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Almost immediately after the Toronto Blue Jays finished May with an outstanding 21-9 record, skipper John Gibbons basically said that was all well and good, but the Jays couldnt let up and had to avoid the "June Swoon". That prompted me to go back through the years that Rogers has owned the club to see how many times the Jays have actually stumbled in June and seriously damaged their seasons. This is Rogers 15th season of club ownership. They have had three general managers, Gord Ash (inherited), J.P Ricciardi and Alex Anthopoulos. Theyve also had six managers, Buck Martinez (inherited), Carlos Tosca, John Gibbons (twice), Cito Gaston and John Farrell. Over the 14 complete seasons, they have had five winning Junes and nine losing ones. Of those nine losing months of June, I can only classify a couple of them as season-wreckers. In 2008, after a great May, the Jays stumbled in June to a 10-16 mark. John Gibbons remembers it well because he was fired on 20th of that month and replaced by Cito Gaston. Cito went on to have one of those Junes of his own two years later in 2010. The Jays went 9-17 that month, though they recovered to finish at 85-77, albeit still winding up in fourth place in the tough American League East. Cito retired from his second stint as Blue Jays manager at the end of that season. In 2002, the Jays got off to a horrible 8-20 start under second-year skipper and now Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez. The team seemed to be coming around a bit and actually swept the Detroit Tigers in a three-game series that carried over in the start of June. But on June 3, Ricciardi fired Buck and promoted one of his own hires in bench coach Carlos Tosca to be manager. The Jays finished with a 15-12 record for that month. The Jays most common June record is 12-15. Four times they have hit those figures and once they just missed it, going 12-14 in 2009. The Jays best Junes in the Rogers era have been 15-11 in 2003, 16-11 in 2006 and 17-9 last season under Gibbons fuelled by that 11-game win streak. Even with that stellar month, the Jays still finished at 74-88, just one game better than the year before under John Farrell. In his four full season managing the Jays so far, Gibbons actually has a winning June record at 59-48, but I guess that une 2008 firing would make a man just a little wary. The season that sticks out in comparison to this year is 2010. The Jays, under Cito, were 31-22 at the end of May. Thats nine games over .500, exactly the same as this years edition were at 33-24. The 2010 team, as we mentioned, finished at 85-77, but didnt come close to making the post-season. So Gibbonss point is well taken. Even though, the Jays have equalled their best record through the end of May since Rogers took over they still have a long way to go - a four-month grind in fact - to try and earn their first playoff spot since 1993. - When the Tampa Bay Rays opted to keep lefty David Price in the off-season, it looked as though they were committed to winning this season. Many pundits, yours truly included, thought they actually had the talent to win the AL East. Now, thanks to injuries to pitchers Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson and Alex Cobb and a distinct lack of hitting, they have tumbled into the basement in the East at 23-34 after getting swept at Fenway over the weekend. Ben Zobrist, perhaps their most valuable player, is back off of the DL, as is Cobb, but now Wil Myers is on the disabled list with a sprained right wrist. It will be interesting to see between now and the deadline if the Rays put the blame for this season on the injuries or if they go into full rebuild mode and make Price the centrepiece of their wheeling and dealing. - The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, have staged a dramatic recovery. After dropping 10 in a row and losing starters Felix Doubront and Clay Buchholz to the disabled list, as well as third baseman Will Middlebrooks, theyve turned around and won seven straight and have closed to within six games of the Blue Jays and two-and-a-half of the second Wild Card slot. - The Baltimore Orioles are breathing a huge sigh of relief. Nelson Cruz got nailed on the left hand by a Scott Feldman pitch on Sunday versus the Houston Astros and had to leave the game after just one at-bat. Fortunately, the x-rays were negative. Cruz is turning out to be the biggest bargain basement pick-up of the off-season. The 33-year-old slugger, in the wake of his PED suspension, left the Texas Rangers as a free agent and signed late with Baltimore on a one-year deal worth $8 million. Cruz leads the Bigs with 20 homers and 52 runs batted in, just ahead of the Jays Edwin Encarnacion who has 19 roundtrippers and 50 runs batted in. Cruz is putting up career numbers in a contract year. He has never hit more than 33 home runs in a season and has never driven in more