Neues » before they hit the road

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Toronto Blue Jays went limping home from their long, losing road trip. Cheap Rockies Jerseys . 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. Cheap MLB Jerseys . A broadcast source said the deal is for five years. The agreement calls for a minimum of 17 regular-season games as well as the East and West Division finals being broadcast annually on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS. Wholesale Rockies Jerseys .com) - Charlie Davies netted a pair of goals, including the series-winner on Saturday, as the New England Revolution battled the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium and advanced to MLS Cup final via a thrilling 4-3 aggregate victory. http://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.com/ . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina.When Albert Pujols slugged his 499th and 500th home runs the other night at Washington, he became the 51st player in history to reach that magic figure that in most cases guarantees a player a spot in the Hall of Fame. I dont consider myself to be that old, but I was amazed when I looked at the all-time home run list and realized I had seen 47 of the 51, either in person or on live TV. The ones I wasnt born early enough to see included Mel Ott, number 23 on the list with 511, number 18 Ted Williams at 521, number 17 Jimmie Foxx at 534 and of course the immortal Babe Ruth at number 3 with 714. Of those four, I was even fortunate enough to have seen Williams in person when he and Joe DiMaggio appeared at the 1991 All-Star Game in Toronto. I guess my point is home run hitting beyond a select few didnt really begin to take off until the likes of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider took centre stage in the 1950s and then took another quantum leap in the steroid era that began in the late 80s. Two of the greatest hitters of all-time, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, hit 103 and 101 home runs respectively in careers that lasted over 20 years apiece. Funny that Wally Pipp, the man Lou Gehrig replaced at first base with the Yankees, hit 90 homers in the Majors. Gehrig, who set the longest consecutive games played streak (until it was surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr.) went on to hit 493 home runs. Pujols was the first player in five years to reach the 500 figure and that made me wonder, who might be next? Then I wondered if Pujols could possibly be the last. I wont likely live long enough to answer that question, but there are still a couple of players who have a shot in the next two or three years if they stick around that long. Adam Dunn, the White Sox prodigious slugger, should reach 500. Hes only 34 and just hit his 445th homer, a monster shot over the scoreboard at Comerica Park this week. Dunn made noises about retiring last season, when the White Sox kept piling up loss after loss. But Chicagos decent start this year and the lure of 500 will probably keep him around for a couple of more seasons. David Ortiz, the face of the Red Sox, is four years older at 38, but he only needs 65 more dingers to reach 500. Hes got a shot. The next group of three falls into the unlikely category. Clevelands Jason Giambi has 438 homers, but hes 43 years old. Dunns White Sox teammate Paul Konerko has 434 but isnt playing much these days and intends to retire at the end of the season. The Yankees Alfonso Soriano like Konerko is 38, but only has 410. He would have to hit 40-45 this year to have a chance. The funny thing is of those five players only Ortiz would appear to have a shot at the Hall of Fame. Konerko is a definite maybe, but the steroid connection could keep Giambi out. Since Dunn was so one dimensional, he could become the first to hit 500 homers who wont make it to Cooperstown. Further down the list you have the Rangers 35-year-old third baseman Adrian Beltre who was 376 homers. Itt could be a stretch for him considering his age and the fact he has already been on the disabled list this season. Cheap Colorado Rockies Jerseys. Tigers mega-star Miguel Cabrera may take another three or four years, but should crack 500. He has 367 now and is only 31. The Yankees Carlos Beltran is only four homers behind "Miggy" at 363, but he is 37. Prince Fielder, who appeared to be a lock a couple of years ago, is sitting on 287 at age 30. Seven more years averaging 30 homers a season and hed have a chance. Incidently, the top active Blue Jays home run hitter is Jose Bautista at 217, followed by Edwin Encarnacion at 196. If I had to bet, Id say Cabrera and Dunn will be the only two to reach 500 in the next two to four years. It could be a long wait, if ever, before it happens again after that. One last note on the chase for 500 homers. Phillies slugging first baseman Ryan Howard reached 100 homers quicker than anyone in history in 2007. Then in 2009 he arrived at 200 faster than anybody else. Now into his fifth season since then, thanks in large part to injuries, his pace has dropped off and hes hit 316 homers. At 34, 500 for Ryan Howard is little more than a dream. The odds of any of us seeing another 300-game winning pitcher are even more remote. The top active pitcher right now is Yankees lefty C.C. Sabathia at 208. Hes 33, but more than that, hes not quite the dominating pitcher he was two years ago and had elbow concerns last year. The Giants Tim Hudson is right behind him at 207 victories, but hes 38. After those two you dip down to the ageless Bartolo Colon of the Mets with 191 victories. The fourth-highest active pitcher in terms of victories is Blue Jays wily veteran lefty Mark Buehrle. At 35, he has 190 victories against 142 losses with a 3.81 ERA. For Hall of Fame voters, 250 victories could become the new 300 in the very near future. Considering his iron man innings stats Buehrle could at least bump himself into the Cooperstown conversation, with another four or five years of 13 or 14 wins. On The Mark Speaking of Buehrle, he takes his 4-0 record into a vital three-game set with Boston this weekend at Rogers Centre. Buehrle will be pitching in the series opener on Friday night against Bosox righty Jake Peavy. The Jays have slipped back to .500 at 11-11 after giving up solid leads at home in their last two games and getting shellacked by Baltimore. The Jays have now fallen to 4-5 at home and 6-7 against the AL East. This three-game set against Boston pretty well completes the first 25 per cent segment against the East. Right now Toronto is sitting in third place, one game up on Tampa Bay and one-and-a-half up on last place Boston. At the very least the Blue Jays need to take two out of three to stop the bleeding before they hit the road for Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Getting swept by Boston could drop the Jays into the cellar and start the same snowball rolling that saw them tumble to 73 and 74 wins the last two seasons. 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