TORONTO -- Missing their manager and facing a rare four-game sweep at home, the Toronto Blue Jays bats finally came through. cheap jerseys . Jose Bautista clubbed his 38th homer to earn a share of the major-league lead, Adam Lind hit his 23rd and the Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 Monday. Bautista, Lind and rookie catcher J.P Arencibia each drove in two runs for the Jays, who were outscored 24-6 in the first three games of the series. Toronto played the series without manager John Farrell, who is suffering from pneumonia. "We talked about a little bit today with the offence was that ere better than were showing," said acting manager Don Wakamatsu. "We have the capability, a lot of guys in our lineup have the capability of hitting home runs, but weve got to get on base. I think we managed the strike zone much better today." Farrell is still recovering and not Travel to Baltimore on Tuesday for Torontos three-game series against the Orioles. "I hope it helps John sleep at night," Wakamatsu said. "That was our biggest thing. We talked about it as a club a little bit, getting one for him, getting back on the horse a little bit." Johnny Damon hit his 12th and 13th homers of the season against Toronto starter Ricky Romero (13-9) to account for all three Tampa Bay runs. The Rays couldnt complete the first four-game sweep of the Jays in Toronto in eight years. The last team to do it was the Boston Red Sox in 2003. Mondays win was a reversal of form from the first three games of the series, when the Rays starting pitching stifled the Blue Jays offence. This time it was the Rays starter who faltered. Right-hander Wade Davis (8-8) allowed nine hits, including Linds two-run homer in the third, and six runs. Romero wasnt at his best but he lasted six innings and allowed six hits, four walks and three runs. "When everythings working its easy to get through a game and go eight-nine innings," Romero said. "Its these outings that make you mentally strong and youre like, you know what, I grinded and I did everything I could and I made it through six. "Its pretty obvious thats what it is. Im just throwing too many balls, getting deep in counts, and fighting myself to come all the way back ... If these are my worst outings then Ill take them any time. Its all about grinding and giving your team a chance to win." The Blue Jays (67-67) were without manager John Farrell for the fourth game in a row after he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He will not be with the team for a three-game series that opens Tuesday in Baltimore and his status for the series in New York is undetermined. Romero fared better than Davis who lacked command of his pitches. "I just didnt have good command of anything," Davis said. "I had good stuff. It was kind of an uphill battle the whole day. It was frustrating to feel good and not be able to put the ball in good spots." Romero walked the first batter of the game, Desmond Jennings, and Damon followed with his 12th homer of the season for a 2-0 Rays lead. "I didnt think he had his best stuff but the thing thats special about Ricky is his competitiveness," Wakamatsu said. "A couple of big double plays to get him out of some jams, he just never gave in all night, got us through the sixth to turn it over to the bullpen." The Rays (73-60) got a one-out triple by Evan Longoria in the third despite a valiant, running and leaping effort by centre-fielder Dewayne Wise. But Ben Zobrist bounced to Romero and Longoria was out between third and home in a rundown. The Blue Jays, who had a hitters meeting after batting practice, broke out for three third-inning runs. Yunel Escobar singled with one out, Eric Thames doubled. Bautistas groundout scored Escobar, then Lind followed with a homer for a 3-2 Toronto lead. "Offensively we talked about having better at-bats and getting the opposing pitcher in trouble, early in the ballgame thats exactly what happened," Wakamatsu said. The Blue Jays added a pair in the fourth inning after Kelly Johnson led off with a single and took second on a groundout. He scored on Arencibias double. Escobar scored Arencibia with a two-out single. The Blue Jays loaded the bases but Davis retired Lind. The Rays got one back in the fifth on Damons second home run of the game and 13th of the season. It was his first multi-homer game of the season and the 13th of his career. "We were obviously hoping for a sweep," Damon said. "We got off to a great start. Wade ran into some trouble in that third inning." The Rays were left to lament three hard-hit balls, one by Sean Rodriguez and two by Zobrist that became double plays. "Zobrist hit the ball well twice and they were turned into double plays," Damon said. "And Sean Rodriguez, too. Those balls were hit pretty well. Definitely happy with the way our team swung the bats but they just werent as productive as the last couple of days." The Blue Jays made one back in the bottom of the fifth on Arencibias RBI single. The catcher also picked up his first career major-league stolen base as he took second on the back end of a double steal with Brett Lawrie. Bautista homered in the sixth against J.P. Howell for a 7-3 lead to cap a good hitting night. Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 19,725. ....Left-hander Brian Tallet was activated from the 15-day disabled list where he had been with a rib-cage injury. He was obtained in the July 27 trade with St. Louis that also sent centre-fielder Colby Rasmus to Toronto. ...Damons last two-homer game was Sept. 9, 2008, at Anaheim. ....The Blue Jays open a three-game series at Baltimore on Tuesday with Brett Cecil (4-7, 4.42 earned-run average) scheduled to pitch against Jeremy Guthrie (6-16, 4.42 ERA). cheap nfl jerseys . -- In a season-long search for success, the Orlando Magic found a few things to celebrate in their victory over the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves. cheap jerseys from china . A Cleveland kid who grew up rooting for the Browns, Shorts caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Chad Henne with 40 seconds left, rallying the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 32-28 win on Sunday.As much of the talk in the baseball world has been about established stars, like Albert Pujols and Jose Bautista, struggling early in the season, there is a yin to that yang -- unheralded players that are tearing it up early. Heres a closer look at a dozen of them: Edwin Encarnacion, DH, Toronto (10 HR, 28 RBI, 19 R, 5 SB, .268 AVG, .903 SV%, 32 GP) - As Toronto fans wonder whats going on with Bautista, they have an equally perplexing issue in front of them -- how is Edwin Encarnacion hitting like this? A 29-year-old who has two 20-home-run seasons on his resume, Encarnacion has increased the number of flyballs hes hitting (a career-high 54.3%, per www.fangraphs.com) at the expense of line drives (a career-low 9.5%). While Encarnacion is being slightly more selective (4.01 pitches/plate appearance, up from 3.75 last season), his approach at the plate hasnt yielded dramatically different results, aside from the increased percentage of flyballs and a career-high home run-to-flyball percentage (17.5%). Since there dont appear to be any dramatic underlying changes in his approach, its no surprise that we shouldnt expect Encarnacion to challenge for 50 home runs by seasons end. If, however, this quick start sets him well on his way to 25-30 home runs, well, thats still a phenomenal season given preseason expectations. Rafael Furcal, SS, St. Louis (2 HR, 15 RBI, 23 R, 6 SB, .361 AVG, .932 OPS, 30 GP) - Right off the, um, bat, there is reason to be cautious with Furcal and thats his .393 batting average on balls in play. While the 34-year-old can still run, his career BABIP is .314, so some regression could be in order, especially since his breakdown of line drives, ground balls and flyballs is very similar to last season, when his BABIP was only .240. While most of Furcals plate discipline numbers indicate little change from previous seasons, one area stands out and thats his propensity for making contact on pitches outside the zone (a career-high 89.9% per www.fangraphs.com), so the fact that hes hitting so many pitches outside the zone and still producing such a high BABIP is a credit to him, because hes not swinging at more pitches outside the zone, but it provides reason to doubt that he can maintain his spectacular start to the season. Adam Dunn, DH, Chicago White Sox (10 HR, 25 RBI, 19 R, .243 AVG, .970 OPS, 32 GP) - Okay, Adam Dunn isnt exactly unheralded but, after last season, opinions on him were snakes belly low. Having hit at least 38 home runs in seven consecutive seasons prior to 2011, its not a shock that 32-year-old Dunn has rebounded. Hes getting more selective at the plate, facing a career-high 4.60 pitches per plate appearance (though last years 4.40 tied a career-high too), but hes making better contact, with a higher percentage of flyballs (53.8%) than at any time before in his career. While Dunn has had some trouble with breaking pitches this year, he still has the required bat speed to destroy fastballs and it figures that hell still see enough fastballs to hit 30-plus homers. Josh Reddick, RF, Oakland (6 HR, 14, RBI, 19 R, .270 AVG, .811 OPS, 31 GP) - The 25-year-old who was the centre piece of the Andrew Bailey trade in the offseason, Reddick has been able to duplicate the numbers that he produced in 87 games for the Red Sox last season, with more power (he had seven homers in 2011). Not surprisingly, Reddick fares