Chatecke » be a spectator. But I had to be a good

Admittedly, the Toronto Blue Jays are only seven games into their season and their record is marginally better than a year ago, but some disturbing trends are beginning to emerge. First, lets talk about the positives. Melky Cabrera is back and healthy and has already socked three home runs. Hes also playing the field with far more range and confidence after having that tumour removed from his back. Maicer Izturis is swinging the bat well and Adam Lind and Jose Bautista are off to decent starts. R.A. Dickey and Mark Buerhle each have a quality start (the former also has a shutout) and Drew Hutchison pitched shutout ball for five-and-a-third innings. Still, there are things to be concerned about. The Jays, though they are tied with the Seattle Mariners for second in the American League with eight home-runs, just one behind the Houston Astros of all teams, they are only hitting .216 as a team and their offence ranks ninth in the AL. Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus and Jose Reyes (injured and on the DL after just one at-bat) have almost been non-factors at the plate. The pitching has been a mixed bag. For instance, the Jays registered two shutouts in their first six games for the first time in franchise history, yet their team ERA ranks 11th at 4.57. Of the teams in their own division, only the Baltimore Orioles are worse at 5.02. Yet, the funny thing is that the Jays lead the American League in strikeouts with 63, though they have played one more game than a number of clubs. Heres one stat that can be a staff killer: Through seven games, the Blue Jays have received 39 innings from their starters. That is only slightly better than the 37 innings they got from their starters over the same seven-game span a year ago. Theyve had to use the bullpen for three innings or more in all but two of their games and, in Dustin McGowans start Friday night in the home opener and Sundays Hutchison start against the Yankees, the relievers had to go six-and-a-third and five-and-two-thirds innings, respectively. A staff simply cant sustain that and hope to contend. Though Dioner Navarro is an upgrade over J.P Arencibia behind the plate, the Jays with Erik Kraatz and Josh Thole having started a game each, as well, have surrended a league-leading 10 stolen bases with only one runner caught. Of their first seven games a year ago (three-game sets with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox at home and one at Detroit against the Tigers), the Jays lost by four or more runs twice and won another game when they gave up four to Cleveland. This year through seven (four at the Tampa Bay Rays and this past weekends three-game home-opening set against the Yankees), they were beaten twice by at least five runs and have given up at least seven runs three times. In other words, though they are a game better in their record (3-4 versus 2-5), many of the same problems still exist and most trace back to the consistencyand talent of the starting rotation. - Through the first week of the season, five of the six divisions are fairly tightly bunched. From first to last in those five, the gap from first to last is no more than two-and-a-half games, while in the AL East, the Blue Jays with all their questions marks are still just one game back of Tampa Bay, a half-game back of the Yankees and a half-game ahead of both Baltimore and Boston. The surprise team so far in the American League is the Houston Astros. The Astros, who visit the Blue Jays for a three-game series starting Tuesday night, have split the first six games of their season-opening seven-game homestand. They took two of three from the Yankees and are looking for a split of their four-game set with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday afternoon. As mentioned earlier, Houston leads the AL with nine home runs including five on Sunday in a 7-4 victory over the Angels. A couple of interesting things about the Astros: They are using one of the shortest clean-up hitters in Major League history. Their 55" star second baseman, Jose Altuve, is hitting in the four-hole. Scott Feldman, never considered much more than a journeyman, has emerged as the teams number-one starter and is 2-0 out of the gate. The Jays will miss Feldman and promising rookie Jarred Cosart, though, in the three-game set at Rogers Centre. - The Arizona Diamondbacks are the surprise team in the National League for all the wrong reasons. After losing both games in Australia against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the , they set a franchise record to open the season at 1-7 before downing the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Sunday. The one bright spot for the D-Backs has been the home run-hitting of former Angels slugger Mark Trumbo, who was picked up in an offseason deal with the Halos. He has already hit five roundtrippers, including one in each of the last four games. The Major League record is home runs in eight-straight gamesshared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey, Jr. - I saw a great old baseball movie over the weekend, the original Angels in the Outfield. It starred Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh. Made in 1951, it chronicled the struggles of the Pittsburgh Pirates and their beleaguered manager whose lives were turned around and their season saved by a group of baseball spirits. Yeah , it was cute and at times a bit cheesy , but it was worth seeing, if only for the location shots of old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and cameo appearances by Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb and Bing Crosby, who was a part owner of the Pirates at the time. - I was happy to be on hand at Rogers Centre on Sunday to see Derek Jeter add another chapter to his incredible career. With two hits, he passed former Blue Jay Paul Molitor to move into eighth-place on the all-time Major League hits list with 3,320. He needs 100 more hits in this his 20th and final season to pass Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski for seventh. The Yankees are in town twice more this season, June 23-25 and August 29-31. Fjallraven Kanken No.2 Backpack Black . The game had many controversial incidents that, upon closer inspection, were not as controversial as many believed. The Formations Toronto FC lined up in its usual 4-4-2 formation, with Nick Hagglund slotting in at right fullback and Bradley Orr at centreback in place of the injured Mark Bloom and Steven Caldwell, respectively. Fjallraven Kanken No 2 Laptop 15 . