12-26-2019, 05:42 AM
TORONTO - Manager John Gibbons and Jose Bautista have differing opinions about the star players bizarre decision to attempt a steal of third base with the Blue Jays down 5-0 in the fourth inning of Friday nights loss to the Red Sox. "Ive got no idea," said Gibbons after the game when asked what Bautista was thinking. "Its not smart, winning baseball and Im sure he wont do it again." If Bautistas read on the situation is any indication, it seems that under similar circumstances, he would do it again. "I thought it was a great chance to get two guys in scoring position, even though we were down 5-0," said Bautista. "Obviously, the only thing I regret is that I didnt make it." Bautista had doubled with one out in the fourth. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a walk. Dioner Navarro was at the plate. It was the first time in the game the Blue Jays had mounted anything resembling a threat. When Bautistas decision didnt work out the inning was, essentially, lost. Talking through his thought process, if you completely ignored the situation, Bautista makes sense. "I thought I had a pretty good idea that the pitch was going to be a breaking ball and I also know that the catchers not the best catch-and-throw catcher in the league," said Bautista. "Maybe my lead wasnt that big. Maybe I didnt get off to a great running start. But I thought it was a great opportunity for us to get two runners in scoring position with less than two outs." The argument is solid, if youre ignoring the situation, except Encarnacion clearly wasnt prepared. He didnt break for second when Bautista took off for third. "I wasnt thinking about (stealing) the whole at-bat," said Bautista. "It was just something that kind of just came about. I noticed the situation. I didnt see it building up to the situation or I would have given Eddie a sign that he and I have. But I stumbled upon the thought of it and didnt get a chance to give that sign to him." Asked if he accepts the risk/reward nature of the play, Bautista was blunt. "I do," he said. JANSSEN TO THROW BULLPEN ON SUNDAY The timetable for Casey Janssens return from an oblique strain isnt clear. Hes slowing progressing. "Starting to trust it a lot more," said Janssen. "Im starting to be a lot more active on it. The recovery is quicker. I guess if Im active on it within a few hours its probably gone. You wake up with a fresh start everyday, which is nice. Just got to continue to progress and the further we get away from that Montreal date then the healthier its going to get." Janssen plans to throw a bullpen session on Sunday. If he feels good, hell throw another either Tuesday or Wednesday in Kansas City. If that goes well, hell head back out on a minor league rehabilitation assignment. "Im going to go as good as I can go," said Janssen of Sundays scheduled bullpen. "I havent pitched since that rehab outing (April 15). You dont want to just go out there and blow the doors off it. You want to a: make sure your sides ready but b: again, continue to re-train your arm to do what its supposed to do. Im not going to be lobbing the ball but its probably not going to be my best fastball either." LIND UPDATE Adam Lind, whos been on the disabled list since April 16 with lower back tightness, is swinging a bat down in Dunedin, Florida. He could appear in an extended spring training game as early as Monday. Theres no timetable for his return, although Lind is eligible to come off the disabled list on Friday, May 1, when the Blue Jays are in Pittsburgh. DIAZ GETS HIS RING Jonathan Diaz received his World Series ring from the Boston Red Sox and was happily showing it off before Saturdays game. "I keep saying its really surreal because of how it all happened," said Diaz. "I was a long time in the minor leagues. I got a week in the big leagues and now Im holding a World Series ring and it doesnt make sense. There are some guys whove played the game for so long in the big leagues who dont have one and now Im sitting here with one. Its almost like a dream." Diaz treasures the ring. It wont be sitting on his mantel. "Im going to put it away, man," said Diaz. "Ill probably put it in a safety deposit box. I dont know how Im going to get it to the States. Im afraid to have my wife take it back." Vapormax Plus Wholesale .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. Air Max Tn Black . The victory strengthened Liverpools position in the top four after Tottenham lost 1-0 at Norwich in the days late kickoff, cutting the north London club six points adrift of fourth place and the final Champions League slot for next season. http://www.airmaxplusstoresale.com/air-m...cheap.html . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec. Air Max Plus Miami Vice . Got Jacks? Pulling off a comeback for the ages, feisty Stephen F. Austin became the latest No. 12 seed to pull off an upset, tying the game on Desmond Haymons did-that-just-happen four-point play with 3. Vapormax Plus Black Sale . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Watch the 2014 NBA Draft on TSN, Thursday at 7pm et/4pm pt.DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov showed there were no lingering effects from a disappointing finish at the Winter Olympics. Varlamov stopped 40 shots in his first game after playing for Russia in the Sochi Olympics, including 18 in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 on Friday night. Varlamov won his first two starts in the Olympics, but was pulled in the second period of a 3-1 loss to Finland after allowing three goals on 15 shots. Any hangover from that disappointment was quickly dispelled with his performance Friday. "I wasnt concerned about it," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "When I saw Varly after the Olympics, I saw a big smile on his face. I knew he was ready to bounce back. The key was giving him the night off against L.A., give him the time to feel really comfortable." Varlamov said the extra time off helped. "Yeah, I think those days helped me," he said. "I was tired emotionally and it gave me some rest. I got back into a normal routine, trained with my goalie coach." Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. Nate Guenin also scored for Colorado, which bounced back from blowing a two-goal lead in a loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Guenins goal was his first in nearly two years after spending all of last season in the American Hockey League. "We wanted this one bad," Guenin said. "We felt we let one slip away the other night. We really wanted these two points." Shane Doan had two goals and Thomas Greiss had 29 saves for Phoenix, which lost 3-2 in a shootout at Winnipeg on Thursday night, is 0-2-1 in its last three games to hurt its playoff chances in the seasons final six weeks. "We lost. There isnt much to feel good about," Doan said. "It comes down to the last 20 games. It always does. We have to figure out a way to get more points." The Avalanche are comfortably in the playoff picture, bbut are chasing Chicago and St.dddddddddddd. Louis in the Central Division. With 22 games remaining, they trailed the Blackhawks by three but they have a game in hand on Chicago, which sits second in the division. The Coyotes had a chance to pull this one out before Colorado broke it open early in the third. Guenins first goal since March 19, 2012, while playing for Anaheim came when he beat Greiss from the top of the right circle 48 seconds into the third period to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. "Its about time. Just good timing there," Guenin said. "The puck slipped through and I kind of saw an opening." Stastny scored on Nathan MacKinnons rebound at 6:12 of the third to make it 3-1. Doans second goal of the game at 13:58 of the third made cut it to one, but Landeskog restored the two-goal advantage with his 19th nearly three minutes later. "We pushed hard to get ourselves in it, which was a positive sign," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "Doan and (Mike) Boedker were pushing hard, but we have to have everybody on the same page. And our margin for error is very slim. Mistakes cost us." The teams traded power-play goals in the first period. Doan gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead with his 16th goal at 12:47, and Parenteau answered 2:51 later with his 12th to tie it. The teams had several scoring chances in the second period, but each goalie made 10 saves. NOTES: Colorado has scored five power-play goals in the last two games. ... MacKinnon had two assists to extend his point streak to 10 games, the longest active run in the NHL. ... Avalanche D Erik Johnson was out of the lineup to serve the second of his two-game suspension for his slash on New York Islanders C Frans Nielsen on Feb. 8. ... Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larssons assist on the first goal gave him a career high for a single season with 22. ... Colorado LW Maxime Talbot returned after missing Wednesdays game to be with his fiancee, who gave birth to the couples first child, son Jaxon. ' ' '