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TORONTO -- Mark Buehrle is putting his faith in the fielding of his Toronto Blue Jays teammates and its paying off. Custom Cowboys Jerseys . "I need defence behind me," Buehrle said. "Its a key. I dont strike out many guys so the ball is put in play." The results showed again for the Blue Jays soft-throwing left-hander who became the first 10-game winner in the major leagues on Sunday in Torontos 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. By working quickly and efficiently, Buehrle pitched eight strong innings and was supported by home runs from Dioner Navarro and Edwin Encarnacion as well as some solid defence. The game was played in a brisk two hours 14 minutes. "Its not luck," Blue Jays right-fielder Jose Bautista said. "Hes pitching great, throwing strikes, keeping people off balance and allowing us a chance to play defence behind him. Its no surprise that every time he pitches there are plenty of good defensive plays made. He keeps everybody engaged in the game because he works quick. Its been awesome to play behind him this year." Buehrle (10-1) held the Royals to six hits and one walk while striking out three to win his sixth straight decision. "I dont know if its one of those things where working fast keeps them on their toes and ready to field stuff," Buehrle said. "I dont if that is the key to it. Again I just try to get the ball and throw it and I know the guys like to play behind you when its a quick game. I need those guys all over the place when Im pitching." Toronto manager John Gibbons thought it was one of Buehrles best performances this season. "Today (Buehrle) was as good as he has been all year," said Gibbons. "He has really been great, seems like every time I come in here you have to describe it the same way. Thats what he does, he keeps you off balance and hits both sides of the plate. Hes a pitcher. ... He topped off a nice home stand for us." Left-hander Aaron Loup took over in the ninth from Buehrle after Encarnacions two-run homer in the eighth had extended the lead to four runs. The Blue Jays (34-24) took the final two games of the four-game series to gain a split with the Royals (26-30) and finish their home stand at 8-2. Toronto has won 21 of their past 28 games to take over first place in the American League East. "(Buehrle) was dynamite," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes traditionally tough on us but hes 10-1 now, hes tough on everybody. Hes a master at what he does. He commands the baseball so well, changes speeds off everything he has. He has the ability to read the hitters reaction to the pitch before to know what hes going to throw next. If the hitter is gearing up, he backs off, if the hitter is backing off, he gears up. "He just pitched a phenomenal game. Hes just really, really good at keeping you off balance." Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie (2-5) allowed eight hits and two runs in seven innings to go 10 starts without a win after winning his first two starts of the season. Guthrie allowed two walks and had five strikeouts before he was replaced by right-hander Aaron Crow in the eighth. Navarro hit his third homer of the season with one out in the second to open the scoring. The Blue Jays scored again in the fourth. Juan Francisco led off with a double on a liner that Kansas City right-fielder Norichika Aoki misplayed into a double. Francisco moved to third on a single by Brett Lawrie. He scored when Anthony Gose forced Lawrie at second on a grounder to shortstop. A key defensive play came in the sixth after a slight lapse. Eric Hosmer led off a bloop to centre that turned into a double when the Blue Jays left second uncovered. But shortstop Jose Reyes cut down Hosmer at third after fielding Billy Butlers grounder and Buehrle finished the inning unscathed. "In a two-run game, thats big," Gibbons said. "Thats what good shortstops do, he knew he had no play at first base. ... Ive seen it, too, through my career that the third baseman doesnt always get there, so (third baseman) Francisco was heads up to get there himself." Encarnacion, who hit 16 homers in May to lead the majors, doubled the Blue Jays lead with his 19th homer of the season in the eighth against Crow. It also scored Adam Lind who had singled with one out. Things are also going Buehrles way. In the sixth inning Lorenzo Cains popup to first dropped in fair territory when Encarnacion lost the ball but it rolled foul. Cain then struck out. "He called me off and then said a cuss word in Spanish which was one of the few Spanish words I know," Buehrle said. "Ive got a horseshoe stuck up my rear end pretty far right now so Im not complaining." NOTES: After the game the Blue Jays returned right-handed pitcher Liam Hendriks to triple-A Buffalo on option. A corresponding move will be made on Tuesday. aThe Blue Jays finished May at 21-9. aRoyals recalled third baseman Mike Moustakas from triple-A Omaha for Sundays game and put third baseman Danny Valencia (left hand muscle strain) on the 15-day disabled list. .... The Royals also recalled left-handed reliever Francisley Bueno (left little finger contusion) from his minor-league rehabilitation assignment with Omaha and returned right-handed pitcher Aaron Brooks to triple-A on option. aThe Blue Jays have Monday off before playing a three-game series in Detroit that opens Tuesday with Drew Hutchison (4-3, 3.88 earned-run average) facing Anibal Sanchez (2-2, 2.49 ERA). Michael Gallup Jersey . The teams were scoreless for most of the first two periods before Canada scored three times in a span of less than four minutes. Sarah Potomak opened the scoring on the power play. Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. http://www.thecowboysfansmall.com/c-96-cowboys-mic...ersey.a spx . -- Theres nothing like winning to bring hope for a struggling team.TORONTO -- In the immediate moments after the Raptors 101-87 victory over Detroit on Wednesday, Toronto coach Dwane Casey sat down to watch the dying minutes of the Miami-Brooklyn game. Amir Johnson checked the result on his phone. With 20 games left on a thrilling season that sees Toronto poised for a playoff position for the first time in six years, the Raptors are excited, and thinking about little else. "Hell, yeah. Without a doubt, man," DeMar DeRozan said. "Thats why I work so hard, and it always bugged me going home early, and just sitting there doing nothing. It used to make me so hungry just watching." DeRozan poured in 25 points, while Johnson scored 20 and grabbed nine rebounds in a game that was no thriller but served its purpose -- one step closer to the teams second Atlantic Division title and its first playoff berth since 2008. The Nets, who edged Miami 96-95 on Wednesday, are three games behind Toronto for the division title. "Ive got a lot of friends that play in the playoffs and I had to hear all summer them talking about their experience in the playoffs. It always pushed me even further," DeRozan said. "You just want to get there. Not even for myself, just for this organization as well. It definitely feels good that were moving in the right direction now." Kyle Lowry had 19 points and six assists, while Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds to go with eight points for the Raptors (36-27), whove won 10 of their last 13 games. The affair wasnt pretty. The Raptors coughed up double-digit leads a couple of times -- including an 18-point third-quarter advantage that the Pistons whittled down to just five -- in a game they could have put out of reach far earlier. The Raptors went into the fourth quarter with a narrow 74-69 lead in front of the 18,247 fans at the Air Canada Centre that braved the rare March snowstorm. They scored the first nine points of the fourth to go up by 14. A wide-open three by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 8:23 to go cut the Raptors lead to nine points, but that was as close as the struggling Pistons would come. Brandon Jennings topped Detroit (25-40) with 24 points, while Andre Drummond had 16 points and nine rebounds and Greg Monroe had 13 points to go with 10 boards. Ugly or not, the Raptors were happy to tick off another win. "Absolutely. Im ready," Johnson said, when asked if hes thinking post-season. "Were going to win as many games as we possibly can going down the home stretch, collect these wins." Casey said hes happy his players are enjoying their success, but warns that theyve got to focus on themselves down the stretch. "It is fun. But weve got to take care of our business. We can watch (what other teams are doing), but if we dont take care of our business, its not worth crap," the coach said. Dalton Schultz Cowboys Jersey . "Im more concerned with what we do, and how were playing, . . .and losing leads, moreso than anything else. "I hope (the Raptors) are enjoying it but still understand how hard it is, getting there first, and then after you get there, its even harder." DeRozan, whos in his fifth season in Toronto thus has never stepped on the court for a playoff game, said he has always forced himself to watch the post-season, regardless of how frustrating it was. "I had to, just to understand and see how it was," he said. "Youre playing the same team possibly seven times in a row. Seeing the different schemes. Just trying to get a knowledge of how its played every single day." He said hes particularly thrilled to be sharing this seasons success with Johnson, who last made the playoffs with Detroit in 2009. "Thats my dog, man. Its definitely cool," DeRozan said. "I knew Amir, and Amir knew me when I was running around with the same pair of dirty shoes on, playing basketball. Amir is a helluva dude, how hard he works, and how good of a person he is." Johnson was key Wednesday night in containing Detroits frontcourt -- what Casey had predicted would be a "huge test" for Toronto. The Pistons lead the league in points in the paint and offensive rebounds, thanks largely to Drummond. The Raptors were effective inside, outrebounding Detroit 54-39 and outscoring their visitors in the paint 44-38. Casey wasnt thrilled with the second unit, saying it was "playing in mud a little bit." "We needed to keep the pace going, I thought the pace slowed down," he said. "For whatever reason we got stagnant and lost a couple of leads and thats something we have to work on." The Raptors raced out to a nine-point lead four minutes into the game, stretching it to 14 on a pullup jumper by John Salmons before ending the first quarter up 29-21. The Raptors went almost five minutes without a point to open the second, and Bynum drained a three with 8:37 left in the half to tie the game 29-29. The Raptors managed to cobble together another 10-point lead and took a 52-45 advantage into the dressing room at halftime. A three-pointer by Lowry stretched Torontos lead to 18 points just four-and-a-half minutes into the third but the Raptors couldnt maintain it. The Pistons ended the quarter on a 14-2 run to send the game into the fourth with Toronto leading 74-69. NOTES: Patrick Patterson missed his third straight game with an elbow injury. . . The game was the first of three straight at home. The Raptors host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday before playing a pair on the road at Atlanta and New Orleans. . . The Raptors have won four of their last five against the Pistons. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Outlet Cheap NFL Black Jerseys ' ' '
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