Wartungsarbeiten » also has quiet leadership abilities and has earned hig

The first time the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays met this season, each teams situation was a lot different than it is now.The Athletics were on a roll. When they beat the Blue Jays 8-5 on the opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre on April 22, they increased their winning streak to six games to go to 10-7 and they were 7-0 on the road.The Blue Jays dropped to 8-10 as they were slow out of the gate in defense of their American League East title.Sonny Gray was the winning pitcher that night. He has not won since, and emerges from the All-Star break at 3-8. The losing pitcher was Aaron Sanchez, who has not lost since and his 9-1 record earned him an appearance in the All-Star Game.The Blue Jays won the next two games of the series in April and hold a 2-1 edge on the season series when they visit the As for a three-game series on Friday.Toronto right-hander Marcus Stroman (7-4, 4.89 ERA) will oppose Oakland right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-4, 4.54 ERA).The Athletics left Toronto and lost 12 of their next 16 games. They lost seven of their final 10 games before the All-Star break and sit at 38-51 and are 15 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.I feel that the best of this team is yet to come, As third baseman Danny Valencia said. We havent played our best baseball yet.The Blue Jays still stalled around the .500 mark before entering the All-Star break on an 18-7 roll and were 51-40 at the break, third in the AL East and only two games out of first place. They currently occupy a wild-card spot and are 24-20 on the road,Our goal is still to win the division, Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson said. We feel very comfortable. I think we were seven back at the break last year and now we are just two back. We feel like we are just now starting to play our type of baseball and feel very comfortable with the position we are in and moving forward.Donaldson is in his second season with the Blue Jays. The Athletics traded him to Toronto before the 2015 season and watched from afar as he won the American League Most Valuable Player Award.In 36 games since June 1, Donaldson has hit .376/.506/.722 with 10 homers and 34 RBI.This will be his second visit to his former home ballpark.Last year when the Blue Jays visited Oakland, he was 5-for-13 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI.As first baseman Yonder Alonso has batted .307/.367/.439 with three homers and 12 RBI in 36 games since June 1.Im very optimistic and I definitely feel were not that far away, Alonso said. With that being said, weve got a lot of work to do.I think we have a chance to be a lot better in the second half, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. We have guys back now as far as health goes. If we can stay healthy, we have the potential to have a lot better half than we had in the first half.While the As may be talking a good game of optimism, the Blue Jays have genuine hopes that they will continue their surge because they have accomplished what they have so far while Stroman has often struggled. They also have been without right fielder Jose Bautista, who has been out with turf toe since June 17 and is expected to return in late-July,Stroman has shown signs of regaining the form that made him the Opening Day starter. He is 5-4 with a 5.04 ERA in his past 15 starts but has made some adjustments and the results have been encouraging. He held the Kansas City Royals to three hits, one walk and two runs in eight innings in winning on July 6.That was as good as youre ever going to see him, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. He had everything working, really sharp. A really good breaking ball, you name it. He had starts in which he struggled, but the last two or three have been really good. I know he feels good about that, thats what weve been looking for.Stroman has faced the As once in his career, in 2014 at Oakland when he allowed three hits, three walks and no runs over seven innings. He struck out seven in the no decision and Oakland won 1-0 in 12 innings.Mengden, a 23-year-old who was called up on June 11, will get the start in the opener, replacing Rich Hill who was scratched because of a blister.Mengden will be making his seventh start. He allowed six runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings last Friday in a no-decision at Houston. Chris Taylor Jersey . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. A. J. Pollock Jersey http://www.dodgerssale.com/dodgers-fernando-valenzuela-jersey/ . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. A. J. Pollock Dodgers Jersey . