Biete Kristall » stole a pass at his defensive blue-line and skated

TORONTO - Jose Bautista entered Wednesdays play at or near the top of most of baseballs important offensive categories. The 33-year-old is the league leader with 34 walks. His 1.058 OPS and 191 OPS+ are the best in the game. Bautistas hit nine home runs, which ties him for fourth in the majors. Hes reached base safely in each of the Blue Jays 33 games to begin the year. Thats a club record. "I think Ive had a pretty strong first month, as strong as I might have had ever in my career," Bautista told TSN.ca during a conversation in Philadelphia. "But the seasons long and its hard to look at small samples and how thats going to portray into a complete season. I try not to pay attention to those things and just focus on the preparation and the work and my effort and hopefully at the end of the year everythings taken care of itself." As teams around the league rely more heavily on spray charts and advanced offensive data, Bautista, like most sluggers around the league, often hits with three infielders on the left side of second base. The percentages show that if Bautista hits the ball on the ground, most of the time hell pull it. With that in mind, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer has encouraged Bautista to occasionally take pitches the other way. Manager John Gibbons believes the approach helps Bautista stay on breaking pitches down and away. He sees those often as opposing pitchers often work around him or, at least, are particularly careful about keeping the ball out of the middle of the strike zone. "The only difference I see with him is hes taking some hits the other way and I think its making him a tougher out," said manager John Gibbons. "You hear some people who complain about, well, hes a home run hitter, youve got to do it this way. Well, you know what? His home run numbers havent suffered one bit." Bautistas coaches and teammates took notice of his approach in the 10th inning of Tuesday nights 6-5 win over the Phillies. Melky Cabrera led off with a single. Bautista worked a 2-2 count and with the infield pulled around to the third base side he pushed a 93 miles per hour fastball through the gaping hole where the second baseman would usually stand. Cabrera advanced to third on the play and one out later scored the game-winning run on Juan Franciscos sacrifice fly. Manager John Gibbons called it "winning baseball." "Its good to see, thats what winning players and winning teams do, the little stuff," said Jose Reyes. "In that situation he didnt try to hit a two-run home run and pop it up to the infield or something. He just tried to move Melky over, he saw that huge space there at second base and he hit the ball that way, first and third and we win the game right there." Outfield coach Tim Leiper paid Bautista the ultimate praise last week, equating his pregame preparation and in-game adjustments to that of a coach. Bautista doesnt want the label but he is involved in every pitch. From the dugout hes studying the opposing pitcher, watching for tendencies that may indicate which type of pitch will be thrown. Not a base stealer himself, Bautista tries to help his faster teammates get a read on a pitchers move. Defensively, hell involve himself in outfield positioning based on his extensive knowledge of hitters. "I try to pay attention to things like that and I share all kinds of information with my teammates," said Bautista. "I also encourage them to share stuff that they know and information that they have with me. I like to listen to that kind of stuff and put it into my database, I guess." Gibbons recalls a game in Kansas City early last year when injuries to Jose Reyes and Brett Lawrie forced Bautista from his usual spot in right field and in to play third base. Bautista would frequently hover around the mound in between outs, giving the pitcher a scouting report on the next hitter. "Joses not just out there playing," said Gibbons. "He studies this and hes paying attention to whats going on. Hes played against a lot of these guys over the years so hes got a pretty good idea of what they do." The Blue Jays entered Wednesdays action with a record of 16-17 following a 4-4 road trip to Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Like on their previous road trip, they left some games on the table due to poor, late-game pitching. Bautista isnt panicking, however, because the American League East remains tight six weeks into the season. Torontos just a game and a half back of first-place Baltimore. "The only thing that would matter if we were 15 games back," said Bautista. "That would mean wed dug ourselves a big hole to come out of. From that perspective it doesnt really matter. What matters is how we play from here on out and weve got to focus on that." New York Jets Jachai Polite Jersey .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. New York Jets Quinnen Williams Jersey . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. http://www.jetscheap.com/. A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. Cheap New York Jets Jerseys Online . After all, the No. 8 seed is chasing far loftier goals. