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The Toronto Blue Jays have just passed the quarter mark in the season, at the .500 mark at 21-21. Thats not overwhelming, but its still four games better than they were a year ago when they were sitting at 17-25 through May 17. More importantly, now, they are tied with the Boston Red Sox for third in the American League East, just a game-and-a half back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles. Not only that, they have the top-ranked hitting team in the American League with a .255 average , 56 homers and a league-leading 207 runs scored and the top OPS of .762. Theyve improved by leaps and bounds in the fielding department, as well. Theyve committed only 20 errors in 42 games, second fewest to only Baltimores 19 in the American League. There are still a few red flags, though. The Blue Jays team ERA is 4.56, ranked 11th in the American League and worst in their own division. With the problems at the back end of the rotation - Brandon Morrow (DL now), J.A Happ ( struggling until Thursday night) and Dustin McGowan (moved to the bullpen on Thursday) - the Jays have still managed 19 quality starts in 42 games. Thats tied with the Yankees for second in their division behind Bostons 27. Tampa Bay has 14 quality starts, largely because three of their starting pitchers have been injured, and Baltimore is somehow leading the division with only 13 quality starts. Another thing that should be of concern is who the Jays have been beating. They are a combined 10-3 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, teams that have a combined record of 50-70. The Jays are 11-18 against all the rest. Remember, too, over their final 120 games, exactly half are against their own division. Then you have seven against the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics, six against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers and 13 Interleague games including four with the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, three with the St. Louis Cardinals, three with the Cincinnati Reds and a bit of a respite in September with three at home against the Cubs. The two biggest question marks are how they sort out those four and five slots in their rotation and whether they can start playing better against the teams in their own division with regularity the rest of the way. Right now they are only 7-9 against the East and 16-19 against the entire American League with the season nearly seven weeks old. - You may have missed it since it was a west coast game, but the Miami Marlins called up 24-year-old right hander Anthony DeSclafani the other night after the injury to their ace Jose Fernandez and gave him his first Major League start against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He was almost considered a throw-in in the massive deal with the Blue Jays two years ago, that brought Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and others to the Jays. DeSclafani didnt disappoint in his debut. He pitched six solid innings, striking out seven in a 13-3 blowout of the Dodgers. He not only got his first Major League win, but he stroked a two-run single for his first Major League hit. The funny thing about the hit is, its one more than the entire Marlins pitching staff had through that night. The Marlins pitchers were a collective 0 for 64. The one mild surprise may be that DeSclafani made it to the Majors before his minor=league teammate lefty Justin Nicolino, who also came over in that trade with the Blue Jays. - Joel Sherman of the New York Post mentioned the other day that the Mets should deal from strength and package a couple of their young arms for a much needed bat and suggested they go after the Blue Jays Jose Bautista or Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez. The Mets called up two of those dynamite young arms this week in Rafael Montero and Jake deGrom, who went a combined 13 innings and gave up only four runs total. Still, the Mets lost both games at Citi Field, 3-0 Wednesday and 1-0 Thursday. The Mets, though they are 19-21, are still just two games out of a wild card spot in the National League. The pressure is on them to finally make it back to the post-season. They should be an interesting team to watch as the trade season approaches in late June and then on into July. - Bad break for former Blue Jays catching prospect Travis DArnaud, who went over to the Mets as part of the R.A. Dickey deal. He was accidently struck on the head by the follow-through swing by the bat of Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees on Tuesday night. He experienced headaches afterwards and then was put on the seven-day concussion disabled list. - Jose Abreu, the White Sox Cuban slugge,r is off to an incredible start in the Majors. He has 15 homers in his first 42 games. Hes only the fourth player in Major League history to accomplish that feat joining Wally Berger, Kevin Maas and Wally Joyner. Of the latter three, Joyner had the best career, but was always overshadowed by the steroid-sluggers of the day including Jose Canseco. - I was wondering the other day if it would be possible for the Yankees Masahiro Tanaka to win the Cy Young Award, the Rookie of the Year and the MVP Award all in the same season. He and Abreu are the top two first-year players so far. Hes already a front runner for the Cy Young and, if he leads the Yankees to a playoff berth, he would have to be considered for the Most Valuable Player as well. - If you think the Blue Jays starting pitching is a question mark, how about the Texas Rangers? Over the past 16 games, the Rangers have had one start of more than six innings by a pitcher other than Yu Darvish. Darvish, of course, is the man the Blue Jays will be facing Friday night to kick off a three-game set at Arlington against Prince Fielder and the Rangers. - The Dodgers are off to much of the same kind of start they were a year ago before the arrival of Yasiel Puig. They are 22-20 and trail the first-place San Francisco Giants by five full games in NL West. Fielding has been a major problem. Theyve made 36 errors in 42 games and have given up 24 unearned runs, tied with Cleveland for the second most in the Majors. Swell Flaske Hvit . Juventus announced details of the deal Saturday, saying that Morata signed a five-year contract with the club. The deal also includes an option for Madrid to buy Morata back for up to (euro)30 million ($40. Swell Flaske Gratis Fragt . - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.danmarkswellflaske.com/swell-...outlet.html.com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Swell Flaske Outlet . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. Swell Flaske Butik . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week.Maui, HI (SportsNetwork.com) - Aqeel Quinn finished with a career-high 22 points and came up big down the stretch as No. 15 San Diego State beat BYU 92-87 in double overtime in a quarterfinal game of the Maui Invitational on Monday. Trey Kell made two foul shots, stole the ball from Tyler Haws and sent it down the court to Dwayne Polee II, who went in for an uncontested dunk and an 80-76 lead. Haws briefly tied the game with a jumper, but Quinn knocked down a three at the other end. Quinns layup and Polees free throw made it an 86-82 game. BYU missed three shots from beyond on its next trip down the floor and Kell made two at the line to seal the win. Winston Shepard had 18 points and eight rebounds, Kell chipped in 14 and JJ OBrien finished with 13, nine rebounds and six assists for the Aztecs (4-0), who will play Pittsburgh in a semifinal game on Tuesday. Haws scored a game-high 26 points and Kyle Collinsworth supplied 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Cougars (3-1). Trailing 65-62, Haws layup made it a one-point game yet again with 2:49 to play and after Skylar Spencer restored the Aztecs lead to three with a layup, Haws sank a three to tie the game at 67 with 1:38 remaining. Spencer pulled down Haws missed jumper with 28 second to play. OBrrien drove into the paint, but his offering bounced off the rim and the game went to overtime.dddddddddddd Haws gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 69-68 with two shots from the charity stripe. OBrien and Anson Winder traded 3-pointers and Collinsworths floater gave BYU a 74-71 edge with 2:25 left in overtime. Haws nailed a jumper, but OBrien grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up to make it a 3-point game. Quinns 3-point attempt was blocked by Corbin Kaufusi, but he retrieved the ball and calmly knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to send the game to a second overtime with the teams deadlocked at 76. Shepard scored the first seven points as part of 11-0 game-opening run by the Aztecs. The Cougars fought back to draw even at 22, but San Diego State pulled away again and led 41-33 at halftime. Collinsworths layup with under 14 minutes to play ended a 7-0 run that pulled the Cougars to within one at 48-47. Game Notes San Diego State has won 124 straight games when leading with five minutes to play in regulation ... Haws became the fifth player in school history with 2,000 career points and has scored in double figures in 52 straight games ... Haws made 5-of-9 3-point attempts. ' ' '