Gibbons said he should be available for this weekends series
The American League East has suddenly tightened up again. With Thursday nights loss at Baltimore coupled with the Yankees win at Seattle, the Jays lead atop the division is down to three-and-a-half games on the Os and the Yanks. Its way too early to get a read on how this thing might shake down by the end of September, but it would only seem fitting if on the 25th anniversary of Rogers Center the Blue Jays and Orioles would be fighting it out for first. They meet in the final three games of the regular season at the Dome on September 26-28. The Blue Jays and Orioles have a bit of history in these kinds of things. In 1983, the Blue Jays had their first ever winning season in their seventh year of existence. With Bobby Cox at the helm, they were actually in first place in the American League East at the All-Star game by one game on Baltimore. The Jays record was 43-33 when they were rained out on July 4, the day before the All-Star break. Baltimore was 42-34 through the 4th of July. Baltimore took off in the second half, though, and won the division with a 98-64 record and with Cal Ripken Jr. being named the Most Valuable Player. The Orioles felt 1983 was destined to be their year, since they had finished just one game back of division leading Milwaukee the year before. As for the Jays, they won their first division title two years later in 1985. Flash forward to 1989, the year Rogers Centre opened. The Blue Jays chalked up a couple of firsts that season. On April 16, Kelly Gruber became the first Blue Jays player to hit for the cycle, when he turned the trick against Kansas City in a 15-8 Jays victory. On June 9 at Fenway, the Jays put together the most incredible comeback in franchise history. Down 10-0 to the Red Sox, they battled all the way back, thanks in large part to an Ernie Whitt grand slam and sent the game into extra innings. Then, Junior Felix slugged the game winning homer in a 13-11 victory in the 12th inning. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Jays held a one-game lead on the Orioles heading into a three game series at Rogers Center. On Friday night, it was a classic pitchers duel. Lefty Jeff Ballard started for the Orioles and Todd Stottlemyer for the Jays. But the real hero on this night for the Jays was reliever Jim Acker, who took over in the 6th inning and pitched four shutout frames giving up only two hits. The Jays ultimately pulled out a 2-1 victory in 11 innings to clinch at least a tie for the division crown. On Saturday, it appeared for the better part of the game that the Orioles were going to force a meaningful game on Sunday. They got Jimmy Key out of the game in four innings and took a 3-1 lead to the bottom of the 8th. The Jays, who only had four hits on the day, bunched a couple in the bottom of the 8th and scored three runs to ultimately win it 4-3 to wrap up their second division title. For the second day in a row, the bullpen saved the day. 30-year-old right hander Frank Wills pitched four innings of one-hit relief, and then Tom Henke, who got his eigth win in relief on Friday, picked up his 20th save in this one. So the Jays, who started the season at Exhibition Stadium and got off to a 12-24 start under Jimy Williams, finished the season winning the East under Cito Gaston. The Jays finished the 1989 season with 89 victories -- the same number as they did in 1983 when they wound up fourth -- nine games behind the division-winning Orioles. So, if the Jays and Orioles meet on the final weekend of this season, it will be a sort of historical rubber match or completion of the trilogy 25 years after Rogers Center opened. Just when you think the Yankees might be slipping out of contention, they turn around and win three straight at Seattle. Not only that, Derek Jeter is finally starting to hit; banging out seven hits in the series. Whats even more impressive is the Yankees may have uncovered a diamond in the rough in 24-year-old right hander Chase Whitley. A 15th round draft pick in 2010, hes 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA with the \"big club.\" He has not walked a batter in the last 114 men he has faced. What are the odds that the hottest rookie pitcher in the National League would also be named Chase? 26-year-old right hander Chase Anderson has won all five of his starts for Arizona and has a 3.14 ERA. He doesnt walk too many either; just seven, in fact, to 22 strike outs. He was a 9th round pick in 2009. The Tigers Max Scherzer won his eigth game Thursday night in an 8-2 victory at Chicago over the White Sox. But the thing that blew me away was that it was the first complete game of Scherzers career. We used to take CGs for granted, but it took Scherzer, who already has a Cy Young Award to his credit, until his 179th career start to get it done. That was the longest stretch any starter had gone without a complete game since 1900. The two active pitchers who had gone the longest now without a complete game, according to ESPN, are Scherzers teammate Rick Porcello (146 starts) and the Orioles Bud Norris (139 starts). There could be some history made Friday night at Philadelphia. Phils shortstop Jimmy Rollins needs only two more hits to break Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts franchise record of 2,234 hits. Jake Arrieta will be on the mound for the Cubs. Reggie White Womens Jersey . The