TORONTO -- Toronto starter Mark Buehrle cant recall making a season-opening run quite like the one hes currently enjoying with the Blue Jays. The 35-year-old left-hander was in top form again Wednesday night, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball in a 10-0 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies at Rogers Centre. Buehrle (6-1) leads the American League with six victories and his earned-run average dropped to an impressive 1.91. "I dont want to ask too many questions, I dont want to try to figure out whats going on," he said. "Im just going to kind of roll with it and keep it as long as I can." Toronto exploded for nine runs in the seventh inning. Erik Kratz, Juan Francisco and Edwin Encarnacion all homered in the frame as the Blue Jays (17-17) returned to the .500 mark. Sergio Santos and Chad Jenkins completed the three-hit shutout as Toronto extended its winning streak to four games. Philadelphia starter Cliff Lee (3-3) was in form until the seventh, ending his streak of six straight quality starts. "Some balls ended up over the plate and they didnt miss them," said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg. Buehrle put runners in scoring position on a few occasions but for the most part kept the Philadelphia batters handcuffed by mixing up his pitches and relying on a steady curve ball. "He does what he typically does," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "He keeps them off-balance, throws anything at any time and uses his defence. I dont know if I can describe it any more than that -- again." Gibbons smiled as he made the comment. He was then asked if hes getting tired of describing the steady approach of the reliable veteran, who has already gone into the seventh inning without allowing an earned run on three occasions this year. "All he does is keep winning," Gibbons added. "He does the same thing every time he wins. Just hit rewind." With two quick-working starters on the mound, the game sped along at a quick pace. Lee (3-3) retired the first seven Blue Jays in order before giving up a one-out single to Colby Rasmus in the third inning. Rasmus moved to third base on a ground-rule double by Steve Tolleson and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Reyes. The Phillies had threatened an inning earlier but Torontos defence kept them off the board. Marlon Byrd hit a one-out double and Tolleson made a nice play to scoop a slow roller near second base to retire Domonic Brown. Toronto right-fielder Jose Bautista recorded the third out by making a nice running catch at the warning track on a John Mayberry Jr. fly ball. Bautista showed his range again in the sixth inning with a great diving pickup on a sinking Chase Utley liner. Buehrle followed by striking out Carlos Ruiz. The Phillies had a runner on second base in the seventh inning but Buehrle got Cody Asche on a weak grounder for the third out. Encarnacion led off the Toronto half of the seventh with a standup triple. Philadelphia outfielder Ben Revere misplayed the ball, allowing it to bounce off the wall and roll back into centre field. "It looked like he gave up on it and it hit the bottom of the wall," Sandberg said. "Catchable ball. Things unravelled from that point forward. I could imagine there could be some frustration there with Cliff at that point. "He was out there battling and involved in a pitchers duel up to that point." Kratz took the next pitch from Lee into the second deck in left field for his second homer of the season. Dioner Navarro followed with a single and he scored when Franciscos line-drive homer barely cleared the wall in right field. "Just one of those innings where they hit everything," Lee said. "They didnt miss a pitch." Lee was pulled after giving up a one-out double to Tolleson. Mario Hollands came on in relief and threw a wild pitch to Reyes that allowed Tolleson to advance to third. Reyes walked, stole second and moved to third when Cabrera struck out on a wild pitch. The ball got away from Ruiz and Tolleson scored while Cabrera ran to first. The Phillies went to the bullpen for former Blue Jay Shawn Camp, who promptly gave up a single to Bautista. Encarnacion followed with a three-run shot to deep left-centre field for his fourth homer of the year. Kratz singled for his second hit of the inning before Navarro grounded into an inning-ending double play. "They flat out beat us in every way," Lee said. "Shut us out and scored 10 runs. Thats a pretty good beating right there." Notes: Buehrle allowed two walks and struck out six. Lee, meanwhile, allowed seven hits, six earned runs and a walk while striking out six. ... The seventh inning was Torontos highest-scoring frame since a 10-run inning against Tampa Bay on Aug. 31, 2010. ... Announced attendance was 16,446 and the game took two hours 23 minutes to play. ... Former Blue Jay A.J. Burnett (2-1) is scheduled to start for the Phillies on Thursday night. Toronto will counter with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-3). ... Byrd hit a mammoth foul ball in the seventh inning. The ball curved foul and landed about 10 rows deep in the 500 level beside the left-field pole. ... Francisco now has four homers on the season. It was his first career home run off a left-handed pitcher. ... The Phillies have now lost their last seven meetings against Toronto, including five straight at Rogers Centre. ... Bautista has reached base safely in all 34 games this season. . Chan captured two silver medals at last months Sochi Winter Games — mens singles and the inaugural team event. But he doesnt have the urge to resume training to defend his world title when the event is held in Saitama, Japan, later this month. . He had spent 16 days on the disabled list before being activated Thursday. He was batting just .203 when he came to bat in the 11th inning on Sunday.
https://www.cheapwizardsonline.com/1589 ... zards.html. The game marks the rare occasion when two homegrown running backs, Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders and Andrew Harris of the B.C. Lions, will start in the West Divisions battle for a Grey Cup berth. . Sixteen teams have moved on. Sixteen teams have gone home. . -- Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle.FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Marty Mornhinwegs reputation in NFL circles is that of a guy who likes to throw the ball in an attack-style offence that piles up points.That air approach has been mostly grounded in his two seasons with the New York Jets.The offensive co-ordinator has had to stick to more of a run-first philosophy, relying more on the running game on a team that has struggled with consistency and production.Just the way were built, Mornhinweg said Thursday.Its clear the Jets are a stronger running team than passing, ranking second in the NFL in rushing offence behind Chris Ivory (739 yards) and Chris Johnson (613). The team averages 4.7 yards per carry and 147.1 yards rushing per game. On the flip side, however, New York is ranked 32nd — dead last — in the league in passing offence.Thats the result of Geno Smith so far not taking the next step in his progression as a passer in his second NFL season. He has just nine touchdown passes and 12 interceptions to go along with a 69.8 quarterback rating. Michael Vick briefly provided a spark in his three games as a starter when Smith was benched earlier in the season, but the Jets were hardly a threat in the air with him under centre.Well, certainly there is a developmental process with every young player at every position, Mornhinweg said. The quarterback is such an important position that you certainly have to do certain things there. And I know it sounds crazy, and Geno has been up and down just a little bit throughout this first year and a half going on two years, but hes a young, talented guy. Every quarterback develops at a little bit (of a) different rate.The problem for Mornhinweg and the Jets has been that theyve entered the last two seasons expecting to have more of an attacking offence.Well, earlier in both seasons we have, Mornhinweg said.The Jets appeared on their way this season, rolling for 402 yards in the opening win against Oakland. New York also led the Packers 21-3 early in Week 2 at Green Bay before falling 31-24.The Oakland game, we were running and gunning pretty well, Mornhinweg said. I remember Green Bay, we came out running and gunning pretty well, both running and passing. Then, consciously, we morphed into quite a little bit more running.That choice came because attacking through the air simply wasnt working.Coach Rex Ryan ggets labeled as a staunch proponent for a Ground-and-Pound offence, but thats mostly because it was so successful in the Jets runs to the AFC title game in his first two seasons with Mark Sanchez at quarterback.dddddddddddd. That was based a lot on personnel, which allowed New York to run it down opponents throats and let his defence clean up.So, early in the season, the Jets turned back to what their strength was: running the ball.When were protecting the football, I think we do a pretty darn good job offensively, Ryan said. I think our Achilles heel has been two areas: protecting the football and then the red zone. But I think were getting better in both, though.There have been other factors that have shaped the offensive approach. The Jets, outscored 360-230, have dealt with inconsistent play on the offensive line. A hamstring injury hampered top receiver Eric Decker for several weeks early on. The trade for Percy Harvin has helped, but he was a midseason addition, when the Jets were already in a 1-6 hole.Mornhinweg sidestepped questions whether he has been frustrated that his offences with the Jets havent put up good numbers.Well, I believe we are second in rushing right now, he said.But overall, New York is 25th in offence, and that has a lot to do with the Jets 3-11 record.In this league, you need to pass the ball very efficiently to score points, typically, Mornhinweg said. Now, every game is just a little bit different, but certainly, the passing game, you have to get that going at some point to win on a consistent basis.Mornhinweg acknowledged he and Ryan talk about the offence every day. But a published report a few weeks ago said the two have had friction all season, and the Jets run-heavy approach — they rushed 49 times — in a 16-13 loss to Miami three weeks ago was Mornhinwegs way of sticking it to Ryan.Both denied the report, and Mornhinweg reiterated that running the football more often as the season progressed was a conscious choice.Well, the way were built, Mornhinweg said, thats a reasonable thing to do.That said, Mornhinweg was asked if he would prefer — all things considered — to have more of an attacking offence.Well, you need to score points to win pretty consistently, he said. With a few exceptions.___AP NFL website:
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