TORONTO – Nineteen innings. Six hours and 37 minutes. Eight pitchers and fourteen position players used, some making as many as 10 plate appearances, to secure a 6-5 victory and a series win over the Detroit Tigers. It seemed appropriate, at least to some in the groggy media horde that ambled down to the victorious clubhouse on Sunday afternoon (oops, evening), that a fog machine had been used in whatever celebration had just occurred. "I cant give out all the secrets," said Colby Rasmus, who made two sparkling defensive plays, robbing Miguel Cabrera of extra bases with a catch up against the centrefield wall in the 18th and making a head-long, diving catch of a Bryan Holaday sinking line drive in the 19th. "I cant give out all the secrets. Hopefully itll keep working for us." The Blue Jays franchise is engaged in its 38th season of Major League Baseball. Never had it played in a game longer than 18 innings. Never had it played in a game that exceeded six hours. There were many heroes on this day. Jose Bautista delivered the walk off, bases loaded single, which must have felt particularly satisfying considering it was Bautistas first hit in 10 plate appearances. He did walk twice. The bullpen deserves the most credit. Mark Buehrle struggled badly, again, and was lifted after allowing five runs (two earned) with one out in the fourth. The Jays trailed 5-0 at the time and all seemed lost with 2012 Cy Young award winner David Price on the mound for Detroit. Nobody could have predicted that the offence would chip away, tagging Price for four runs before tying the game in the ninth off pseudo closer Joba Chamberlain. What it meant was seven Toronto relievers would be required to combine for 15 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. They were up to the task. Todd Redmond went 2 2/3; rookie Aaron Sanchez tossed three innings; Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan 1 1/3 each; Aaron Loup went a third of an inning; Casey Janssen a full inning and then Chad Jenkins drove the bus the rest of the way. He went six scoreless, his longest outing of the season, to secure his first big league win of the year. "That was a long one," said an exhausted Jenkins afterwards. "For all the fans who sat through all of it, thank you. That was awesome. I mean, its really exciting to look up and see its 7:30 and there are still people here cheering, going crazy, going nuts and it made it so much better." The Jays sold out both Saturdays and Sundays games. The Jays took the series two-out-of-three from the Tigers and did so winning the final two games started by the last two American League Cy Young award winners (Max Scherzer and Price). The series win gave Toronto five of six against the Tigers on the season. The victory gained the Blue Jays a game on Baltimore, which lost to St. Louis and allowed Toronto to hold serve with red-hot Kansas City, which leads the race for the second wild card spot by a game and a half on the Jays and Seattle Mariners. Oh, and the Blue Jays open a series in Seattle Monday night (against another former Cy Young award winner, Felix Hernandez, to boot). Oh, and the Tigers shouldnt sleep on the playoffs. Those Royals are but a half-game back of Detroit for the AL Central lead. Maybe these wins over the Tigers will matter to the Blue Jays in that wild card race. As the games and days pass by, the stakes become higher. The Blue Jays, as R.A. Dickey put so simply on Friday night, are "in it." If youre too young to remember the good old days of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, enjoy this. This is what it was like back then. And if youre old enough to remember those times, welcome back to feeling like a kid. SANCHEZ THRIVING Aaron Sanchez is blessed with the physical gifts needed to have a long, successful career as a big league pitcher. Hes tall, 64", and most of it is core and lower body. He laughed as he points to his hips. "I get heat from the guys, they always tell me Ive got a grandpas waistline," he said. "Theyre always on me about why I wear my pants so high." The legs are Sanchezs key; any pitchers key, really. From there he generates the power to effortlessly unleash fastballs which register 98 miles per hour on the radar gun. He doesnt know where he gets his height. Sanchez has two older brothers and an older sister and said hes at least four inches taller than each of them. Hes taller than both his parents. "There are some cousins on my moms side who are like seven-feet tall," said Sanchez. "So maybe thats where I get it from." With three scoreless innings in Sundays 6-5, 19-inning win over the Tigers, Sanchez has held the opposition without a run in five of his seven big league appearances. All have come out of the bullpen and its likely the rest will, too, as he gets further and further away from his last start, a six-inning performance for Triple-A Buffalo on July 10. Just because hes a reliever doesnt mean Sanchez has changed his daily routine. "I tried to stay running as a starter just because I dont know any different," said Sanchez. "I think thats kind of helped me bounce back better (after relief appearances) than I would have if I did minimal running, I guess to say. I dont know if that makes any difference or not but Ive just tried to continue with the same running that Ive done as a starter, you know the long distance, the sprint intervals, the stadiums, whatever it is just to get the lactic acid out of the arm." The Blue Jays toyed with Sanchez working in relief in spring training, culminating with an appearance against the Mets at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. He learned then the difference between taking all the time needed to prepare for a start and pitching in relief. Youve got to "get hot" quickly, as pitchers will say. Then, once in the game, theres little time to find a groove. "As a starter youve got six innings, two innings to get a curveball and figure some things out," said Sanchez. "As a reliever youve got to come in and just pound the zone and youre stuffs just got to be there." ROSTER MOVE The Blue Jays need help in the bullpen after seven relievers combined for 15 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Brad Mills has been added to the roster for Mondays series opener in Seattle. Infielder Ryan Goins was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. . But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed. Winnipegs Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canadas third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday. . The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. Chris Archer lasted 2 1/3 innings in the no-decision, charged with a run and five hits, and Alex Torres suffered the loss in relief.