better on the road (.871 OPS vs. .747 OPS at home), but as one of the few legitimate threats in the As lineup, he should see enough playing time to hit 20 home runs. Bryan LaHair, 1B, Chicago Cubs (8 HR, 18 RBI, 14 R, .384 AVG, 1.243 OPS) - Is it possible that a 29-year-old with 219 career plate appearances prior to this season is one of the best hitters in baseball? For now, sure, but there is zero chance that LaHair maintains a .510 BABIP -- the second-best BABIP in baseball is Bostons Ryan Sweeney (also involved in the Reddick-Bailey deal, incidentally) who is at .436. LaHairs contact rate, 69.5%, is 11th-worst among qualified batters (per www.fangraphs.com), so that is some reason for concern. Sluggers like Dunn and Josh Hamilton are worse, but LaHair doesnt have their track record, so hell have some more proving to do if hes going to get full respect for his numbers. One encouraging sign? He sees 4.23 pitches per plate appearance, which ranks 14th in baseball, and that kind of patience does tend to work in favour of power hitters. Kyle Seager, 3B, Seattle (4 HR, 20 RBI, 12 R, .298 AVG, .827 OPS, 28 GP) - The 25-year-old Seager is popular enough in Seattle as Not Chone Figgins, but hes been making consistent contact. According to www.fangraphs.com, Seager makes contact on 95.1% of pitches in the strike zone, good enough for 18th in the majors, and his flyball rate (49.4%) is up, so there is some justification for his numbers to this point. Like Reddick, Seagers OPS is understandably much better on the road (.933 vs. .703), but he is proving to be a very useful contributor for the Mariners and, considering all the injuries at third base right now, Seagers value keeps increasing relative to others at his position. Allen Craig, OF, St. Louis (3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R, .333 AVG, 1.165 OPS, 7 GP) - Lets get this out of the way now: Allen Craig will not keep his current pace. However, its fair to wonder if there is some reason to get optimistic about his production after he missed the first 22 games of the season with a knee injury. Aside from a certain amount of luck involved in hitting so many of his flyballs out of the park (37.5%, www.fangraphs.com), Craigs underlying numbers arent much different than what hes established in his career to this point, an indication that he not only wont produce at this level, he wont produce enough to hold a starting spot when the Cardinals are healthy. Right now, Craig is filling in for Lance Berkman at first base, but the corner outfield spots that might be considered options are manned by Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran, so while 27-year-old is Craig is showing promise, he may have a hard time getting enough at-bats in St. Louis to fully realize his potential. Andres Torres, C, N.Y. Mets (1 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, 1 SB, .333 AVG, .929 OPS, 10 GP) - Like Craig, Torres is dealing with a small sample size after an early-season injury. In Torres case, he has recently returned from a straineed calf, which is significant since much of his game is predicated on speed. wholesale jerseys. What could be positive, based on the small sample of 10 games played, is that 34-year-old Torres is showing better plate discipline, seeing a career-high 4.17 pitches per plate appearance, swinging at a career-low 40.2% of the pitches hes faced (www.fangraphs.com). Hes made contact on 97.8% of strikes hes faced, which is impresive, but likely to come down a little as his career mark is 86.9%. Essentially, Torres is making more contact than usual, but there arent enough other indications that hes going to remain an impressive offensive producer. In a deep league, hes worth a try, but expectations ought to remain modest. Brandon Morrow, RHP, Toronto (4-1, 2.27 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 39 K, 47 2/3 IP) - Many predicted a breakout campaign for the 27-year-old fireballer, in large measure because his stuff is too overpowering to repeat his 2011 performance (11-11, 4.72 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 203 K, 179 1/3 IP). What is strange about Morrows success, at first blush, is that hes not striking out as many batters (7.36 per nine innings, compared to 9.84/9 IP over his career). Whats working for Morrow is good luck (.214 BABIP) and, a factor in that good luck is that, while hes allowed more contact, hes not allowing more quality contact (ie. his ground-ball rate is up, while his line-drive rate is down). Morrows walk rate (2.27/9 IP) is also the best of his career, so its not as easy for hitters to sit back and wait for him to get in trouble when he cant hit the strike zone. If Morrow is going to maintain an ERA near where it it now, he probably has to miss more bats, but there is ample indication to believe that he can consistently be somewhere between his numbers last year and this year. Paul Maholm, LHP, Chicago Cubs (4-2, 4.