pen at the start of April, just as he did before his run to his first C

The last two seasons injuries have ruined any chances the Toronto Blue Jays might have had of contending, especially those to the pitching staff. Vapormax Flyknit 3 Ale . This time around the injury bug has bitten hard on the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Tampa Bay has three of their elite starting pitchers sidelined right now. Over the weekend, Alex Cobb strained a left oblique muscle during a stellar performance against the Cincinnati Reds. Hes gone four-to-six weeks. Lefty Matt Moore is due to play catch on the side today in Baltimore as doctors are trying to decide if he needs Tommy John surgery or whether his left elbow will get better with treatment and rest. Right hander Jeremy Hellickson, who also has an elbow issue, is hoping to be back in May or early June. Even a team as deep and talented as the Rays cant afford to lose three starting pitchers. The Red Sox also have problems. Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia has had to return to Beantown to get his left wrist checked out. Shane Victorino is out as well with a thumb injury and 39-year-old closer Koji Uehara is being examined to determine the cause of shoulder stiffness. The Yankees are no different. They lost their new closer David Robertson to the 15-day DL with a groin muscle pull, first baseman Mark Teixiera is injured again, catcher Francisco Cervelli has a hamstring problem, second baseman Brian Roberts had to sit out with back tightness and team captain Derek Jeter missed two games in a row over the weekend with quad tightness. The Yankees were so thin in the infield, they had to move Kelly Johnson back to third base, rookie Yangervis Solarte to second and have Carlos Beltran play his first game ever at first. The Baltimore Orioles biggest concern is star third baseman Manny Machado, who continues to rehab his surgically repaired knee. The Blue Jays have a few problems of their own with Maicer Izturis tripping on the dugout steps Sunday in Baltimore and spraining his left knee and then having to go on the 15-day DL. On the plus side, Jose Reyes and closer Casey Janssen could be back by next weekend in Cleveland and lefty J.A. Happ is already back up from Triple-A Buffalo. The bottom line is, the Blue Jays, Yankees and Rays are locked in a three-way tie for first in the A.L East at 7-6. The Orioles are second at 5-7 and the Red Sox are bringing up the rear at 5-8. By the weekend, the Jays should have the healthiest line-up in the division and this is the time for them to take advantage of their rivals injury woes and do some real damage. - The team that has really come of nowhere in the first two weeks of the season is the Milwaukee Brewers. Coincidentally, they had an identical record to the Blue Jays a year ago at 74-88. They are off to a torrid start this time around, winning nine-straight through Sunday and a 10-2 record. This is the second-best start in franchise history after 1987 when they started the year 13-0. Their starting rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza, Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta have nine quality starts in 12 games, and the staff ERA is a sparkling 1.80. Ryan Braun has had a good bounce back year, so far, from his Biogenesis PED suspension and has made a successful move from left field to right to clear a spot for youngster Khrys Davis, who is regarded as a budding star. The other big story for the Brewers is closer Francisco Rodriguez, once a star with the Angels. He stepped on a cactus is Spring Training and was still pulling out spines until about a week ago. His left foot, his plant foot when throwing, was so tender that he had to pay extra attention to his delivery to keep it consistent. K-Rod has been perfect so far, going four-for-four in save situations. The teams payroll, according to Cots Baseball Contracts, is about $103.4 million. Thaats roughly $29 million less than the that of the Jays. The interesting thing is that they have a dozen players on their roster making the minimum of between $500-534K. In other words, there is a good mix of veterans and youth. The Brewers lead the NL Central by three games on the St. Louis Cardinals and they open an early season showdown series at Miller Park on Monday night against the Redbirds. - There is a Milwaukee connection to one of the players the Blue Jays have in Buffalo. Juan Francisco is a 62", 245-pound first/third baseman, who was released by the Brewers during spring training. The Jays picked him up to add a little punch with the Bisons. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter has provided just that. In fact, last season he hit 18 homers split between the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves. The knock on Francisco is that hes not every good defensively, but hes turned into a good pick-up for Buffalo especially since the Brewers are picking up $331,967 of his salary. - Tuesday marks the 11th-annual Jackie Robinson Day where the MLB honours the man who broke the colour barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The year before Jackie broke in with the Dodgers organization, he played with the old Montreal Royals in the International League. I was curious to find out who was the first African-American to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in that same league. It didnt happen until 1951. In July of that year, Jack Kent Cooke, the communications mogul who later owned the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Kings, bought the Leafs. A week-and-a-half later, he signed two African-American players, pitcher Leon Day and catcher-third baseman Charlie White. Later in that season, another black pitcher, Frank Barnes, joined the Leafs. He only made two appearances with the club and had an ERA of 45. Of the three, though, according to my research, Barnes is the only one of the trio still alive. He is 87-years-old. Yankees great Mariano Rivera was the last player to wear the number 42. Now that Rivera has retired, the number 42 will never be worn again. Vapormax Plus Ale . The best round belonged to Pat Perez. Tiger Woods didnt come close to claiming either Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open, where the seven-time champion failed to break par in the opening round for first time in his career. Nike Vapormax Miehet . A little more than one year after missing a last-second tip-in that would have given the Wolverines a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, the 6-foot-8 forward scored on a layup with 7. http://www.vapormaxsuomi.com/vapormax-2019-ale.html .7 million, one-year contract.The deal, announced Friday, includes a $50,000 performance bonus if the left-hander appears in 60 games.Ronnie OSullivan has told Judd Trump he must win the Betfred World Championship in the next three years or he may never get his hands on the trophy. Five-time champion OSullivan landed his first Crucible title at the age of 25 in 2001, at the ninth time of trying, before making it a regular habit.He considers 26-year-old Trump well equipped to mount a serious challenge for snookers premier silverware over the next 17 days in Sheffield. But OSullivan suspects the pressure will only increase if Trump, who was runner-up to John Higgins in 2011, misses out this year.Asked if Trump has what it takes, OSullivan said: Absolutely. Hes 26 and hes at the prime age now to push on, but if hes going to make it happen hes got to make it happen in the next two or three years. Trump won the China Open en route to the Crucible last year Once you go into your thirties and havent won the world title, and then theres a new batch of young players coming through from China, from here, there and everywhere, you can start to think that maybe I might not.The pressure gets more and more and sometimes its not about the best player who wins this tournament, its the guy who can hold himself together and play solid snooker.Its not always about playing brilliant match after brilliant match, its about steadying the ship sometimes and biding your time and pouncing. Stuart Bingham edged out Trump in last years semi-final While OSullivan begins against David Gilbert on Sunday, Bristol-born Trump must wait until Wednesday to tackle Liang Wenbo, the Chinese player who beat him at the UK Championship in December. Nike Vapormax Kengät. World No 5 Trump won the China Open at the start of April, just as he did before his run to his first Crucible final. He was a semi-finalist at the Crucible last year, losing to eventual champion Stuart Bingham, and his desire to take the title is immense. Liang Wenbo first up for Trump this year Ive got enough experience now, he said. Theres no reason anymore why I shouldnt be winning here. Im not too young, Its not come too early now, so theres no more excuses. Ive had my five or 10 years of growing up.Ronnie won it when he was 25, which is quite old for someone that good, so if I win it this year or next year Im still not far behind him and hes the greatest player ever.Im still young but Ive got a lot of experience that people my age shouldnt really have so I need to use that now. Also See: Photos Bet ￡5 Get ￡20 free Get Sky Sports ' ' '