https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/. After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports. . "Right now were kind of looking at him at the end of the rotation right now," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "Not indicative of how hes doing or how hes feeling. Its just, it seems like the spot we want him right now. . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick.The battle at both ends of the Premier League table will intensify on night eight of the Premier League at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. With Judgement night drawing closer, bottom-placed Robert Thornton will be desperately searching for points in his double-header this Thursday.At the top, leader Michael van Gerwen will be trying to hold off the chasing trio of Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and James Wade, with live coverage starting at 7pm on Sky Sports 1. Michael Smith v Robert Thornton Michael Smith badly needs a win from the opening clash with Thornton The schedule starts with a survival battle and Thornton badly needs a win against fellow struggler Smith to keep his hopes alive.Thornton would draw level with Smith on three points if he picks up his first win of the campaign, piling more pressure on Dave Chisnall, who is third from bottom on the same points tally.But a win for Smith would push Thornton closer to the trap door and give The Bully Boy a real boost in his own bid to avoid an early exit. Sky Bet odds: Smith 10/11, tie 4/1, Thornton 2/1Gary Anderson v Dave Chisnall Gary Anderson added two more wins on night seven Chisnall desperately needs a result against Anderson after last weeks loss to Raymond van Barneveld, his fourth straight defeat.But this is not an ideal night to face Anderson, who has surged up the table and sits just a point behind Van Gerwen.The Scotsman defeated Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright on night seven and will be seeking his sixth straight win against Chizzy.Sky Bet odds: Anderson 4/7, tie 9/2, Chisnall 3/1Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld claimed a much neeeded win over Dave Chisnall Lewis and Van Barneveld have both struggled to produce consistent form since the start of the competition.ddddddddddddackpot averaged 93 in a lacklustre 7-4 defeat against Anderson last week, but Barney did halt his own worrying slump with a 7-4 win over Chisnall.Van Barneveld is still looking a little anxiously over his shoulder and needs another result to ease any lingering elimination worries.Lewis 11/10, tie 7/2, Van Barneveld 7/4Phil Taylor v Peter Wright Phil Taylor stayed within striking distance of leader Michael van Gerwen Taylor is just one leg adrift of Van Gerwen after battling back from 5-1 down to claim a 6-6 draw with his Dutch rival.Snakebite Wright, however, let a point slip away as his three missed darts allowed Anderson to close out a 7-5 win. Such costly lapses are likely to be punished by The Power, who ended with a 60 per cent success rate on the doubles against Van Gerwen.Taylor 4/6, tie 4/1, Wright 11/4Michael van Gerwen v Robert Thornton Thornton defeated Van Gerwen at last years World Grand Prix The world No 1 was frustrated by Taylors fightback and the luckless Thornton could feel the force of a backlash by The Green Machine. Van Gerwen was denied victory, despite an average over 107, and treated the Glasgow fans to a fantastic 170 checkout.But Thornton has shown he can defeat Van Gerwen on the big stage, edging him out in last years World Grand Prix final.Van Gerwen 1/8, tie 9/1, Thornton 12/1Watch all the action from night eight of the Premier League this Thursday night, starting at 7pm on Sky Sports 1. Also See: PL night seven: Talking points WATCH: Taylor warns MVG Prem Table MVG and Taylor duke out draw ' ' '