bleu-blanc-noir opened the scoring in the first minute when midfielder Hernan Bernardello played a through ball to Sanna Nyassi. The Gambian midfielder fired a one-time, right-footed shot from inside the left side of the box that beat keeper John Kempin to his left. Damarious Randall Packers Jersey . The German Football Federation says Bender was injured in training in the teams camp in northern Italy. Benders injury increases problems for coach Joachim Loew in central midfield. http://www.packersstore.us.com/Black-88-Ty-Montgomery-Womens-Jersey/. The Titans announced the deal Thursday. The 10-year veteran ranks ninth with 79 1/2 sacks over the past decade in the NFL. Ray Nitschke Jersey . The Suns announced the signing Wednesday. Barbosa spent his first seven seasons with the Suns, averaging 12.6 points from 2003-10. The Brazilian guard was a sparkplug off the bench for those fast-paced teams, and the Suns could use a little jolt with starting guard Eric Bledsoe out with a sprained right knee. Jordy Nelson Womens Jersey . \"I have had no discussions with Chad Johnson or his representation,\" Popp said Friday in an email. However, he appeared to confirm a report on Twitter from TSN this week that Johnson was on Montreals negotiation list.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mark Buehrle allowed two walks and both runners ended up scoring. So despite pitching into the seventh inning Thursday night, and helping the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals that staved off a series sweep, the veteran left-hander still had something to ruminate over in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium. \"Id rather give up 10 hits and no walks. I hate it. Make them earn it,\" Buehrle said. \"But you know, our offence bounced back and the defence played well behind me.\" Apparently, nobody is tougher on Buehrle than Buehrle. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus each homered and drove in two runs, and Anthony Gose also had a pair of RBIs after getting recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to start in place of injured outfielder Melky Cabrera, helping Toronto avoid its first three-game sweep by the Royals since 1993. Buehrle (5-1) worked through plenty of trouble in 6 2-3 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and those two walks. Aaron Loup pitched 2 1-3 shutout innings for his third career save. \"(Buehrle) pitches to win,\" Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. \"Hes going to do whatever it takes, and hes on a nice little roll. Hes having a good year for us.\" The Royals Jeremy Guthrie (2-2) left trailing 4-3 after six innings, but his bullpen was unable to keep it close. Billy Butler drove in a pair of runs, but that was just about it for Kansas City, which had its three-game winning streak come to an end. \"He mixes speeds. He locates. He frustrates you,\" Butler said of Buehrle, no stranger to Kansas City having pitched for the AL Central rival White Sox. \"He feeds off your over aggressiveness.\" The teams traded blows most of the way. Toronto struck first when Chris Getz singled in the first inning and then swiped bases all the way to third, where Edwin Encarnacion drove him in with a fielders choice. Kansas City answered in the second when Justin Maxwell walked and Alcides Escobar singled to righht.dddddddddddd. Jose Bautista flubbed the pickup, allowing Maxwell to score easily. The Royals pulled ahead in the third on Butlers single, though they squandered another scoring opportunity when Eric Hosmer was thrown out at home for the second straight night. The Blue Jays regained the lead the next half inning when Francisco, who had two homers in three at-bats off Guthrie last season, hit a two-run shot over the bullpen in right field. But the Royals answered again on Butlers two-out double to left in the bottom of the fifth. \"Im seeing the ball good now,\" Butler said. \"I knew it was going to come.\" The Royals kept shifting dramatically to deal with the Blue Jays left-handed power hitters, but it didnt matter when Rasmus came to bat in the sixth. He powered a 1-2 pitch right over the defence for a two-out homer that gave Toronto a 4-3 lead. \"I was trying to go down and in and didnt get it there,\" Guthrie said. Guthrie finished off the inning, but was lifted after allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks in just six innings. His bumpy night stood in stark contrast to his last four outings against the Blue Jays, when he went 1-0 with a 1.44 ERA. The Blue Jays tacked on some insurance in the eighth. Rasmus drew a bases-loaded walk off Michael Mariot, and then Gose hit a two-run double off Louis Coleman that broke the game open. \"It was definitely a big win,\" Loup said. \"Close game like it was, back and forth, back and forth. Hopefully it gets us on a roll, gets us some wins.\" NOTES: Toronto selected the contract of INF Steve Tolleson from Triple-A Buffalo. INF Jonathan Diaz was optioned to Buffalo and OF Moises Sierra designated for assignment. ... Royals LHP Bruce Chen (back inflammation) is expected to go on the DL, manager Ned Yost said. It was unclear who will start in his place Saturday against Detroit. ... Cabrera got the night off after getting hit in the left shin Wednesday. Gibbons said he should be available for this weekends series in Pittsburgh. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '