DETROIT – Pat Hentgen isnt traveling with the Blue Jays this season, having ceded his role as bullpen coach to Bob Stanley in or

DETROIT – Pat Hentgen isnt traveling with the Blue Jays this season, having ceded his role as bullpen coach to Bob Stanley in order to spend time with his ailing father, but his eyes light up at the mention of the ballclub. Canucks Jerseys From China . "You know I watch every single game, right?" He once again holds the title of special assistant to the organization, which affords Hentgen the opportunity to rove through the minor league system. Hes at home a lot, he needs to be with his dad battling cancer, but he may as well be at the field with the way he scrutinizes each development. "Buehrles great start right off the top, 10-1 is huge, it reminds you of what Buchholz did last year for the Red Sox," said Hentgen. "On top of that, Dickeys solid. Hutch is solid. The starting rotations been pretty solid overall so I think thats been a big difference." The statistics back Hentgen up. How many times did you hear general manager Alex Anthopoulos say, last year, no team that ranks in the bottom five in starting staff ERA has a chance to compete? The answer: more than a few times. The Blue Jays starters ERA of 3.77 ranks 14th in baseball and is the best in the American League East. Last year, only the Minnesota Twins had a worse staff ERA than Torontos. Rare was the occasion last season, when Hentgen presided over the disappointing clubs bullpen, its greatest strength, its best players were on the field at the same time. Brett Lawrie missed the start of the season with a strained oblique. Jose Reyes rolled his ankle in the second week of the season and Lawrie, back from the oblique, did the same in late May. The two werent on the field together until after the All-Star Break and by then, it didnt matter because the Jays were out of the race. Now, Lawrie is the key to manager John Gibbons rotation which features Juan Francisco at third base against right-handed starting pitching and Steve Tolleson at second base against left-handers. Lawrie fills the positional void on the infield. "I like the fact that theyre getting platoons because sometimes those guys need the rest," said Hentgen. "When you run the same nine guys out there every single day, its not easy for the position players, especially on our turf. The rotation of the designated hitters is a nice move." Blue Jays fans old enough to remember Hentgens heyday will recall his nasty, looping curveball. Naturally, Hentgens impressed with 23-year-old rookie Marcus Stroman. "He really spins the ball well, really well actually," said Hentgen. "I think hes got multiple looks with his breaking ball. He can curve it, he can slide it, he can cut it, you know, talented guy. I think hes just got to focus on staying on top of the ball and driving the ball down with his fastball, especially when hes behind in the count. Hes got great stuff and hes a hell of a competitor." What about adjustments? Stroman made the likes of Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler look silly on two-strike curveballs last Saturday. Stroman will start Friday nights opener against St. Louis and surely, the Cardinals will have a better book on the young righthander. "Second time through the league, you have to make an adjustment as a pitcher because the hitters will and I think that he will," said Hentgen. "Hes athletic enough and hes good enough. Hes just a young guy whos trying to get his feet wet here and get established. Hes got a great start under his belt already and probably looking forward to his next start here. I think he shouldnt change a thing. He should go at St. Louis like he just did against Kansas City." Hentgen isnt trying to split the atom with his analysis of the current Blue Jays. Continued good health, he believes, is the key. "The starting pitchers have got to stay healthy," said Hentgen. "The key relievers, the core guys out there, they have to stay healthy and obviously the position players. We saw what happened last year when we lost Reyes and Lawrie and Jose (Bautista). Its not easy when you lose three-fifths of your rotation and three of your position players." Encarnacions Special Month Edwin Encarnacion is the American League Player of the Month for May, the first time in his career hes been awarded the honour. "Its a lot more special for me because the way weve been playing, weve been winning games so thats the more important thing for me and my teammates," said Encarnacion. "Its nothing about just myself. Its just something that we want to play like a team and win like the way weve been doing so thats made it more special." The numbers dont lie. Encarnacions 16 home runs in May set a Blue Jays franchise mark for a single month; he became only the third player in major league history to have five multi-home run games in a single month (Harmon Killebrew – May, 1959 and Albert Belle – September, 1995). He led the league with a .763 slugging percentage and 22 extra-base hits. Encarnacion is also putting together a strong season at first base. "I feel very proud about my defence," said Encarnacion. "I worked very hard during the offseason. Its something you have to do great. If you dont play good defence, you cant win games." Lineup Construction When the Blue Jays face a right-handed starting pitcher, Adam Lind and Juan Francisco are in the lineup. Manager John Gibbons has, typically, employed two different middle-of-the-order constructs in these situations. 