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The Toronto Blue Jays have just passed the quarter mark in the season, at the .500 mark at 21-21. Thats not overwhelming, but its still four games better than they were a year ago when they were sitting at 17-25 through May 17. More importantly, now, they are tied with the Boston Red Sox for third in the American League East, just a game-and-a half back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles. Not only that, they have the top-ranked hitting team in the American League with a .255 average , 56 homers and a league-leading 207 runs scored and the top OPS of .762. Theyve improved by leaps and bounds in the fielding department, as well. Theyve committed only 20 errors in 42 games, second fewest to only Baltimores 19 in the American League. There are still a few red flags, though. The Blue Jays team ERA is 4.56, ranked 11th in the American League and worst in their own division. With the problems at the back end of the rotation - Brandon Morrow (DL now), J.A Happ ( struggling until Thursday night) and Dustin McGowan (moved to the bullpen on Thursday) - the Jays have still managed 19 quality starts in 42 games. Thats tied with the Yankees for second in their division behind Bostons 27. Tampa Bay has 14 quality starts, largely because three of their starting pitchers have been injured, and Baltimore is somehow leading the division with only 13 quality starts. Another thing that should be of concern is who the Jays have been beating. They are a combined 10-3 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, teams that have a combined record of 50-70. The Jays are 11-18 against all the rest. Remember, too, over their final 120 games, exactly half are against their own division. Then you have seven against the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics, six against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers and 13 Interleague games including four with the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, three with the St. Louis Cardinals, three with the Cincinnati Reds and a bit of a respite in September with three at home against the Cubs. The two biggest question marks are how they sort out those four and five slots in their rotation and whether they can start playing better against the teams in their own division with regularity the rest of the way. Right now they are only 7-9 against the East and 16-19 against the entire American League with the season nearly seven weeks old. - You may have missed it since it was a west coast game, but the Miami Marlins called up 24-year-old right hander Anthony DeSclafani the other night after the injury to their ace Jose Fernandez and gave him his first Major League start against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He was almost considered a throw-in in the massive deal with the Blue Jays two years ago, that brought Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and others to the Jays. DeSclafani didnt disappoint in his debut. He pitched six solid innings, striking out seven in a 13-3 blowout of the Dodgers. He not only got his first Major League win, but he stroked a two-run single for his first Major League hit. The funny thing about the hit is, its one more than the entire Marlins pitching staff had through that night. The Marlins pitchers were a collective 0 for 64. The one mild surprise may be that DeSclafani made it to the Majors before his minor=league teammate lefty Justin Nicolino, who also came over in that trade with the Blue Jays. - Joel Sherman of the New York Post mentioned the other day that the Mets should deal from strength and package a couple of their young arms for a much needed bat and suggested they go after the Blue Jays Jose Bautista or Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez. The Mets called up two of those dynamite young arms this week in Rafael Montero and Jake deGrom, who went a combined 13 innings and gave up only four runs total. Still, the Mets lost both games at Citi Field, 3-0 Wednesday and 1-0 Thursday. The Mets, though they are 19-21, are still just two games out of a wild card spot in the National League. The pressure is on them to finally make it back to the post-season. They should be an interesting team to watch as the trade season approaches in late June and then on into July. - Bad break for former Blue Jays catching prospect Travis DArnaud, who went over to the Mets as part of the R.A. Dickey deal. He was accidently struck on the head by the follow-through swing by the bat of Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees on Tuesday night. He experienced headaches afterwards and then was put on the seven-day concussion disabled list. - Jose Abreu, the White Sox Cuban slugge,r is off to an incredible start in the Majors. He has 15 homers in his first 42 games. Hes only the fourth player in Major League history to accomplish that feat joining Wally Berger, Kevin Maas and Wally Joyner. Of the latter three, Joyner had the best career, but was always overshadowed by the steroid-sluggers of the day including Jose Canseco. - I was wondering the other day if it would be possible for the Yankees Masahiro Tanaka to win the Cy Young Award, the Rookie of the Year and the MVP Award all in the same season. He and Abreu are the top two first-year players so far. Hes already a front runner for the Cy Young and, if he leads the Yankees to a playoff berth, he would have to