MetalSeadramons Gemach » ate - and Canada could have the chance to not

Every day pretty well, I check out the Blue Jays minor league stats to see whos trending upwards and whos tailing off. Saturday, the boxscore for Double A New Hampshire really caught my eye. Bostons farm club, the Portland Sea Dogs throttled the Fisher Cats right in their own ballpark. It was the most lopsided defeat in franchise history and the biggest shutout loss. That wasnt the biggest story though. It was the young man who started that game for New Hampshire, Aaron Sanchez. Regarded by many as the Blue Jays top pitching prospect, Sanchez didnt get out of the first inning. In fact he didnt even record an out. My first though was that maybe he was injured, but I called the Fisher Cats early Monday morning and was assured Aaron is alright. He just struggled mightily with his command. Sanchezs line was pretty ugly. He faced only six batters, walked four and a hit another, and the only batter to make contact reached on an error by first baseman Mike McDade. Though he didnt give up a single hit, Sanchez was charged with six runs, though only three were earned. Sanchezs entire season so far has been rife with growing pains. Hes 1-3 with a fairly respectable 3.54 ERA. However in just 48.1 innings, hes walked 34 men while hitting another seven versus 41 strikeouts. Its hardly time for the Blue Jays to panic. Sanchez looked great at spring training this year and wont turn 22 until July 1. Still, I wouldnt be looking for a quick call-up to the "Big Club", if any of the Jays starters falter or get hurt. Sanchez still has a ways to go on the developmental curve. On the flip side of that coin is right hander Deck McGuire. The Jays drafted him number 11 overall in 2010 out of Georgia Tech. In 2012, at Double A, he seemed to hit a wall and had a terrible season. Last year, again at Double A with New Hampshire, he had a bounce-back season and has continued to grow this year with the Fisher Cats. On Saturday after two strong starts with the Fisher Cats, McGuire was promoted to Triple A Buffalo. While not as highly regarded a prospect as Sanchez or Marcus Stroman, the Jays may yet get something out of McGuire, who turns 25 on June 3. After detailing Kyle Drabeks struggles over the past two columns, its only fair to mention how good he was last Thursday at Louisville. He pitched eight shutout innings, striking out five and walking only two in what became a 4-2 victory for the Bisons. Ricky Romero, whose struggles have been epic this season at Buffalo, was due to rejoin the club Monday after spending a few days in California to attend his brothers college graduation. Ricky is pencilled in to start the Memorial weekend holiday Monday game at Indianappolis. The Blue Jays Mark Buehrle is well on his way to a 14th straight season of pitching 200 or more innings. As things stand right now, only three other pitchers have put together a string like that of 15 years or longer. The trio includes Gaylord Perry (15 years), knuckleballer Phil Niekro (15), and lefty Warren Spahn (17). All three are Hall of Famers. They also won over 300 games each. Buehrle (8-1) on the season has 194 wins at age 35. With their recent spurt, including six straight wins, the Blue Jays only have to go 62-49 the rest of the way to finish with 91 victories. Thats a number that should put them in the post-season for the first time since 1993. Around the Majors What in the name of Bobby Valentine has gone wrong with the Red Sox? The defending World Series champs, making like Valentines team of two years ago, have dropped 10 in a row and have been swept in consecutive series by Detroit and the Blue Jays at home and Tampa Bay on the road. Theyre in last place in the AL East, eight games back of the Blue Jays and six games out of the second Wild Card position. On the plus side, Bostons farm system is reputed to be strong, especially at Double A Portland. The Sea Dogs second baseman, Mookie Betts, is a sparkplug speedster who because of the presence of Dustin Pedroia may ultimately wind up in Bostons outfielder sooner rather than later. From the "go figure" file, the Texas Rangers have used a Major League-high 39 players so far this season and have utilized the disabled list 17 times. Yet in the same week they found out that Prince Fielder and Jurickson Profar were gone for the season, the Rangers went into Comerica Park in Detroit and took three out of four from the powerhouse Tigers, outscoring them 35-15. Houstons rookie right fielder George Springer has had his moments defensively, but he is really picking it up at the plate. Hes slugged four homers in the last three games, including two on Sunday to give him seven on the season to go with 22 runs batted in. The Astros though still have the worst record in the Majors at 19-32. Until the other day, I did not know that in his pitching days Babe Ruth threw sidearm. In his relatively brief time on the mound as a full-time starter, he was regarded as the best lefty in the Majors. The best pitcher period, in those days, was Walter Johnson. "The Big Train" also threw sidearm. Makes you wonder why that style barely exists in the Majors today. china jerseys . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. cheap china jerseys . The underachieving franchise finished 17th in the 19-team league with a 6-17-11 record this season. "Our soccer team is absolutely in complete disarray," said Leiweke, drawing laughs during an Empire Club luncheon speech about the future of MLSE teams and plans to improve them. https://www.chinajerseysreplica.us/ . The 12th-ranked Haas served well throughout the match at the Ibirapuera arena, allowing only one break point to the 152nd-ranked Italian. Both players held serve until the first-set tiebreak, when Haas stepped up his game to easily clinch the set. fake jerseys china .com) - Manchester City will face a steep test in the Champions League knockout stage as the English champions were drawn with Barcelona on Monday. cheap jerseys from china . Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.Leading up to SportsCentres Year In Review on Christmas Eve, TSN and TSN.ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at the rapid rise of basketball in our country. In Canada, hockey has always been - and will most likely always be - the sport that produces the most professional talent. Yet over the past year it seems basketball north of the border is turning a corner. Most expected it wouldnt truly start until 2014. Andrew Wiggins, the freshman forward from Vaughan, Ont., is dominating in college ball with the Kansas Jayhawks and should go first overall in next Junes NBA draft. Well that all might still happen, but Wiggins wont be the first Canadian to ever be selected No. 1. That title went to Torontos Anthony Bennett of the University of Nevada, taken first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 6-8 forward hasnt had a stellar year – already getting unfairly booed by the Cleveland faithful - but the 20-year-old was never chosen with the expectation hed coast to a Rookie of the Year award. Bennetts potential and raw athleticism was what caught the Cavaliers eye. Regardless, it made history and it was a proud moment for Canadian sports fans. With Wiggins playing well in Kansas and being compared to a superstar-type player, the future is looking prettty decent.dddddddddddd And Wiggins and Bennett are just the tip of the iceberg. On both the college and pro stage, Canucks are popping up at a rapid rate - and Canada could have the chance to not only qualify, but compete for a medal in the 2016 Olympics and beyond. The Cavaliers Tristan Thompson (Toronto), the Magics Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga), the Celtics Kelly Olynyk (Toronto), the Spurs Cory Joseph (Toronto) and the Lakers Robert Sacre (North Vancouver) are all young, talented and ready to put Canada on the map of basketball relevance. Dont forget about two-time NBA champion Joel Anthony (Montreal) of the Miami Heat. When it comes to NCAA ball – besides Wiggins – theres Kevin Pangos (Holland Landing, Ont.) of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Nik Stauskas (Etobicoke, Ont.) of the Michigan Wolverines. Both teams are ranked in the Top 25 and will look to continue the trend when March Madness rolls around. The days of looking up to Victoria, B.C.s Steve Nash as the lone productive Canadian in the Association are long gone. Whether its better coaching at the grassroots level, more interest in the sport or just sheer luck, Canada is improving on the hardwood. This is the golden age of Canadian basketball and its only getting started. James Naismith would be proud. ' ' '