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ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The Blue Jays limped into the All-Star Break off a 2-8 road trip around the continent, taxing in terms of games lost, bodies injured and miles traveled. Take a look at the broader picture and while Toronto enters the unofficial second half with a winning record (49-47), the clubs 2014 trend to-date isnt entirely different from the 2013 Blue Jays, a team that terribly disappointed. The Jays opened up with a 12-15 March/April, looked like world beaters in May when they won 21 of 30, and since have erased those gains by losing 23 of their last 34 games. Last year, the Jays were 23-32 at the end of May and made it to two games over .500 on the strength of an 11-game win streak in June, only to fall into a July tailspin from which they wouldnt recover. Like last season, the club as currently constituted is injured. Brett Lawrie is out through July, most likely, with a fractured right index finger. Edwin Encarnacion is on the disabled list until at least July 20 with a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps. Adam Lind is down for at least two weeks, likely more, with a fractured right foot. Unlike last season, the starting pitching has held up. Its been the bullpen thats been suspect. The staff ERA of 3.91 is a marked improvement over last seasons 4.81, which was second-worst in baseball. The bullpen ERA has climbed from 3.37 in 2013 to 4.39 through the first half of this year. It was responsible for six blown saves in a 15-game span in April at a time when the offence was averaging five-and-a-half runs scored per game. Speak of the devil, the offence, which after a hot start in April and torrid May has cooled considerably. Still, Toronto is a Top-10 team in most major statistical categories. The clubs .325 on-base percentage ranks seventh; its .422 slugging percentage ranks fourth; put the two together and the on-base plus slugging percentage of .747 is fourth. The Jays continue to lead with 116 home runs, although a recent dry spell has afforded the Baltimore Orioles (113 heading into their game Sunday night) and Colorado Rockies (112 pending Sundays results) opportunities to close the gap. So, what is this team? Star slugger Jose Bautista (.292/.409/.510 – 17 home runs) summed up his clubs first half performance. "Were obviously not playing the baseball that we started off playing and that were capable of playing, and we have a lot of injuries to deal with," he said. "Bottom line is weve got to figure out how to win some of these games that weve been losing, especially the close ones. Weve got a lot of open opportunities for some people that could step up to those opportunities and hopefully make a name for themselves and cause a good enough impression to stick around maybe a little longer than it was planned when they originally got called up. So hopefully we can manage to win enough games to stay in one of the top two positions in the division, and when we get all our big bats back, kind of get back in the thick of things." As for the approaching July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the clubs veterans are saying the right things publicly, but there is a quiet longing for general manager Alex Anthopoulos to be active in the market. The budget parameters with which Anthopoulos is working arent clear and the general manager often refers to the need to be "creative" when piecing together a potential trade. It seems likely that an addition of salary, even prorated to about one-third of its 2014 value, would require the deletion of salary off the current roster. It doesnt help that the Jays have injured Ricky Romeros $7.5-million and Esmil Rogers $1.85-million rotting away at Buffalo. It all matters to the bean counters. "It would definitely help," said Bautista of a trade acquisition or two. "I dont think its a must and I dont think its the only way that we can become contenders. I think weve been playing good enough baseball. We managed to get up to first place and stay there for a while earlier this year. We can definitely get back there. Weve just got to play that good baseball we were playing earlier. So I dont think a move is needed just to be considered contenders." "I just think we need to get healthy," said R.A. Dickey. "I feel like we had our team there for a while when we were really going well in May and early June. I feel like thats kind of what were capable or doing with the guys in this clubhouse. Every team thats going for a championship would love to have another player, sure, but I dont think its essential for us to win, no." The American League East hasnt been this available to the Blue Jays since the club won the division in 1993. The Orioles will come out of the All-Star Break on a 10-game, pacific swing through Oakland, Anaheim and Seattle while the Blue Jays launch a seven-game homestand against injury-riddled Texas and the scuffling Red Sox. It is, essentially, a reversal of the schedule the two clubs have experienced over the just-completed 10-day span. The Yankees are dealing with crippling injuries to their starting rotation, most notably Masahiro Tanaka (elbow), CC Sabathia (knee) and Michael Pineda (shoulder), which leaves the Bronx Bombers vulnerable. Theyre openly talking of being sellers at the deadline in Boston, leaving the Rays as the divisions lone sleeper team should Tampa Bay decide to hold on to ace David Price through the remainder of the regular season. Its been an up and down, 96-game ride for the Blue Jays so far this season. The final 66 games should provide more of the same. ROTATION OUT OF THE ALL-STAR BREAK Friday (vs. Texas): R.A. DickeySaturday (vs. Texas): Marcus StromanSunday (vs. Texas): Mark BuehrleMonday (vs. Boston): Drew HutchisonTuesday (vs. Boston): J.A. Happ The Rangers are expected to start ace right-hander Yu Darvish in Friday nights series opener. Carl Yastrzemski Jersey . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area. Johnny Pesky Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. http://www.theredsoxteamshop.com/Red-Sox...rg-Kids-Jersey/. His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nomar Garciaparra Jersey . That assertion is getting harder and harder to make, especially given the way 23-year-old Danilo Gallinari has been playing this season. Boston Red Sox Jerseys . Not sure yet. #livetweetingthegreatuntangle — Strombone (@strombone1) April 17, 2014 Stage three, coping: I feel like I could use a cigarette or something.Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mikkel Boedker scored the winner in the shootout to lift the Arizona Coyotes to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. In the second round, Boedker went from the backhand to the forehand and snapped the puck in past Frederik Andersen. Ryan Kesler had the last chance for Anaheim, but his shot went wide of the net. Shane Doan and Rob Klinkhammer each had a goal for the Coyotes, who have won three straight. Mike Smith turned away 37 shots in the win. Theyre good in this building, Smith said of the Ducks. The longer the game goes on it seems like they come harder and harder. Ryan Getzlaf and Matt Beleskey lit the lamp for the Ducks, who have dropped their past two. Andersen finished the game with 23 stops. We had opportunities to score goals and we werent able to get them by (Smith), Getzlaf said. Anaheim forward Corey Perry, who leads the NHL with 11 goals, missed a second straight game with flu-like symptoms. The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 5:02 oof the first on the power play, as Sami Vatanen missed a one-timer in the slot, but was able to pass the puck over to the left where Getzlaf one-timed it in for his fourth of the year.dddddddddddd Less than four minutes later, the Ducks made it a 2-0 game as Smith robbed Jakob Silfverberg down low, but Beleskey was there to pot the rebound for his seventh of the season. Just 3:55 into the second, the Coyotes cut the lead to one as a hard pass from the left boards by Martin Hanzal was tipped in from the front of the net by Klinkhammer. It took less than a minute for Arizona to tie the game after Antoine Vermette left a drop pass in the high slot for Doan, who glided over to the left circle and snapped it in. Game Notes Arizona hosts the Islanders on Saturday ... Anaheim hosts Vancouver on Sunday ... Anaheim had won all five matchups with Arizona last season ... Anaheim went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Arizona finished the game 0-for-3. ' ' '