Neues » his composure through

TORONTO – Brett Lawrie is off to a slow start at the plate, just 3-for-29 (.103) entering Wednesday nights tilt with the Astros. Approached to discuss his early season slump, Lawrie obliged but it wasnt long before he got a little help from a friend. "Hell be fine," Jose Reyes shouted as he walked by the discussion. The 24-year-old had a solid Grapefruit League, hitting .339/.373/.484 with two home runs. But thats spring training, the quality of pitching varies (Baseball Reference ranked Lawries mound opponents an 8.6/10) and the types of pitches that get thrown in certain counts are different; often times a pitcher goes into an appearance looking to work on specific parts of his repertoire. Eight games in, Lawrie insists hes not pressing. "Its a long season, man," said Lawrie. "I mean, weve still got 140-plus games so for me to push the panic button right now is no point because its a long year so stay healthy, just keep going and grinding and getting after it. The main thing is that were winning so obviously find positivity there and obviously look to do the job again today and find some way to contribute to the team." The thing is, Lawrie likely is pressing. The fact he doesnt want to talk about it, or admit to it, is fine. "Hes a little mental right now," said hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. "Hes sitting on pitches and hes guessing wrong is whats happening. When that happens you start to lose your approach; you want to get in just to try to hit the ball hard and that ends up being a recipe for disaster. Hes just pressing right now." Lawrie and Seitzer convened for an early Wednesday afternoon hitting session in the batting cage. The aim wasnt to go over significant mechanical tweaks but rather pitch recognition, which is sometimes compromised when a hitter struggles and begins to think too much in the batters box. It appears to the layman observer that the hitch Lawrie had last year has returned to his swing, which occurs just as hes cocking his bat to bring it through the strike zone. "He had some of that in spring training too," said Seitzer. "The late is from tension of reacting to fastballs instead of being ready to hit them and then when you do get one, when youre looking for one and you get it, then you try and do too much and that causes more tension." Manager John Gibbons goes out of his way to praise Lawries maturity, noting his third basemans ability to maintain his composure throughout the early season slump. "Hes come a long way," said Gibbons. Lawrie knows he can contribute in other areas. "Youve got both sides of the coin youve got to worry about," said Lawrie. "Ultimately, if I cant get it done on offence one day than hopefully I can help the team out on defence. Thats kind of how it goes, just try to find a way to contribute." CECIL TAKING CARE Brett Cecil was available for the Blue Jays on Wednesday night against the Astros. He had a 16-pitch, one inning appearance versus Houston on Tuesday and Cecils been careful since spring training not to overextend his arm. "Really what it comes down to is how I feel the day after and how much I can go, whether its just a hitter or a full inning," said Cecil. Cecil made a career-high 60 appearances in 2013, his first full season as a reliever. He was shut down in mid-September, however, suffering from elbow pain. "When I throw one day usually there are no problems, no stiffness," said Cecil. "When I throw two days in a row, the next day it will be a little bit sore. Unless its towards the end of the season, a playoff race or something, that would probably be the only time Id go three days in a row." WAGNER RECALLED Reliever Neil Wagner is back with the Blue Jays, recalled prior to Wednesdays game against the Astros. Right-hander Marcus Walden, who didnt get into a game since joining the Jays on Saturday, was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. The Blue Jays made no secret that Wagners springtime demotion was strictly a business move – Wagner had an option left and others didnt. "Wagner came into his own last year," said manager John Gibbons. "Hes a guy that can get some big outs late in the game for you." With Casey Janssen still on the disabled list with an abdominal strain and Sergio Santos in the closers role in Janssens stead, the Jays need another late-inning right-hander to work alongside Steve Delabar. Wagner fits the mold. With his mid-to-high 90s fastball, the 30-year-old stuck out 33 hitters in 38 innings over 36 appearances for the Blue Jays last season. BASEBALL PODCAST Each week, Ill sit down with Toronto Star baseball columnist Richard Griffin and MLB.coms Blue Jays beat reporter Gregor Chisholm for the Baseball Podcast. Well discuss the latest news surrounding the ballclub. The aim will be record the podcast each Wednesday but will depend on our respective schedules. Well keep you posted on Twitter. Click here for the first edition, recorded the afternoon of Wednesday, April 9. We talk about the early season performance of the starting rotation, hitters running hot and cold through the first week of the season and last weeks salary deferral revelations. Ryan Bates Jersey . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Tre Sullivan Jersey . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C. http://www.cheapeaglesjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-nick-foles-jersey .Sinclair, from Burnaby, B.C., led the Canadian team with three goals at the four-nation competition. She also earned tournament most valuable player honours.The Canadian captain scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and added the winning goal a minute later. Reggie White Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday. Cameron Johnston Jersey . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Prince Fielder had a pair of RBI doubles to end a drought of 39 at-bats without an extra-base hit and Yu Darvish worked into the seventh inning to earn his first victory in almost a month as the Texas Rangers trounced the Los Angeles Angels 14-3 on Sunday. J.P. Arencibia hit his first home run and Michael Choice added a three-run shot for Texas. Darvish (2-1) shrugged off first-inning homers by Erick Aybar and Albert Pujols to get his first victory since April 6 at Tampa Bay. He allowed three runs, seven hits and no walks in 6 1-3 innings, with nine strikeouts. His teammates scored three more runs than they totalled in his five previous starts combined. The right-hander is 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 career starts against the Angels and has won his last six decisions against them Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (2-1) lasted just 2 2-3 innings in the shortest of his 19 big league starts, giving up six runs. Pujols shrugged off an 0-2 pitch by Darvish that glanced off the front of his helmet in the fifth inning as he closed his eyes and turned his head to the right. He remained in the game after a trainer checked on him at first base. The Rangers built a 5-2 lead after two innings with Fielders identical run-scoring doubles -- both line drives over the head of first baseman C.J. Cron and just inside the foul line. Arencibia, who put left fielder Raul Ibanez against the bullpen fence on his bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the first, made it 6-2 in the third with his homer to left-centre. Choice, who had four RBIs, increased the margin to 9-2 in the fourth with his homer to left-centre against KKevin Jepsen.dddddddddddd Alex Rios capped a five-run ninth with a two-out bases-loaded triple against Nick Maronde. All five runs were unearned after right fielder Collin Cowgill dropped Josh Wilsons flyball for a two-base error. Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, who began Sunday in a 4 for 49 slump, was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and a walk after manager Ron Washington dropped him to ninth in the order for the first time since April 17, 2010. Andrus had started in the 2-hole in each of the first 30 games this season. He batted as low as eighth in the lineup six times during the previous two years, and got a hit in each game. NOTES: Angels reliever Michael Kohn grazed Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch leading off the fifth. ... Pujols homer was his 10th this season and 502nd of his career, two shy of Eddie Murray for 25th all-time. ... Howie Kendrick flied out to right field all three times he faced Darvish, and is hitless in 19 career at-bats against him. ... Angels RF Josh Hamilton, who hasnt played since April 8 because of a torn ligament in his left thumb, will start taking batting practice at the end of the week at the teams Arizona training facility while the team begins a road trip in Toronto. ... The Rangers, who opened the season with three games against Philadelphia, resume their interleague schedule with four in a row against Colorado. The first two will be at Coors Field. ... Rangers LHP and former Angel Joe Saunders