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ST. Anthony Averett Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – The Blue Jays limped into the All-Star Break off a 2-8 road trip around the continent, taxing in terms of games lost, bodies injured and miles traveled. Take a look at the broader picture and while Toronto enters the unofficial second half with a winning record (49-47), the clubs 2014 trend to-date isnt entirely different from the 2013 Blue Jays, a team that terribly disappointed. The Jays opened up with a 12-15 March/April, looked like world beaters in May when they won 21 of 30, and since have erased those gains by losing 23 of their last 34 games. Last year, the Jays were 23-32 at the end of May and made it to two games over .500 on the strength of an 11-game win streak in June, only to fall into a July tailspin from which they wouldnt recover. Like last season, the club as currently constituted is injured. Brett Lawrie is out through July, most likely, with a fractured right index finger. Edwin Encarnacion is on the disabled list until at least July 20 with a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps. Adam Lind is down for at least two weeks, likely more, with a fractured right foot. Unlike last season, the starting pitching has held up. Its been the bullpen thats been suspect. The staff ERA of 3.91 is a marked improvement over last seasons 4.81, which was second-worst in baseball. The bullpen ERA has climbed from 3.37 in 2013 to 4.39 through the first half of this year. It was responsible for six blown saves in a 15-game span in April at a time when the offence was averaging five-and-a-half runs scored per game. Speak of the devil, the offence, which after a hot start in April and torrid May has cooled considerably. Still, Toronto is a Top-10 team in most major statistical categories. The clubs .325 on-base percentage ranks seventh; its .422 slugging percentage ranks fourth; put the two together and the on-base plus slugging percentage of .747 is fourth. The Jays continue to lead with 116 home runs, although a recent dry spell has afforded the Baltimore Orioles (113 heading into their game Sunday night) and Colorado Rockies (112 pending Sundays results) opportunities to close the gap. So, what is this team? Star slugger Jose Bautista (.292/.409/.510 – 17 home runs) summed up his clubs first half performance. "Were obviously not playing the baseball that we started off playing and that were capable of playing, and we have a lot of injuries to deal with," he said. "Bottom line is weve got to figure out how to win some of these games that weve been losing, especially the close ones. Weve got a lot of open opportunities for some people that could step up to those opportunities and hopefully make a name for themselves and cause a good enough impression to stick around maybe a little longer than it was planned when they originally got called up. So hopefully we can manage to win enough games to stay in one of the top two positions in the division, and when we get all our big bats back, kind of get back in the thick of things." As for the approaching July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the clubs veterans are saying the right things publicly, but there is a quiet longing for general manager Alex Anthopoulos to be active in the market. The budget parameters with which Anthopoulos is working arent clear and the general manager often refers to the need to be "creative" when piecing together a potential trade. It seems likely that an addition of salary, even prorated to about one-third of its 2014 value, would require the deletion of salary off the current roster. It doesnt help that the Jays have injured Ricky Romeros $7.5-million and Esmil Rogers $1.85-million rotting away at Buffalo. It all matters to the bean counters. "It would definitely help," said Bautista of a trade acquisition or two. "I dont think its a must and I dont think its the only way that we can become contenders. I think weve been playing good enough baseball. We managed to get up to first place and stay there for a while earlier this year. We can definitely get back there. Weve just got to play that good baseball we were playing earlier. So I dont think a move is needed just to be considered contenders." "I just think we need to get healthy," said R.A. Dickey. "I feel like we had our team there for a while when we were really going well in May and early June. I feel like thats kind of what were capable or doing with the guys in this clubhouse. Every team thats going for a championship would love to have another player, sure, but I dont think its essential for us to win, no." The American League East hasnt been this available to the Blue Jays since the club won the division in 1993. The Orioles will come out of the All-Star Break on a 10-game, pacific swing through Oakland, Anaheim and Seattle while the Blue Jays launch a seven-game homestand against injury-riddled Texas and the scuffling Red Sox. It is, essentially, a reversal of the schedule the two clubs have experienced over the just-completed 10-day span. The Yankees are dealing with crippling injuries to their starting rotation, most notably Masahiro Tanaka (elbow), CC Sabathia (knee) and Michael Pineda (shoulder), which leaves the Bronx Bombers vulnerable. Theyre openly talking of being sellers at the deadline in Boston, leaving the Rays as the divisions lone sleeper team should Tampa Bay decide to hold on to ace David Price through the remainder of the regular season. Its been an up and down, 96-game ride for the Blue Jays so far this season. The final 66 games should provide more of the same. ROTATION OUT OF THE ALL-STAR BREAK Friday (vs. Texas): R.A. DickeySaturday (vs. Texas): Marcus StromanSunday (vs. Texas): Mark BuehrleMonday (vs. Boston): Drew HutchisonTuesday (vs. Boston): J.A. Happ The Rangers are expected to start ace right-hander Yu Darvish in Friday nights series opener. Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . After Mondays comments by Coach Claude Noel that its work first and skill second, and that more “A” games are needed, the Jets responded with a 47-shot effort. If not for terrific goaltending by Braden Holtby the Jets would have had two points in regulation. Kenny Young Jersey . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. http://www.ravensauthoritystore.com/Authen...-Ravens-Jersey/ . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand.RIO DE JANEIRO - Although the Miami Heat had been downplaying the game against LeBron James all along, coach Erik Spoelstra and Chris Bosh said Saturday that they were glad it was finally out of the way.Spoelstra said there was certainly a level of strangeness in the preseason game in Rio de Janeiro, while Bosh said that he hopes now everybody can move on.The Cleveland Cavaliers won 122-119 in overtime, with James scoring seven points and picking up eight assists in 20 minutes at the HSBC Arena.It was the first time James played against the Heat since returning to Ohio after leading his former teammates to two NBA titles in four years.For me it was a special moment to be back there competing against my old teammates, James said. I didnt get that awkward feeling, but a lot of memories came back about the things that we accomplished.James barely talked to his teammates before and during the game, though, doing his usual game routine.If you have to do something like this, I think it really benefits both teams to get the awkwardness out of the way in the preseason, Spoelstra said. There was certainly a level of strangeness to it.He said he didnt think it really affected the way the teams approached their preparations, though.I think both teams also used this week just to concentrate on themselves, Spoelstra said. Lamar Jackson Ravens Jersey. We have quite a bit of work to do to get our defence and our continuity offensively together. This was just another step, so in terms of game plan I dont think either team spent a lot of time on that.James and Bosh quickly shook hands, but didnt even seem to make eye contact before the game.Bosh said it was just normal routine stuff to guard James, but he also thought it was good that the meeting is already in the past.I like the fact that we could get everything out of the way, that we could just come out here for the preseason and kind of just let everybody see us, Bosh said. We can move on.He said it was tough as usual to play against the former teammate, but as far as him in another uniform and being on different teams, we are pretty much over that.We are here to improve our team, to get better, and he is doing the same thing, Bosh said. Im glad we could get that out of the way and move on.He acknowledged that its going to be a work in progress for the Heat to play without James.For the last four years, of course, its been a little easier with LeBron handling the ball, Bosh said. He made everybodys lives easier.___Follow Tales Azzoni at http://www.twitter.com/tazzoni Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Bucks Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '