05-05-2019, 12:56 AM
BOSTON – The Blue Jays scorching offence finished a three-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park and sits at or near the top of a number of the sports essential statistical categories. Toronto is first in home runs with 67; its second in slugging percentage (.445) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.773) and sixth in walks (168). Jose Bautista was the celebrated hero of April, smacking eight of his 11 home runs, working to a 1.065 OPS in the opening month. In May its been Edwin Encarnacion, the other half of the Blue Jays deadly three-four lineup combination, who has done most of the damage. With 11 of his 13 home runs this month, including four two-home run games and an OPS of 1.090, you could argue Encarnacions been carrying the lineup. Bautista doesnt want to hear it; not about himself and not about someone else. Theres plenty of credit to go around. "I think everybodys been contributing since day one," Bautista told TSN.ca. "Melky, for instance, is leading the league in hits. Adams (Lind) hitting .320. Brett (Lawrie), even though his average is down a little bit, hes got 20-something RBI. Everybodys helping out. Franciscos got seven, eight home runs and 20 RBI as well. Navarros hitting close to .300." While Bautista insists he hasnt been pitched to differently since Encarnacion has heated up, he expects opposing teams to change their approach once they peruse the pre-scout books and video. "Im sure its going to change," said Bautista. "I think people are definitely noticing and now its going to be more on their radar how hot he is so hopefully that means Im going to get a couple of more mistakes over the plate." Taking his word for it, teams may not be pitching differently to Bautista but at least they now are pitching to him. Consider that in April, while Encarnacion laboured through a relatively slow opening month, Bautista walked 30 times in 122 plate appearances (24.6 per cent). In May, through to the end of Thursdays game, Bautista has walked 11 times in 94 trips to the plate (11.7 per cent). Through Thursday, the Blue Jays had won six of seven and 12 of 17. They have a number of individuals at or near the top of a number of categories. They include: Melky Cabrera: 64 hits, the most in Major League BaseballEdwin Encarnacion: 13 home runs (Tied-3rd); 39 RBI (6th). Jose Bautista: 12 home runs (Tied 6th), 41 walks (1st); .435 on-base percentage (5th); .988 on-base plus slugging (5th). Mark Buehrle: Eight wins, the most in Major League Baseball; 2.16 ERA (8th). GIBBONS LIKES HIS OFFENCE The story of Torontos offensive production got lost earlier this season amid the worry over the starting pitching and the bullpen blowing leads. With the Jays winning, the bats move to the forefront. The skipper has seen it all year. "We can hit, top to bottom," said manager John Gibbons. "Its a strong American League lineup and thats kind of what you need in the American League. Were really a home run threat with most of those guys in that lineup we can burn you that way. I really like the approach we have at the plate. Were taking some hits the other way when its called for. The better pitchers, thats the way theyre attacking you. Were confident right now. You have good games when youre feeling good. Baseball is a game of ups and downs all year long but its a good strong lineup." HENDRIKS TO START FRIDAY The Blue Jays will recall right-hander Liam Hendriks from Buffalo on Friday and he will start the series opener against Oakland. R.A. Dickey will be pushed back to Saturday when he will throw on an extra days rest. "We just decided to split up Buehrle and Dickey," said Gibbons. "Theyre our old reliable guys, kind of our innings eaters." Hendriks is 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA and a 0.801 WHIP for the Triple-A Bisons. The 25-year-old is hoping for his first period of sustained major league success. In parts of three seasons with the Twins, Hendriks was 2-13 with an ERA of 6.06. A corresponding roster move will be made before Fridays game. HOME COOKING The Jays kick off a season-high 10-game homestand on Friday. After the Athletics come in for three, the Tampa Bay Rays will check in, followed by the Kansas City Royals for a four-game series. Toronto has a bus trip series to Detroit for three games June 2-4 and then will return home for six games, three each with the St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. For the Blue Jays, it isnt so much about capitalizing on home field advantage as it is trying to create a home field advantage. Toronto is 10-11 at Rogers Centre and 16-11 on the road. "We have to play good at home," said Gibbons. "Weve played actually better on the road this year than we have at home. Were there for awhile so hopefully we can take advantage of that." "I never want to have any outlook at any period of the season and start a sentence with We have to or We need to or Its imperative that we do anything," said Bautista. "Every time in baseball when you have that mentality things seem to go the other way. Weve just got to focus on the preparation, go out and give it our all every single day and take it one day at a time and hope for good results and if we get them, we get them." Oakland comes to town the leader of the American League West with a record of 30-17. Despite a 5-2, 11-inning loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday, the Athletics have won 11 of their last 13 games. Dominic Solanke Jersey . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them. Dejan Lovren Jersey . - Aaron Rodgers makes tough throws that can leave fans of the Green Bay Packers speechless. http://www.footballliverpoolstore.com/Wo...ol-Jersey/. The Grizzlies erased most of a 25-point deficit before Durant, the leagues scoring champion, got hot. Loris Karius Jersey . And, just for good measure, lets say the lottery team finishes the game short-handed because two starters come down with the very same injury. Sadio Mane Liverpool Jersey . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat.Joe Root believes the steady influence of head coach Trevor Bayliss will help England stay grounded when they face West Indies in the World T20 final in Kolkata on Sunday. England brought one of the least experienced squads to India but have improved throughout the tournament to earn their shot at glory. Bob Willis, Mark Butcher and Matt Prior assess how a hands-off approach from management has allowed England’s T20 players to flourish Their opponents at Eden Gardens will be familiar, with the West Indies having beaten them in the first match of the Super 10 stage. Confidence in the camp remains high and after recovering from difficult situations to win group games against South Africa, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Baylisss side turned in a near perfect performance to defeat New Zealand in the semi-final.Regardless of the situation, the coachs emotionless face has helped his side keep calm in difficult circumstances and remain level-headed when things are going well.Trevor has been great throughout, said Root. Hes got an emotionless face, whether we feel like were in front of the game or feel massively behind it, you never get any sort of tension or emotion from him.You dream of these opportunities as a kid, to play a World Cup final, and every time over the past couple of days Ive looked round the dressing room or the lads on the bus, they have just been smiling. Rob Key and Nasser Hussain take a look at the pitch ahead of Englands ICC World T20 final against West Indies I think everyone is excited and cant wait to get out there on Sunday but it always feels like Trevor is very calm and relaxed about everything. Whether thats the case under the surface, Im not sure.Thats one thing thats really important in these tournaments,, especially in the final, having that calm head in the dressing room that can bring you back down when you get too high or give you a lift if you need one.ddddddddddddYorkshire batsman Root has been hugely influential himself as England look to secure their second World T20 title, having claimed the 2010 prize in the West Indies.He scored a world-class 83 to inspire the sides record 230-run chase against South Africa, took a brilliant, decisive catch at the death against Sri Lanka and helped finish off New Zealand in partnership with Jos Buttler. Root is the second highest scorer in the World T20 from the Super 10 stage onwards Root is second only to Virat Kohli as the competitions leading run-scorer from the Super 10 stage onwards with 195 but he was keen to praise captain Eoin Morgans leadership.Morgan has struggled for form in India, averaging 15.25 in five innings, but he continues to set the overall tone for the team.I think Morgans captaincy has been fantastic across one-day cricket and T20 cricket, added Root. Weve chosen this way and approach, which has probably been a bit of a shift for us, and weve stuck to our guns. Thats a massive factor in how weve got here. The management have been very calm, a positive management that has supported Eoins view on how we need to go forward.Guys have gone out and been brave and played the way the captain has asked them to. Weve kept wanting to improve and when its gone wrong, weve not taken a step back, weve looked forward every time.A dream final from the perspective of the neutral fan would perhaps have seen the hosts playing in front of a sell-out crowd, but Root insists that has no bearing on how they will approach Sundays final. Rob Key provides a behind the scene tour of Eden Gardens, where England will face West Indies on Sunday in the World T20 final I dont think it matters, if you are going to win the World Cup you have to be the best team through the tournament, he said,If we are going to win we are going to have to beat the side that beat us already, otherwise we would have had to have beaten India on home soil, so its irrelevant who we play.Every game here so far has been rocking so lets hope it will be on Sunday.Watch England v West Indies in the T20 final on Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 HD at 1.30pm. Also See: Pundits Teams of World T20 Englands road to the final Will England win T20? 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