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The Toronto Blue Jays got out of the gate with a dismal 10-17 record last season and dug themselves a hole they could never really get out of. Its a scenario they really cant afford to repeat in 2014. Prior to last season, 39 of the last 60 teams that were in first place in their division on June 1 went on to make the post-season. If you look at last years races division by division, there were only two teams that werent in first or second in June who went on to make the playoffs. In the American League West, Texas was in first through April and May with a 34-21 - two games ahead of Oakland. The As went on a 63-32 tear the rest of the way and won the division by five games over the Rangers, who played and lost a sudden death tie-breaker. In the Central, Detroit and Cleveland hit June 1firsy and second in the division with the Tigers leading by a half-game. Detroit wound up taking the division by one game over the Indians. In the East, Boston was on top at 34-23. This is one division where there was a slight exception. Tampa Bay was actually in 4th place heading into the games of June 1 at 30-25. But the Rays were only a half-game back of Baltimore and one game behind the second place Yankees. The Rays finished 61-46 to take second place. The Blue Jays were 23-33 through the first two months and never really came close to getting back in the race, even with that 11 game win streak. In the National League East, Atlanta was 33-22 through April and May and won the division easily with a 96-66 mark. Washington, a pre-season favourite, was 28-28 and missed the playoffs altogether. In the Central, St. Louis got off to a 37-18 start and led the division wire-to-wire on the way to a Major League best 97-65 record. Pittsburgh was third two months in, but overhauled Cincinnati for second place, though both teams won 90 or more and both made the post season. The National League West was the one division where all bets were off after two months. Arizona was on top at 31-24 with a two-and-a-half game lead on the Giants and Rockies. The Dodgers were seven-and-a-half games out through April and May at 23-31. The division practically turned upside down the rest of the way. The D-Backs faded and finished at 81-81 for the second year in a row. San Francisco and Colorado collapsed and both finished 10 or more games below .500. The Dodgers, though, inspired in large part by the arrival of Yasiel Puig went a scorching 69-39 down the stretch and won the division with a 92-70 mark. So it pretty much goes without saying, the Blue Jays need to be at least slightly above .500 through April and May to have any hope of competing in the tough American League East. Their schedule is, by no means, easy with 22 of their 57 games through the first two months against the A.L East, including six against Boston and seven versus Tampa Bay - the two playoff favourites in the division. The Jays only have 10 games over April and May against "lesser" opponents, with three against Houston, three versus Minnesota and a four-game interleague series against Philadelphia. 25 of the 57 are against teams that either made the playoffs last season or were involved in tie-breakers. The Jays also have just one day off in the month of May; a real test of the pitching staff. No team will ever admit theyre out of it after just two months. The Blue Jays didnt a year ago. But in five of the six divisions last season, the two-month mark painted a pretty vivid picture of where teams are really at. The other day I was reading about the new head of the Players Association, Tony Clark, when another name in the article caught my name. It was Steve Rogers, who also works for the Association as a liaison to the players among his many duties. I actually had to double check that it was the same Steve Rogers who once pitched for the Expos. It was. If you get into a conversation with anyone as to who the greatest pitcher in Expos history was, some might suggest Pedro Martinez, who went 55-33 in his four seasons in Montreal. Others might say Dennis Martinez for his perfect game, maybe Bill Stoneman for his two no-hitters or Ross Grimsley for being the Expos first 20-game winner. In my mind, though, it was Steve Rogers. I was surprised to see his career record was only 158-152, but its his other numbers that blow you away. Over 13 seasons, all with Montreal, he pitched over 200 innings in nine of them. Six times he was over 250 innings, four times over 270 and in 1977 when he won 17 games he pitched an incredible 300.2 innings. He actually pitched more innings per season than Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and had a better career ERA at 3.17 than another Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Rogers was a five-time all-star and finished second in the rookie of the year voting and one year was second in the Cy Young balloting. It was a different era, but compare Rogers numbers to one of the Blue Jays all-time greats Roy Halladay in a couple of categories. Rogers had 129 complete games and 37 shutouts and Halladay had 67 complete games and 20 shutouts. Rogers, 64 now, had to retire at 35 when his shoulder essentially gave out on him. He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame at St, Marys and tries to get back for the Induction Ceremonies every year. He concedes he might even have had a shot at Cooperstown if he had been able to pitch another 5-7 years and could have won another 70 games. The Expos only made the playoffs once in their history - 1981. Steve Rogers beat Phillies legend Steve Carlton twice in the division series and then defeated the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS. But say his name today and many will only remember his relief appearance on "Blue Monday" at the Big "0," when he gave up the series deciding homer to the Dodgers Rick Monday. 