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. Ross Stripling Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Theres no doubt that Team USA will miss the services of rugged Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan, who will sit out Septembers World Cup of Hockey after undergoing surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip.Callahan is a two-time U.S. Olympian who epitomizes the kind of hard-nosed, glue guy the U.S. selection committee was looking for when it assembled the 23-man roster that will try to wrest international hockey dominance away from Canada and outlast the six other teams taking part in the tournament.But the immediate question is: Who will take his place on the roster?The choice will be closely watched by hockey observers for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to see if general manager Dean Lombardi and his management team -- which includes former Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, Calgary Flames president Brian Burke (who was the GM of the U.S. team that won an Olympic silver in Vancouver in 2010) and longtime USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson -- will hold to the pattern of naming a roster very much blue collar in nature.In selecting gritty guys such as?Justin Abdelkader, Brandon Dubinsky, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson and Callahan, Team USA excluded higher-skilled players like Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Faulk, Tyler Johnson and, of course, Phil Kessel, another two-time U.S. Olympian.So who will take Callahans place? A decision on a replacement may not come until August, but heres an early look at the top four candidates.Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh PenguinsLets start with the sniper who led the Penguins in both playoff points ( 22) and goals (10) during their Stanley Cup championship run. Kessel was a surprise snub by the U.S. team, but will his playoff performance -- which included a somewhat surprising attention to defensive detail under Penguins coach Mike Sullivan -- be enough to open the door to a replacement roster spot?Its hard to assess this one. Kessel has connections to most of the coaching staff, which includes head coach John Tortorella, an assistant in Vancouver in 2010; Scott Gordon, who was an assistant coach in Toronto when Kessel was a with the Maple Leafs; and, of course, Sullivan. Kessel, like Callahan, is a right-handed shot, but if he wasnt part of the plan in March when the initial 16 players were named and still wasnt in the mix when the final seven players were named less than a month ago, our guess is its not going to happen for Kessel.Tyler Johnson, Tampa Bay LightningNo, Johnson is not a winger. But I was surprised when Johnson wasnt named to Team USA given how hee has proved himself to be a big-game performer.dddddddddddd Perhaps it was because of the lingering injury issues that dogged Johnson throughout the regular season after a stellar turn during the Lightnings run to the 2015 Stanley Cup finals. But during the 2016 playoffs, Johnson was once again a gamer, contributing 17 points in 17 games for Tampa Bay -- including three game-winners -- as the Lightning, sans captain Steven Stamkos, advanced to the Eastern Conference finals before falling to Pittsburgh in seven games.You can never have enough centers, and adding Johnson would allow Tortorella to move Joe Pavelski to the wing, where the San Jose Sharks captain played for most of the season. My guess is that Lombardi et al already have considered this and are comfortable with their depth down the middle, which includes Pavelski, Ryan Kesler, Derek Stepan, David Backes and Dubinsky -- and thus there will not be room for Johnson.Kyle Okposo, New York IslandersOkposo is about to hit the market as an unrestricted free agent and, for my money, is the second-most important free agent available after Stamkos (assuming that Stamkos does indeed go to market). Okposo is a big right-handed shot who has the skill set to play among the top nine for Team USA and enough sand and grit to fit in with the identity that Lombardi wants this team to embrace.He also has quiet leadership abilities and has earned high praise in that regard from longtime friend and teammate John Tavares, the Islanders captain. I spoke with Okposo at midseason about the potential of playing on Team USA and it was clear that he yearns for the opportunity. No question, he would be a highly motivated player if the U.S. management group decides to offer him an invite. I wouldnt be surprised if this is the direction management goes.Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey DevilsIf Team USA is looking for versatility -- and that seems to be a requirement, given the roster as its constituted -- Palmieri would be an excellent fit. Among U.S.-born players available to Team USA (i.e. not counting the young guns selected for Team North America), Palmieris 30 goals were tied for third behind Patrick Kane and Pavelski. The 25-year-old can kill penalties. He can play anywhere in the four forward groups and is considered a strong dressing-room presence. If its not Okposo, I would have to consider Palmieri as the next most likely candidate to replace Callahan. ' ' '