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. http://www.kankenbackpacksaleuk.com/kank...ackpack-uk.html. The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said. Kanken No.2 Backpack UK .J. -- Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils took a lot of grief considering his scored the first of his career-best three goals just 12 seconds into a crucial game against the Florida Panthers. Fjallraven Kanken No.2 16l Backpack . This was one of them. Omar Infante homered and tied a career high with six RBIs to carry the Kansas City Royals over the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Sunday. MILWAUKEE -- When Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel benched his starters for the entire game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, it meant extended playing time for the teams reserves. Chris Copeland made sure to take advantage. Copeland scored a season-high 18 points and made a difficult driving layup with 1.2 seconds remaining, giving the Pacers a hard-fought 104-102 that moved them back into first place in the Eastern Conference. "Its big for our confidence, the second unit," said Copeland, who came in averaging three points. "Just to get the opportunity out there. A lot of us have been waiting for that all year. So it was very cool for us to get out there and get a win and show the starters that weve got their backs when they need rest." Copeland also tied a career high with four 3-pointers and matched a season high with 17 minutes of playing time. Following a pair of timeouts, the Pacers inbounded the ball to Copeland, who drove hard to the basket for the winning shot. "I tried to rip through to the basket and tried to use my size," Copeland said. "I saw help coming, so I shot it." Copelands shot came after Milwaukees Khris Middleton had tied the game at 102 after making three free throws. Middleton drew a foul while attempting a shot near the 3-point arc with 4.9 seconds remaining that referees initially ruled a 2-point attempt. After a review, the call was reversed, sending Middleton to the line for three shots. Luis Scola also recorded a season high with 24 points and Evan Turner added 23 for Indiana. Vogel made the unusual move to keep all of his regular first-team players on the bench after saying his team appeared tired following a 107-88 home loss to Atlanta on Sunday, when the Pacers were held to a franchise-low 23 points in the first half. "It was a great win for our guys, a great team effort," Vogel said. "We had a lot of good contributors." Even without the starters, Indiana moved a half-game ahead of the Heat heading into Fridays matchup in Miami. After leading the East most of the season, the Pacers had lost five of six games coming into the matchup with the Bucks. Stilll, the Pacers came in just a half-game behind Miami, which lost at Memphis.dddddddddddd The Bucks, who had only eight players available due to injuries, have lost six in a row and were on the losing end of all four games with the Pacers this season. Brandon Knight had 25 points and Ramon Sessions 20 for Milwaukee. Jeff Adrien pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds. The game featured 23 lead changes. Usual Indiana starters Paul George, David West, George Hill and Lance Stephenson dressed but didnt play. Another starter, Roy Hibbert, was inactive for the game. All five are expected to start against the Heat. Vogel insisted that the move would allow the starters to get some minor injuries healed and for his reserves to play extended minutes. The Pacers starting lineup consisted of Scola, Turner, Rasual Butler, Ian Mahinmi and Donald Sloan. The five had a combined scoring average of 21.7 points, equal to Georges per-game average. "It was great for us starting guys to sit out and get some rest as well as our bench rotation guys to get some rhythm going late into the season," George said. "Its tough to be a spectator. But I had to be a good teammate." Adrien wasnt pleased with the benching of the Pacers starters. "It was kind of like a smack in our face," he said. Sessions also was surprised to see Indianas entire starting lineup on the bench. "They are fighting for something so it was a little surprising to see those guys sit," he said. The Pacers built a nine-point lead in the fourth before the Bucks late rally. Indiana held a 53-50 lead at the half, paced by Scolas 16 points and 14 from Turner. Sessions and Knight each had 11 first-half points for the Bucks. The game was tied at 25 after the first quarter. Scola tallied 12 points in the period for Indiana. Notes: Indiana guard C.J. Watson returned after missing 13 consecutive games with a hamstring injury. ... Milwaukee centre Larry Sanders was activated and began serving his five-game suspension for failed drug tests. ... New Marquette University mens basketball coach Steve Wojciechowski attended the game. ' ' '