be considered for the Most Valuable Player as well. - If you think the Blue Jays starting pitching is a question mark, how about the Texas Rangers? Over the past 16 games, the Rangers have had one start of more than six innings by a pitcher other than Yu Darvish. Darvish, of course, is the man the Blue Jays will be facing Friday night to kick off a three-game set at Arlington against Prince Fielder and the Rangers. - The Dodgers are off to much of the same kind of start they were a year ago before the arrival of Yasiel Puig. They are 22-20 and trail the first-place San Francisco Giants by five full games in NL West. Fielding has been a major problem. Theyve made 36 errors in 42 games and have given up 24 unearned runs, tied with Cleveland for the second most in the Majors. Paul Blair Jersey .The rookie goalie made 36 saves to help the Calgary Flames blank their Pacific Division rivals 1-0 on Saturday following a 48-hour ordeal that included lost baggage, a cancelled flight and a new pair of contact lenses. Jack Fisher Jersey . Louis against the Blues. The Canucks picked up their second straight victory in the swings opener on Tuesday in Calgary before getting routed in Minnesota last night, 5-1. https://www.cheaporioles.com/298i-robert...ey-orioles.html. -- Olympic medallist Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que. Custom Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes. Gregg Olson Jersey . Nwaneri, who was born in Dallas and attended Naaman Forest High School in nearby Garland, Texas, tweeted, "Its official! Im coming home, Im coming home.CORTINA DAMPEZZO, Italy -- Defending overall World Cup champion Tina Maze finally got her first victory of the season, winning the prestigious Cortina downhill Saturday to signal a return to form just in time for the Sochi Olympics. The Slovenian clocked 1 minute, 37.79 seconds down the Olympia delle Tofane course, which was bathed in sunshine, then performed her trademark handstand celebration during the podium proceedings. "There were a lot of emotions," Maze said. "It was a really long time. ... When I find the right feeling like I found it today I can ski fast." Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden of Switzerland finished second, 0.27 seconds behind, and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was third, 0.38 back. Maze had a record-breaking season a year ago with 11 wins. This season, she had only three podium results -- until this race. "When you win a lot you dont learn much," Maze said. "With my ups and downs its a lot of learning." Two weeks ago, Maze made a staff change in her personal team, which is run by her boyfriend and coach Andrea Massi. They replaced Walter Ronconi with former Switzerland coach Mauro Pini. The switch seems to have paid off and the timing couldnt have been better -- in the final downhill before the Sochi Games, where the womens downhill is scheduled for Feb. 12. Pini urged Maze to put more emotion into her skiing. "That was really good because Andrea was always saying to ski without feelings," Maze said. "But sometimes thats not possible. "(Pini) brought a lot of peace to our team because compared to Andrea and I hes one step in front of us," Maze added. "And thats what we were expecting from someone in that position. He came really motivated and that makes us easygoing and we have more energy for ourselves." Pini was formerly Lara Guts personal coach and he led the Swiss mens squad at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when Didier Defago won gold in downhill. He theen coached the Swiss womens team and more recently was a TV commentator.dddddddddddd "I could sense a good feeling from the first words we shared with each other," Pini said. "Tina never forgot how to ski. She was always capable, she just needed to focus her energy better and get rid of those negative vibes." "At this level a couple different words here or there can create all the difference," Pini added. "Its not like we had to start over from scratch." With the skies perfectly clear to show off the jagged peaks that provide some of the most spectacular scenery in the Dolomite Range, Maria Hoefl-Riesch finished fourth to follow up her victory in Fridays downhill. The German said she felt some pain in her left knee after landing a jump awkwardly a day earlier. Still, Hoefl-Riesch maintained her lead in the overall and downhill standings. In another strong showing from the U.S. Ski Team without injured Lindsey Vonn, Stacey Cook matched her fifth-place finish from Friday and teammate Julia Mancuso placed seventh to match her best result of the season from a super-G two days earlier. "It always stings when you are so close to the podium, but I know this is a positive move heading toward Sochi," Cook said. This was the third of four races in four days. Elisabeth Goergl won a super-G on Thursday and another super-G is scheduled for Sunday. Weirather finished fourth and second in the opening two races this week. "Its hard to have four good races in a row but I will try," she said. Two of the races were originally scheduled for last weekend in Cortina but were wiped out by heavy snowfall. The other two were moved from Garmisch-Partenkirchen due to a lack of snow in the German resort. The womens circuit then moves to Kranjska Gora for a giant slalom and slalom next weekend -- the final races before Sochi and Mazes home event. "Im really excited to ski that slope," Maze said ' ' '