The team is in a skid, but Im telling you

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TORONTO – The Blue Jays took a kidney punch on Friday night and needed less than 24 hours to deliver a counter blow to the Tigers, setting up a Sunday afternoon rubber match between one-time rivals that find themselves in the throes of different playoff races. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Jersey . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. Funny enough, it was manager John Gibbons musing to assembled media before Saturdays game that his club hadnt yet found the "magic" of a gap, extra-base hit to walk off a game at home this season. So it was appropriate when the skipper ambled into his post-game press conference with vice-president of communications Jay Stenhouse in tow, blaring the Lovin Spoonfuls "Do You Believe in Magic" from his mobile phone. Nolan Reimold, a waiver pick up from Baltimore, hit a gap shot to score Danny Valencia, a trade acquisition from Kansas City, in the 10th. "Usually you see in the first couple of weeks, when they get some place, they do something big," said Gibbons. "Its just kind of the way it happens with new faces and they both did." The victory is important to the Blue Jays as the club weeds its way through a cluttered wild card picture and tries to remain relevant in the hunt for the American League East crown. Its important because Scherzer is the first of three consecutive Cy Young Award winners Toronto will face (David Price on Sunday; Felix Hernandez on Monday). Its important because the Jays starting rotation, which refuses to fall apart despite evidence that it should, continues to get the job done on more nights than not. After J.A. Happ took a loss despite throwing eight innings of two-run baseball on Thursday and R.A. Dickey stood to win after allowing two runs in six innings on Friday, the club couldnt continue to waste fortuitous efforts. Stroman was electric. His only blemish in nine innings was a two-out, two-run rally in the sixth. He didnt have his strikeout game on Saturday but instead relied on the groundball, getting 14 of his 27 outs that way and darn near wearing out Munenori Kawasaki over at third base. "My sinker was really good today, probably a lot better than my four-seam command," said Stroman. "I commanded it to both sides of the plate and got a lot of groundball outs with it." As impressive a part of Stromans strong beginning to his big league career is his ability to bounce back after a rough start. His three worst starts came on June 17 in New York (3 2/3 innings, two earned runs), July 9 in Anaheim (3 2/3 innings, five earned runs) and August 3 in Houston (three innings, five earned runs). In the three starts that followed, including Saturday, Stromans pitched a combined 24 innings and allowed only three earned runs (1.13 ERA). CURIOUS MOVE Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has a better understanding of his personnel than someone who sees the club only six times in the regular season but it was an odd decision to lift Max Scherzer from Saturdays game. Scherzer left after eight innings with a 2-1 lead. Hed held the Jays to just four hits, striking out 11 and walking none. Hed thrown 106 pitches and had shown no signs of tiring. Ausmus elected to send out closer Joe Nathan for the ninth. He coughed up the tying run and left with the bases loaded with one out. Joakim Soria came in to clean up the mess but the Jays got the last laugh when Reimold walked off Joba Chamberlain in the 10th. ENCARNACION TO BEGIN REHAB ASSIGNMENT Injured slugger Edwin Encarnacion was to be in Single-A Dunedins lineup for its Saturday night game against the Tampa Yankees. Encarnacion was hurt on July 5 in Oakland. He suffered a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps. Despite missing five weeks, his 26 home runs had Encarnacion tied for fourth-most in baseball entering Saturdays action. In 88 games this season, Encarnacion is hitting .277/.368/.591 with career bests in OPS (.959) and OPS+ (160). He is expected to return to the Blue Jays on the upcoming road trip, either in Seattle or next weekend in Chicago. Roberto Alomar Blue Jays Jersey . The defending champions’ roller coaster season included trading offensive star Percy Harvin in the midst of the team’s 3-3 start. That move that reportedly irked several Seahawk players, but one management saw necessary to save the team’s chemistry. Devon Travis Blue Jays Jersey . Obasi chested the ball past one defender, prodded it past another and then rounded the keeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 16th minute. Seconds after the restart, Obasi set up Klaas Jan Huntelaar for the Dutchmans 11th goal from 13 games this season. http://www.officialbluejaysjerseysonline.com/authentic-devon-travis-blue-jays-jersey/ . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Robbie Grossman and the Houston Astros finally got to Yu Darvish -- and moved out of last place in the AL West. Grossman snapped an 0-for-28 slide with a career-high four hits as the Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with an 8-4 victory over the All-Star pitcher who dominated them so many times in the past. "The way we came into here, after losing seven in a row, for our guys to respond the way they responded in this three-game series, Im extremely proud of them," manager Bo Porter said. Grossman and rookie George Springer homered for the Astros, who moved into fourth place by a percentage point over slumping Texas. It is the first time in their two seasons since switching leagues that the Astros have not been in fifth place in the five-team AL West after mid-April. "When you look at where were at today, obviously we feel like we have improved as a ballclub," Porter said. "At the same time, when we get to the end of the year, well see where were at. It definitely feels good to be playing good baseball right now." Springer also made an incredible running catch in the third inning. The centre fielder leaped on the warning track, reached over his head and held onto the ball when he slammed into the wall. Houston had 28 runs and 42 hits in the series against its in-state rival that won 17 of 19 against the Astros last season. The Rangers lost for the 10th time in 11 games and have dropped 18 of 21 overall. At 38-53, their .418 winning percentage is the worst in the majors -- just behind Arizona and Houston, both 39-54 for a .419 mark. "Its been really tough. Its been frustrating," outfielder Alex Rios said. "This is a season that I believe that were all going to remember in a bad way." Dallas Keuchel (9-5), one of five candidates in Internet balloting for the final spot on the AL All-Star team, allowed four runs and eight hits over 6 2-3 innings. While it wasnt his best performance, he was happy to beat the Rangers. "Just bbecause theyve beaten us up the last couple years," Keuchel said. Roberto Osuna Jersey. "Theyve been the big brother, of sort." Darvish (8-5), who had thrown 20 consecutive scoreless innings while winning his last three home starts, gave up a season-high 10 hits and six runs. He struck out eight and needed 109 pitches to get through six innings. Against Houston at home in April, Darvish allowed one hit over eight scoreless innings. The Japanese ace also had two near no-hitters on the road against the Astros last season, one in which he retired the first 26 batters. Carlos Corporan had a two-run double in the sixth to break a 4-all tie. An inning later, Springer hit his 19th homer, a two-run shot off reliever Jason Frasor. Grossmans solo homer, about 329 feet into the right-field corner, made it 4-all with two outs in the fifth. He also had a double in the first inning and an RBI single in the third. Before getting recalled this week by the Astros, Grossman had an 18-game hitting streak at Triple-A Oklahoma City. But he was hitless in a span of 28 at-bats in the majors after going 0 for 4 on Tuesday night to start his third stint with Houston this season. Adrian Beltre extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single in the Texas first. The All-Star third baseman is batting .494 (38 for 77) in his last 20 home games, and is second in the AL at .336 overall. Houston took a 2-1 lead in the second when Corporan hit a two-out double before Enrique Hernandez tripled and scored on a wild pitch. "The team is in a skid, but Im telling you, theyre playing," Texas manager Ron Washington said. " Were not pitching very well. ... We just dont have a sustainable offence to support whats going on right now." NOTES: Springer also made a running catch in the right-centre gap to end the third. ... Beltre was called out on strike three in the third when he stepped out of the box but wasnt granted time. When he came to bat in the sixth, Beltre had an animated conversation with plate umpire Bill Miller. 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