating Bernier with a backhand for the Rangers fourth goal. Another, the fifth for New York, saw Moore burst by Jake Gardiner from deep in the Toronto zone. Hours before the game, Carlyle, who has been firm in his stance on the two-goalie tandem, conceded to thoughts of declaring Bernier Torontos no. 1. "There are times when you look it and say, Is this the time? Well, Im not ready quite yet to say that hes this or hes that," offered Carlyle on Saturday morning. "I know were going to need both of our goaltenders to play to the top of their ability and I dont think were any different than any other team in the league." Bernier owned a .950 save percentage in his previous six games and had picked up at least a point for his team in five straight. He was replaced by James Reimer, who made his first appearance since Dec. 21 and allowed two goals on 18 shots. 2. Bad Losses The Leafs have been on the receiving end of a handful of bad losses like the one that took place on Saturday. Among them was a 4-0 defeat to Vancouver on Nov. 1, a 6-0 home loss to Columbus on Nov. 25, a 6-3 putdown in St. Louis on Dec. 12 and a flat 3-1 loss to the Panthers on Dec. 12. The seven goals against was the most the club has allowed in a single game all season. "It was just a bad game for us all around," said Dion Phaneuf afterward. "The whole night we seemed to be out of sync." Toronto has just four regulation victories in the past 29 games with the Rangers, Capitals, Flyers, Senators and Hurricanes trailing close behind their 47 points (good for fifth in the Atlantic division) on the season. "We werent good enough in any aspect," said Lupul.dddddddddddd. "We werent moving the puck out of our zone. We were getting beat off the rush, one-on-one, and offensively we werent really creating anything. We can all share the blame equally in this one." "We got outworked to put it mildly," added Cody Franson. 3. Second Line Silence The silence of the Leafs second line has been a source of frustration in recent weeks. "I just think that the group, the sum of the group should equal more than what Im getting right now," Carlyle said before Wednesdays Winter Classic. The trio, which includes Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul and Mason Raymond, remained quiet for the meaningful portion of Saturdays action against the Rangers (and was later broken up in the third frame). Kadri has just four points in the past 14 games, Raymond has only one goal in the past 15, and Lupul, with his 12th this season against New York, hit the scoresheet for just the third time in the past 12 games. "Were not getting much done offensively right now," Lupul said before the game. "Its frustrating for us. We need to control the puck a little bit better in their zone and create some chances that way. Its been a frustrating stretch for us, but were certainly going to work on things and get better for sure." 4. Stable on Defence Acquired from the Hurricanes earlier this week, 30-year-old Tim Gleason did not make his Leafs debut against the Rangers. That was due in part to the recent performance of Paul Ranger, who played in his fifth consecutive game Saturday following a stream of stints in the press box. "The one thing with Paul Ranger and a lot of our defencemen is that when you dont notice them its because of the good reasons," said Carlyle, who challenged the 29-year-old Ranger to increase his physicality defensively in recent weeks. "The good reasons are theyre playing safe, theyre making good plays, [and] theyre [making] strong plays. Where we tend to focus on [them], and were all guilty of it, is when they make mistakes. And everybody out there does make them. We want to focus on the positives and these guys have started to give us more of what weve asked and were going to continue to push for more." The recent uptick for the Whitby native failed to continue against the Rangers. He was among the many struggling Leafs on Saturday, on the ice for four goals against (three at even-strength) in the defeat to New York. As for Gleason, who played eight seasons in Carolina, Carlyle added that hed like to give the long-time Hurricane defender an opportunity to get accustomed to a new environment in Toronto. "I think wed just like to get him acclimated to our style of play, the way we do things, our systems, everything before we put him in the lineup," said Carlyle. "And he will get a chance. We all know at the NHL level theres a very tough schedule. I think our next stretch of (nine) days we play six games. So we know theres lots of hockey coming and therell be lots of opportunity for people to get in the lineup." That opportunity may come sooner than later. Carl Gunnarsson left Saturdays game in the first period with an undisclosed upper-body injury, seemingly suffered on a hit from Carl Hagelin. David Clarkson meanwhile, blocked a Michael Del Zotto shot with his left foot in the opening frame. He returned briefly for one shift of 21 seconds in the middle period only to shut it down thereafter. The Leafs offered little in the way of an update on either player following the game. 5. Fleeting Signs of Optimism Prior to the hapless effort, Carlyle touched on a few aspects of his teams game that had improved amid a season-long six-game point streak. "I think were getting back to playing with the puck more," he said. "I think at times weve been guilty of receiving the game and putting too much pressure on our goaltenders. Weve talked about it. Its an easy stat to record when youre getting outshot." Saturday marked the 35th time in 43 games that the Leafs have been outshot this season; now sitting 17-13-5 in those games. It was also the 13th time already that theyve allowed at least 40 shots in a game and the fourth time in the past five games. Stats-Pack 13 – Number of times this season the Leafs have allowed at least 40 shots. 7 – Goals for the Rangers on Saturday, the most for any Leaf opponent this season. 5 – Consecutive starts for Jonathan Bernier, the longest stretch for either Toronto goaltender this season. 4 – Number of times this season the Leafs have allowed 50 shots. 4 – Victories in regulation for the Leafs in the past 29 games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-1Season: 21.8% (5th) PK: 2-3Season: 77.8% (27th) Quote of the Night "Its embarrassing. Were getting booed off the ice in the first period, second period and the end of the game. And we deserved it. We were not good in any aspect. We dont feel very good about ourselves right now." -Joffrey Lupul, following Saturdays 7-1 defeat. Up Next The Leafs host John Tavares and the Islanders at the ACC on Tuesday night. 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