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 17 K, 33 1/3 IP) - Because he went 6-14 with the Pirates last year, most dont recognize that Maholm actually pitched quite well (3.66 ERA, 1.29 WHIP -- career-bests), so this years start shouldnt be a huge shock. At the same time, Maholm allowed six earned runs in each of his first two starts with the Cubs, before dominating his last four starts. What Maholm has done differently this season is relied more on his slider, throwing it 29.0% of the time, when his previous career-high was 17.3% last season (www.fangraphs.com) and, as a result, hes getting betters to chase -- and miss -- more pitches out of the strike zone. Low strikeout numbers limit Maholms appeal, but in deep leagues, he warrants consideration. Joe Blanton, RHP, Philadelphia (3-3, 3.24 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 28 K, 41 2/3 IP) - While Blanton has been a decent pro, his career ERA hovers at 4.29 and only twice has he finished a season with an ERA under 4.00, the last time coming in 2007. This year, Blanton has been very fortunate to keep the ball in the park, allowing one home run in 41 2/3 innings, which equates to 0.22 HR/9, compared to a career mark of 0.99 HR/9. Whats interesting is that his velocity is up slightly across the board (eg. average fastball at 89.9 MPH compared to 89.0 MPH last season, per www.fangraphs.com) and by mixing in the breaking ball more often, Blanton is keeping hitters off balance because the fastball, while hardly overpowering, hasnt hurt him like it has in years past. Though that helps to justify his early success, there arent enough changes in the underlying numbers to believe that Blanton will keep his homer rate this low all season and when the balls start leaving the yard, his numbers will start to look more familiar. Edinson Volquez, RHP, San Diego (1-2, 2.98 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 38 K, 42 1/3 IP) - Its been a rough road for 28-year-old Volquez since 2008, when he was 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA for Cincinnati, so a fresh start with the Padres was reason to be optimistic about his chances this season. Petco Park is a pitchers haven and Volquez has benefitted from it early, making six of his seven starts at home. Are there any reasons, aside from his home park, to be excited about Volquez? Aside from generating more pop-ups and far fewer home runs-per-flyball, Volquezs underlying numbers arent all that different from previous seasons, so he seems like a pitcher worth starting when hell be at home and one to avoid if hes taking the bump on the road. PEN CHANGESIts been a time of flux for closers, with Casey Janssen in Toronto and Kenley Jansen, in Los Angeles, two of the more recenly-appointed to the role. Taking into account projected closers that have been injured, nearly half of all teams have made a change in their ninth-inning pitching plans in the first 30 games of the season. INJURIES- Angels C Chris Iannetta is out 6-8 weeks after undergoing wrist surgery, which wouldnt be a major problem except that Hank Conger, who is hitting .357 with a .943 OPS at Triple-A, is also on the minor-league DL with an elbow injury. Until Conger is ready, the Angels are left with Bobby Wilson, who has a .602 OPS in 128 career games. - With Nolan Reimold and Endy Chavez both on the DL, Ryan Flaherty is getting some regular at-bats while playing left field for the Orioles. His track record, including a .676 OPS at Triple-A last season, doesnt indicate that hell be worthy of holding the job on a full-time basis. - Nationals RF Jayson Werth suffered a broken wrist diving for a flyball so hes out long-term, which has resulted in rookie phenom Bryce Harper shifting over to right field, leaving Roger Bernadina and Xavier Nady to split duties in left field for the Nats. - Dodgers LF Juan Rivera has hit the DL with a strained hamstring, a good opportunity now for Bobby Abreu to get some consistent playing time as he tries to prove hes still capable of contributing in a regular role. - The Brewers lost 1B Mat Gamel and SS Alex Gonzalez to season-ending knee injuries and have turned to Travis Ishikawa and Taylor Green at first base, with Cesar Izturis covering short. Green, a Canadian from Comox, BC, had a .997 OPS at Triple-A last season, though he wasnt as impressive (.759 OPS in 27 games) this year. - Mets SS Ruben Tejada has gone on the DL and the Mets are giving Justin Turner and Jordany Valdespin some playing time. With Josh Thole on the 7-day DL due to a concussion, Mike Nickeas will see more playing time. Meh, all around. ' ' '