TORONTO – Brett Lawrie is off to a slow start at the plate, just 3-for-29 (.
Indianapolis Colts Store .103) entering Wednesday nights tilt with the Astros. Approached to discuss his early season slump, Lawrie obliged but it wasnt long
before he got a little help from a friend. "Hell be fine," Jose Reyes shouted as
he walked by the discussion. The 24-year-old had a solid Grapefruit League,
hitting .339/.373/.484 with two home runs. But thats spring training, the
quality of pitching varies (Baseball Reference ranked Lawries mound opponents an
8.6/10) and the types of pitches that get thrown in certain counts are
different; often times a pitcher goes into an appearance looking to work on
specific parts of his repertoire. Eight games in, Lawrie insists hes not
pressing. "Its a long season, man," said Lawrie. "I mean, weve still got
140-plus games so for me to push the panic button right now is no point because
its a long year so stay healthy, just keep going and grinding and getting after
it. The main thing is that were winning so obviously find positivity there and
obviously look to do the job again today and find some way to contribute to the
team." The thing is, Lawrie likely is pressing. The fact he doesnt want to talk
about it, or admit to it, is fine. "Hes a little mental right now," said hitting
coach Kevin Seitzer. "Hes sitting on pitches and hes guessing wrong is whats
happening. When that happens you start to lose your approach; you want to get in
just to try to hit the ball hard and that ends up being a recipe for disaster.
Hes just pressing right now." Lawrie and Seitzer convened for an early Wednesday
afternoon hitting session in the batting cage. The aim wasnt to go over
significant mechanical tweaks but rather pitch recognition, which is sometimes
compromised when a hitter struggles and begins to think too much in the batters
box. It appears to the layman observer that the hitch Lawrie had last year has
returned to his swing, which occurs just as hes cocking his bat to bring it
through the strike zone. "He had some of that in spring training too," said
Seitzer. "The late is from tension of reacting to fastballs instead of being
ready to hit them and then when you do get one, when youre looking for one and
you get it, then you try and do too much and that causes more tension." Manager
John Gibbons goes out of his way to praise Lawries maturity, noting his third
basemans ability to maintain his composure throughout the early season slump.
"Hes come a long way," said Gibbons. Lawrie knows he can contribute in other
areas. "Youve got both sides of the coin youve got to worry about," said Lawrie.
"Ultimately, if I cant get it done on offence one day than hopefully I can help
the team out on defence. Thats kind of how it goes, just try to find a way to
contribute." CECIL TAKING CARE Brett Cecil was available for the Blue Jays on
Wednesday night against the Astros. He had a 16-pitch, one inning appearance
versus Houston on Tuesday and Cecils been careful since spring training not to
overextend his arm. "Really what it comes down to is how I feel the day after
and how much I can go, whether its just a hitter or a full inning," said Cecil.
Cecil made a career-high 60 appearances in 2013, his first full season as a
reliever. He was shut down in mid-September, however, suffering from elbow pain.
"When I throw one day usually there are no problems, no stiffness," said Cecil.
"When I throw two days in a row, the next day it will be a little bit sore.
Unless its towards the end of the season, a playoff race or something, that
would probably be the only time Id go three days in a row." WAGNER RECALLED
Reliever Neil Wagner is back with the Blue Jays, recalled prior to Wednesdays
game against the Astros. Right-hander Marcus Walden, who didnt get into a game
since joining the Jays on Saturday, was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. The Blue
Jays made no secret that Wagners springtime demotion was strictly a business
move – Wagner had an option left and others didnt. "Wagner came into his own
last year," said manager John Gibbons. "Hes a guy that can get some big outs
late in the game for you." With Casey Janssen still on the disabled list with an
abdominal strain and Sergio Santos in the closers role in Janssens stead, the
Jays need another late-inning right-hander to work alongside Steve Delabar.
Wagner fits the mold. With his mid-to-high 90s fastball, the 30-year-old stuck
out 33 hitters in 38 innings over 36 appearances for the Blue Jays last season.
BASEBALL PODCAST Each week, Ill sit down with Toronto Star baseball columnist
Richard Griffin and MLB.coms Blue Jays beat reporter Gregor Chisholm for the
Baseball Podcast. Well discuss the latest news surrounding the ballclub. The aim
will be record the podcast each Wednesday but will depend on our respective
schedules. Well keep you posted on Twitter. Click here for the first edition,
recorded the afternoon of Wednesday, April 9. We talk about the early season
performance of the starting rotation, hitters running hot and cold through the
first week of the season and last weeks salary deferral revelations.