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Wimbledons second round on Thursday. New York Jets Trevon Wesco Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15.HAMILTON, Ont. -- A familiar face foiled Devan Dubnyk on Friday, as the Hamilton Bulldogs newest member reacquainted himself with a starting role in net. Mark Arcobello, a former teammate of Dubnyks with the Edmonton Oilers, scored twice as the Oklahoma City Barons defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in the American Hockey League. "Having the time off that I have between games, I just tried to go out there and focus and get through the different situations while playing without worrying about doing backflips or anything," said Dubnyk. "Unfortunately, Arcobellos a pretty good hockey player and he made a nice shot on the first goal." Richard Bachman made 23 saves for the Barons (27-24-8). Nathan Beaulieu had the lone goal for the Bulldogs (25-26-5), while Dubnyk stopped 38 shots in a losing effort. The former Edmonton Oiler made the start for the Bulldogs in his first game with the club since being traded from Nashville on the afternoon of Wednesdays NHL trade deadline. He admitted that he was prepared for the move that sent him to his third organization this season. "Its been a little bit crazy," said Dubnyk. "As the weeks went by after the Olympic break, I started to see the writing on the wall a little bit. You know that a move is coming up, so you have some time to prepare, and Im happy that I was acquired by a team that wants me. "Going to Nashville was a new experience, but that was only a month and a half ago, so the suitcase was still packed. You learn how to move, and the guys are pretty welcoming in there. You have to earn respect whenever youre in a new group. You do that each day, and its been good so far." Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre was pleased with his new goaltenders first showing. "(Dubnyk) played great," he said. "He was a calming presence in the net and looked in control." Dubnyk didnt have to wait long before being forced into action, facing three shots in the first 30 seconds of the game. The Bulldogs nearly gave him some early goal support, as the combination of Louis Leblanc and Gabriel Dumont had a flurry of opportunities in close that Bachman knocked aside just over three minutes into the first period. That breakthrough did come, however, after a series of penalties left Hamilton with a 4-on-3 power play midway through the period. The penalty had just expired when Greg Pateryn threeaded a pass to his partner Beaulieu at the right faceoff dot, and he quickly snapped a high wrist shot past Bachman at the near post at 6:19.dddddddddddd Hamiltons lead was short-lived, as a mistake in the defensive end gifted an easy chance to Arcobello at 10:05 of the first. An unexpected bounce behind Dubnyks net brought the puck out front, where the stunned Dumont could do little but nudge it forward. There, Arcobello was waiting and raced into the slot before lifting a shot off the crossbar and past Dubnyk. Leblanc had a golden opportunity to score when he intercepted a loose puck in the neutral zone five minutes into the second period, and streaked in alone on Bachman. But the Oklahoma City goaltender stayed with him as the winger moved to the far post and slid a weak shot wide. The Barons punished that missed opportunity just over a minute later, when Arcobello struck for the second time on the power play. Cycling the puck effectively with the man advantage, the Barons found Anton Lander along the right boards, who slid a cross-ice pass to the wide open Arcobello inside the left circle. He took a low, one-time shot that slipped through the pads of Dubnyk as he crossed the crease at 6:49. The Bulldogs were left regretting another missed breakaway when Martin St. Pierre stole a pass at his defensive blue-line and skated in against Bachman 11 minutes into the second. Two Barons defenders interfered just enough with St. Pierre to make his wrist shot a weak one, and Bachman easily kicked it aside. Dubnyk faced 30 shots through two periods, and he was forced into several difficult saves in the periods final minutes. A glorious chance to level the game passed the Bulldogs by with six and a half minutes to play in the third. Dumont broke loose in the Barons zone and slid a pass to a wide open Mike Blunden in the low slot, but he was unable to get his stick on the moving puck. Lefebvre was disappointed with his teams lacklustre offence, particularly given their desperate situation in the AHL standings, where they sat seven points back of a playoff spot entering play on Friday. "We had some chances, but its not enough," he said. "Were fighting for our lives right now, and thats a team that we want to keep pace with. Those were two points that we desperately needed." Hamilton was 0-for-6 on the power play while Oklahoma City was 1-for-6. 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