3. Bautista4. Lind5. Encarnacion6. Francisco Or 3. Bautista4. Encarnacion5. Lind6. Lawrie7. Francisco Gibbons picked the latter for Tuesdays game against Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez. "Weve bounced them back and forth a couple of times," said Gibbons. "Tonight, Im looking at Eddie. You know, Sanchez has been tough on Francisco. Hes got the good breaking ball and good off-speed stuff so space them out a little bit." Gibbons went with the first lineup on Sunday, a 4-0 win over the Royals and right-hander Jeremy Guthrie. "The other day against Guthrie, I mean Francisco had three home runs off him in six at-bats," said Gibbons. "I just look at the pitcher were facing, this guy can maybe give him trouble, maybe thats the case, protect Eddie with Lindy there instead." Injury Updates Colby Rasmus is rehabbing his injured right hamstring in Dunedin, Florida without a timeline for his return to the Blue Jays. His skipper hasnt received any updates of late. "No," said manager John Gibbons. "When I do, Ill let you know." Rasmus has been on the disabled list since May 13. The word is hes progressing toward getting into game action. As for Sergio Santos, out since May 10 with a strained right forearm, hes scheduled to throw a bullpen session at Comerica Park on Thursday. If that goes well, hell throw another bullpen session in Toronto on Sunday. If that goes well, Santos expects to join the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on a rehabilitation assignment next week. Adidas Canucks Jerseys . The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Seventh Canuck Jersey . Bryce Harper? He also came into Wednesday without a long ball and hadnt driven in a run. He was hitting .160, had nearly three times as many strikeouts as hits and was dropped to seventh in the batting order. http://www.cheapcanucksjerseyschina.com/pavel-bure-jersey/ . Cellino was ordered by a judge to pay a 600,000 euro ($800,000) fine for evading import taxes on a yacht he purchased in the United States and brought to Italy, the ANSA news agency reported.OAKLAND, Calif. -- After being shut down by Anibal Sanchez all night, the Oakland Athletics were happy finally to get a chance at Detroits bullpen in the ninth. Josh Donaldson hit a game-ending three-run homer off Joe Nathan with one out in the ninth and Scott Kazmir pitched his first complete game in nearly eight years to help the As rally for a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. "Its always a bit of a relief," As manager Bob Melvin said. "But its not like Nathan is a day at the beach either. But certainly when a guy has had your number for that long for that period of time, you feel like now here is a new breath of life for us." Sanchez was in command all night, allowing only two hits as he took a shutout bid into the ninth inning before Oakland rallied to hand the Tigers their eighth loss in 10 games. Coco Crisp got it started with one out when he hit an opposite-field double just inside the third-base line that ended Sanchezs night after 111 pitches. John Jaso greeted Nathan with a single off third baseman Nick Castellanos glove to set the stage for Donaldson. "The big out there was getting Jaso," Nathan said. "You get him and it changes everything. It changes how you approach Donaldson. It changes how you pitch to him. It gives me a chance to play with him a little bit. When we didnt get Jaso, it put us in a tough spot." Donaldson made the most of his opportunity, hitting a towering drive down the left-field line that he stood and watched, hoping it would stay fair. It did as he ended up with his second career walk-off homer, having also hit one April 12, 2013, against the Tigers. "They had about three balls tonight that went down that line and they kind of kept hooking foul," Donaldson said. "I saw where mine started. I was just praying that it would stay fair." It did and Nathan (2-1) blew his fouurth save in 16 chances. Cheap Canucks Jerseys. "It was a tough spot to bring Joe into, with the tying run on second base," manager Brad Ausmus said. "He has no margin for error. It was tough spot." Kazmir (6-2) allowed six hits and no walks with eight strikeouts, giving up only a solo homer to Torii Hunter in the fourth inning in his second career complete game. "As a fan that was a fun game to watch right there. It was," Kazmir said. "Throughout the whole game Anibal and I were just battling it out, out for out. We ended up getting a couple of baserunners up in the ninth and Donaldson comes up. You just kind of had that feeling when he came up to be honest with you. He saw that first pitch and didnt miss it. It was awesome." Sanchez faced the minimum through three innings with centre fielder Rajai Davis making a diving catch in the gap to rob Yoenis Cespedes of extra bases in the second inning and the Tigers turning a well-executed 3-6-1 inning-ending double play after Josh Reddick walked in the third for Oaklands first baserunner. The As got their first hit the following inning when Donaldson hit a clean single to centre. Sanchez was helped again by his defence after that with first baseman Miguel Cabrera snaring a liner by Brandon Moss to end the inning and preserve the 1-0 lead. The Tigers had gone ahead in the top half of the inning when Hunter hit a drive over the fence in right-centre for his eighth homer of the season. Hunter hit a game-tying solo shot in Detroits 6-5 win Tuesday night. NOTES: Kazmirs only other complete game came in a 3-0 win over Boston on July 3, 2006. ... Donaldson has reached base safely in 46 of his past 47 games. ... Davis left in the seventh inning with a bruised left shoulder and is day to day. ... Jesse Chavez (4-1) will start the series finale on Thursday for Oakland against Rick Porcello (7-1). 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