than 90 in a campaign. Barring an injury, he should easily surpass both totals and help keep the Os in the East race all season long. - If the season ended today and, of course, it doesnt, the Blue Jays would play the Detroit Tigers in the American League Divisional Series and would have home field advantage in the series. That would be a dream match-up in these parts and adds a little bit of drama for their upcoming three-game set starting Tuesday night at Comerica Park. The Jays will be sending Drew Hutchison, R.A. Dickey and J.A. Happ up against Anibal Sanchez, Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander. Jose Bautista Jersey . Now Arizonas new manager is hoping Yasmany Tomas can have the same effect on the Diamondbacks. Buck Martinez Blue Jays Jersey . The traditional pre-Masters event was halted early due to inclement weather. Harrington, who tied for first in 2003 and won in 2004, became the first three-time champion of the event. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/486h-joe-c...lue-jays.html.C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Rowdy Tellez Jersey . -- The Washington Redskins coaching staff distanced itself from other coaches Thursday by siding with ownership -- and not the players -- in the NFLs labour dispute. Tom Henke Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Capitals will try to post consecutive wins for the first time this season when they host the sliding New York Rangers in Wednesdays battle at Verizon Center. You can watch the game on TSN2 at 8pm et/5pm pt. and get in-depth player stats, Twitter Trender and more with our GameTracker. The Capitals halted a three-game losing streak on Monday by downing the visiting Edmonton Oilers by a 4-2 count. It was Washingtons first win since beating Calgary in a shootout on Oct. 3. Alex Ovechkin tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Capitals to Mondays home win over the Oilers. Ovechkin, who led the NHL with 32 goals in last seasons lockout-shortened campaign, already has six goals and nine points through six games in 2013-14. Nicklas Backstrom assisted on three goals, while Braden Holtby turned away 28- of-30 shots to help Washington improve its home record this season to 2-2-0. "Both teams were very desperate," said Caps forward Brooks Laich. "Theyre a team thats struggling as well. And for us, losing three in a row in regulation is not acceptable at any time." Holtby also earned his first win of the season and is 1-3-0 with a 3.56 goals against average in five games. He is expected to get a second straight start in net on Wednesday. Washington has two games left on its current five-game homestand and will close the residency Saturday against Columbus. The Rangers, meanwhile, are still scuffling through their season-opening nine- game road trip. The club is just 1-4-0 on the swing so far and is still nearly two weeks away from its home debut at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 28 against Montreal. New York has lost its last three games in regulation and has been outscored by a combined 20-5 margin in those contests. The good news is the teams most recentt loss -- Saturdays 5-3 setback in St.dddddddddddd Louis -- was the clubs best effort since posting its lone win of the season on Oct. 7 in Los Angeles. The bad news is the club still surrendered five goals or more for the third straight game. The Rangers did receive a pair of power-play tallies from Ryan Callahan in defeat, while Brad Richards notched a goal and an assist. "In the third, we just ran out of gas," Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault admitted. "Four games in six nights. You could tell the effort was there, the willingness was there, but the legs were having a tough time." Martin Biron stopped only 13-of-17 shots before being removed in favor of Henrik Lundqvist to begin the third period. Biron and forward Arron Asham have since been placed on waivers by the club and replaced on the roster by goaltender Cam Talbot and forward J.T. Miller, who were both recalled from Hartford of the AHL on Tuesday. Rumors have been flying that Biron is going to announce his retirement soon, but the veteran goalie stopped short of saying hes going to call it quits. "I think there are many options ahead of me," Biron said Monday after being waived. "Its not the best-case scenario obviously, but I am going to figure it all out. Lundqvist will get the start on Tuesday as the five-time Vezina Trophy finalist and one-time winner tries to shake off his awful start to the season. The Swedish netminder is 1-3-0 with a 4.21 goals against average in 2013-14, but he is 7-3-3 with a 2.67 GAA in 24 career regular-season games against the Caps. Washington and the Rangers have split the last six meetings in the regular season. The clubs met for the fourth time in five postseasons in the 2013 playoffs and the Rangers downed the Caps in seven games of a first-round series. ' ' '