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Daniel Norris Tigers Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore.BOSTON -- Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien decided it was time to load up with offence. It worked. David Krejci scored 1:28 into overtime to lift the surging Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Coming off a tough shootout loss to St. Louis on Thursday, Julien chose to play his top line together. Skating with his usual linemates and only one defenceman, Krejci scored into an empty net after Jarome Iginla broke in alone, forcing goaltender Cam Ward to come way out to try and cut down an angle. Iginla then dropped a pass to Krejci, who fired a wrister over a sprawling Ward for the winner. "We havent had much luck lately in shootouts," Julien said. "I just thought it was important to get a line out there and give us a better chance. It paid off." Reilly Smith and Zdeno Chara also scored for Eastern Conference-leading Boston, which beat the Hurricanes for the second time this week and improved to 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. Iginla knew Krejci had an opening and kept waiting for him to shoot. "I was thinking, Put it in. Put it in," he said. "He showed great patience." Krejci credited Iginla for setting him up so well. "I kind of had an easy job to do," he said. "I just had to put it into a top open net." Bruins backup goaltender Chad Johnson, playing just his fourth game of the season, made 22 saves in place of resting Tuukka Rask. Patrick Dwyer scored a short-handed goal and Andrej Sekera had one on the power play for the Hurricanes, who lost their fourth straight. Ward stopped 35 shots. The Bruins had a 38-24 shot advantage. They won 4-1 in Carolina on Monday night. The Hurricanes felt like they were a bit lucky to get the game to OT after being outplayed for two periods. "We were happy with the way we played in the third, but its a 60 minute game," Dwyer said. "When you get behind on a team like that, its a tough team to get your way back into the game against. We thought we were there and they won it in overtime." Ward didnt feel like Carolina played well enough to earn a victory. "Youve got to be at your best when youre playing a team likee that.dddddddddddd." he said. With the Hurricanes trailing 2-1 and skating short-handed after a bench minor for too many men on the ice, Dwyer collected a loose puck near centre ice, broke in alone and slipped a backhander by Johnsons blocker, tying it with 8:50 to play. Boston, which dominated play for lengthy stretches in the second period, moved ahead 2-1 on Smiths goal at 13:31. Smith collected the rebound in front after Carolina defenceman Tim Gleason blocked Carl Soderbergs shot, he shifted to his backhand and slipped a shot into the net past Wards glove. The Hurricanes were held without a shot on goal for nearly the opening 12 minutes of the second. Eric Staal finally ended the drought when he fired a shot from the left circle that Johnson stopped with a right-pad save. The Bruins outshot Carolina 12-4 in the second and owned a 26-10 edge through two periods. Charas power-play goal had tied the game 1-1 late in the opening period. With the Hurricanes Manny Malhotra in the box with a double minor for high sticking, Chara collected the rebound of Milan Lucics shot in front and slipped a shot into a wide-open right side of the net. Carolina grabbed a 1-0 lead on Sekeras power-play goal just under 6 minutes into the game. Only a few minutes after Sekera had to be helped off favouring his right leg after blocking a shot, the defenceman sent a shot from the middle of the blue line. Johnson was screened and the puck slipped past him inside the left post. "I just didnt see it," Johnson said. "I just didnt move my head quick enough." NOTES: Carolina winger Jeff Skinner played his second straight game after missing his previous 11 with an upper body injury. It was the 200th game of his career. ... Hurricanes D Jay Harrison missed his third straight with an illness. .. It was the second of three meetings between the teams. ... The Bruins host Pittsburgh in its next game on Monday, the Penguins first visit to Boston since being swept in last springs Eastern Conference finals. ... Carolina is at home against Ottawa Sunday. ... Rask, who entered the day leading the NHL in save percentage (.945), had played the previous four games. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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