The Oranges extra week of

TORONTO – The Blue Jays put an end to an ugly four-game losing skid and afterward the manager was happy to state the obvious. David Price Jersey . “It was a much needed win, I will definitely say,” said John Gibbons after his club beat Boston 7-1. Baseballs a strange game. It was an ugly homestand, the Blue Jays lost four of six to divisional rivals the Orioles and Red Sox, yet are sandwiched in-between the two teams with Baltimore a half-game ahead and Boston a half-game behind. In five of the six games, Toronto at some point held a lead of three runs or more. The Jays won only two of those five games, Sunday afternoon being one of them. Yet a crisp, efficient win which combined strong starting pitching, clutch relief work, good defence and potent offence buoyed the mood of the club as it heads out on an eight-game road trip through Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. “It was a complete joint effort,” said R.A. Dickey, who tossed 6 1/3 innings of one run ball. “I felt like we all had a hand in todays game. It was a game that I felt really good.” Dickey, who didnt walk a hitter for the first time in his Toronto tenure, left with one out in the seventh. The Red Sox had runners at second and third following a hit batsman and a double. Steve Delabar came in and got Jackie Bradley Jr. to pop up to third baseman Brett Lawrie and David Ross to fly out to centerfielder Jose Bautista. Inning over, the 2-1 lead preserved and the Jays would tack on two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to issue a final score that doesnt reflect how close the game was played for most of the afternoon. Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and two RBI, hitting four line drives in his four at-bats. Combined with the final out he made in Saturdays loss, a line drive to centerfield, Gibbons is seeing signs his slugging first baseman is beginning to emerge from a near-dormant first month of the season. “Today I thought he was really using his hands well,” said Gibbons. “Hes like anybody else. Confidence can waver a little bit. I dont care how good you are, how long youve been around or how productive youve been the last couple of seasons. This games all confidence.” Brett Lawrie hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot off Jon Lester in the second inning. The timing was important; the Red Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning. “Definitely,” said Lawrie of the quick response. “This is one of those games you want to win, especially with an off day (Monday) and us going on the road and leaving a sour taste in 40-thousand peoples mouths when we go on the road (with a loss.) We want positivity going on the road.” The Blue Jays open a three-game set in Kansas City on Tuesday night. Right-hander Dustin McGowan will get the start against Royals left-hander Jason Vargas. MORROW UNFAMILIAR WITH McGOWANS DIABETES-RELATED FATIGUE As Dustin McGowan considers a change to his in-game regimen in an attempt to combat fatigue, fellow type 1 diabetic Brandon Morrow is in a comfortable routine and hasnt experienced anything similar to what McGowans going through. “Ive never felt physically fatigued during a game,” said Morrow. “I have nothing to compare it to. What would somebody without diabetes be feeling at the same point? I feel like I recover, physically, as well as anybody else with regulated blood sugar. I think its almost, not an advantage but you really learn your body well.” McGowan deals with wild swings to his blood sugar levels during games in which hes pitching. In Wednesdays outing against Baltimore, he took a reading of more than 300 milligrams per deciliter. To put that in perspective, the average blood sugar level for a resting, non-diabetic is between 100 and 120 milligrams per deciliter. He will wear his insulin pump in Tuesday nights game at Kansas City in the hopes of regulating his blood sugar level. Morrow, on the other hand, has a strict program he follows that begins about four hours before each start. There are six to eight checkpoints, as he calls them, during that time span. Morrows food and drink schedule is meticulous; his exercise and warm up routine equally so; he checks his blood sugar level about an hour and a half before first pitch. Shortly before game time, hes paying close attention. “If I ever go low its in the bullpen,” said Morrow. “Thats a two, three minute adjustment. During the anthem, the anthems always a time I check my blood sugar and if I need a juice or whatever we have something ready to go.” When the Blue Jays are on offence, Morrow will check his blood sugar level two or three times in the early innings of his starts. “My blood sugars crept up a little bit during games sometimes but Ive never felt like Ive just lost energy, like saying getting into the sixth inning and my body just shuts down,” he said. “Ive never felt that way.” High blood sugar levels can sap a diabetic of energy and can cause vision problems, particularly blurriness. Morrow says its never gotten to the point where he blames the condition for an inability to command his pitches. Low blood sugar levels can have an effect similar to drunkenness. There have been times when Morrows been awakened in the middle of the night. Hes in a cold sweat and his hands are shaking. He quickly drinks a glass of juice or eats a small portion and then waits the 15 minutes or so it takes for his body to regulate. WALKER DISCUSSES EJECTION Pitching coach Pete Walker wasnt pleased with home plate umpire Jeff Kelloggs strike zone in Saturdays 7-6 loss to the Red Sox. He was ejected in the third inning. Walker and Kellogg exchanged words following a mound visit. Perhaps the fact his pitching staff has walked 99 hitters so far this season is grating on Walkers nerves?“Maybe its been building, I dont know,” said Walker. “Its frustrating to watch the staff that we have walk guys because they are guys that know how to throw strikes, know how to attack the strike zone. Their philosophy and our philosophy is to attack early and expand late. It seems like were getting behind and making poor pitches behind in the count.” Heres another frustrating fact: entering Sundays play, the Blue Jays have had leads of at least three runs in four of the first five games of this home stand. The record in those four games: 1-3. The pitching isnt holding up. One day its the starter and the next its the bullpen. “Its really slight, slight mechanical adjustments for a couple of guys but for the most part its their mentality of attacking the zone and trusting their stuff and not buying into the fact that something like this can become contagious,” said Walker. “You walk a few guys, you start thinking about it. The sooner they can get out of their own heads and just get back to pitching and making pitches and trusting their stuff, the sooner we get over this hump.” Nomar Garciaparra Jersey .C. -- North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried said his team had a "golden" opportunity to help its NCAA tournament chances. Jimmie Foxx Jersey . Nathan Beaulieu, Tomas Jurco, Danick Gauthier and Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist each as the Sea Dogs extended the longest streak in the Canadian Hockey League this season. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney seems to have it down pat: find a way to befuddle defences and then let quarterback Tajh Boyd do the rest. Coach and star player were on the same wavelength again on Saturday. With his talented receiving corps repeatedly running alone in space, Boyd threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters of work as the third-ranked Tigers beat Syracuse 49-14 to spoil the Oranges Atlantic Coast Conference debut. "I got guys here who flat just go out there and get it, some of the best skill guys in the country," said Boyd, who finished 20 of 27 with his first two interceptions of the season. "We try to put these guys in the best position possible. We played a pretty complete game and are getting close to where we want to be." Boyd, who matched his school record in TD passes and eclipsed his Clemson record for passing yards in a game by 27, hit a wide-open Adam Humphries with scoring passes of 60 and 42 yards in the first quarter to help stake the Tigers to a big early lead. And when Syracuse threatened to rally in the final minute of the third quarter, Boyd, standing at his own goal line, hit Sammy Watkins with a perfect spiral in stride at the 45-yard line, and he outraced the lone defender for Clemsons final touchdown. "That play really sealed the game," said Watkins, who had four receptions for 126 yards. "Tajh did such a great job of getting the ball out so quick and so fast, its real easy for the wideouts. Being on the road, you have to jump on a team pretty quick to hold them back." Clemson (5-0, 3-0 ACC) entered the game as one of just 20 undefeated teams remaining in the Bowl Subdivision, and the Tigers made sure they wouldnt slip up against the Orange (2-3, 0-1) and their raucous Homecoming crowd, a near-sellout 48,961, by taking a 21-0 first-quarter lead. The Tigers also upped their streak to 13 straight wins by double digits against unranked teams. Only top-ranked Alabama has a longer streak (21) in the FBS. "We talked about getting a fast start," Swinney said. "We knew it was going to be a tough place to play, but our guys came out focused and really executed at a high level early in the game. It keeps us where we need to be." Boyds performance against the Orange pushed his career total offence to 10,421 yards in less than three full seasons. Bill Lee Jersey. Thats third all-time in the ACC, behind only North Carolina States Philip Rivers (13,582) and Georgia Techs Joe Hamilton (10,640). Syracuse had won six straight at home dating to the 2012 season opener and had beaten two eleventh-ranked teams handily in the Carrier Dome the previous two seasons. Boyd had a nearly flawless first half against Syracuses blitzing defence, hitting 15 of his first 17 passes for 317 yards and four scores as his receivers repeatedly broke free. Sandwiched between the two scoring catches by Humphries was a 1-yard touchdown run by Zac Brooks that was set up by an 18-yard pass from Boyd to Watkins. Orange middle linebacker Marquis Spruill blamed the early Clemson barrage on the defence. "Miscommunication resulted in touchdowns, unfortunately. Thats what killed us," Spruill said. "If you allow a great team like that to get open spaces on the field, open receivers are going to take advantage. Its a big disappointment. Its hard when you lose, but this one especially, the first ACC game." The Tigers upped the lead to 28-7 when Boyd hit Stanton Seckinger in the right corner of the end zone early in the second quarter. Boyd completed his first-half barrage by hitting Martavis Bryant with a 40-yard scoring pass midway through the second quarter for a 35-7 lead. Rookie Syracuse coach Scott Shafer became irate when Swinney tried for a touchdown on fourth down from the Syracuse 5 instead of kicking a field goal in the final minute of the first half. Shafer got some satisfaction when his defence sacked Boyd, and Shafer was contrite afterward. "Dabos a competitor. Im competitive," Shafer said. "I just felt bad I was a little over the top there." The Oranges extra week of rest wasnt much help. The Clemson defence held Syracuse to 139 yards of offence in the opening half and nearly half that total came on Jerome Smiths 66-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Terrel Hunt, making just his second career start for the Orange, finished 8 of 24 for 52 yards with three interceptions and was sacked four times. ' ' '