Trent Cole Colts Jersey .Charlie Coyles goal late in the third period stood up as the winner as the Wild snapped a two-game
losing skid with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, their ninth
win in their last 10 visits to Edmonton.
Customized Indianapolis Colts Jersey . The German football federation says proceeds from the national sides first game in
Mainz will go to charity. Germany has two wins from two games against Armenia,
5-1 away in a World Cup qualifier in 1996 and 4-0 in the return game the
following year.PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathon Niese stayed warm, and the surprising
New York Mets cooled off Philadelphia. Niese pitched seven steady innings on a
rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1
victory over the Phillies. Ruben Tejada doubled and had two RBIs for the Mets,
who chased Cole Hamels in the fifth and have won seven of nine. They improved to
15-11 overall, marking the first time New York has been four games over .500
since July 14, 2012. "Conditions are really tough and Jon just keeps cruising
along," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "You have to be pretty impressed with
the way hes going about it. He used all of his pitches. It seemed like he had
good command of his curveball even though it was wet. ... He went out and
pitched another great game." Marlon Byrd homered and Ryan Howard had two hits
with a double for Philadelphia, which lost for only the third time in nine
games. The start was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 28 minutes, and the temperature
at first pitch was a chilly 46 degrees. Many in the announced crowd of 28,189
who braved the cold were dressed more appropriately for a Philadelphia Eagles
football game in December, with hooded sweat shirts, winter coats and wool
blankets. There was a misty rain for the first 2 1/2 innings before heavy rain
began to fall in the bottom of the third. The rain tapered off to a drizzle
before becoming heavy again in the seventh. The weather hardly affected Niese
(2-2), who didnt allow a hit until Byrds two-out homer in the fourth. The
left-hander gave up four hits while striking out five and walking one. "It was
another cold one," Niese said, "but it seems like the more I pitch in cold
weather, the more I figure out how to stay warm." Niese sat near a heater in the
Mets dugout and kept his hands in his jacket pockets, which contained hand
warmers. While on the mound, Niese said he made sure to move around constantly
rather than stand still. "I was able to effectively throw my pitches," he said.
Said Murphy, "He threw the ball great. It was a treat to watch from second
base." Hamels (0-2) struggled in his first home start of the season, allowing
six runs on eight hitss with five walks and a hit batter in 4 2-3 innings.
David Parry Colts Jersey. Seeking his 100th career victory, Hamels lost the strike zone in the fourth when he walked four
batters, including Niese with the bases loaded, as the Mets took a 3-0 lead.
Hamels was making his second start of the season after opening on the disabled
list due to left biceps tendinitis. The leftys ERA rose to 6.75 as he dropped to
2-8 in his last 10 home starts against the Mets. Murphy had a two-out RBI single
in the third, and Josh Satin singled home a run in the fourth. "Ive never seen
Cole be that erratic, and Im sure a lot of that was the conditions," Collins
said. "Its early in the year and he missed a lot of spring training. Hell be
fine, Im sure." Hamels said the conditions made it difficult to pitch but blamed
himself for not being able to adjust better. "The elements got the best of me
today," he said. "From my standpoint, Im truly embarrassed because I didnt
really give anyone a chance." Hamels said a lack of perspiration made gripping
the ball difficult. "When youre able to perspire, youre able to get certain
types of grips with the baseball," he said, before joking: "Today might have
been the day to use pine tar, but unfortunately I dont do that. It might have
been the day to learn. It was difficult to throw the baseball and difficult to
throw strikes. You have to be able to battle out there, and I wasnt able to do
it." Byrds homer pulled the Phillies to 3-1, but New York chased Hamels when it
got an RBI double from Chris Young and a two-run single from Tejeda to make it
6-1 in the fifth. NOTES: Mets starters have given up more than three runs once
in the last 13 games. ... Murphy extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ...
Mets RHP Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Kyle Kendrick
(0-2, 3.52) in the conclusion of the two-game series Wednesday night. ... During
the rain delay, the Phillies showed Game 6 of the NHL playoff series between the
Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers on the scoreboard and rang the bell in
centre field traditionally rung for home runs when Wayne Simmonds scored a
first-period goal to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
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