Форумы » Не по теме обсуждения
Gibbons. In all seriousness, F
-
TORONTO – Brett Lawries impending return from hamstring tightness creates a problem – a good problem – for manager John Gibbons. Under Armour Sneakers Outlet . That is, how does he keep the red hot bat of Juan Francisco in the lineup when first base is taken by Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind is back as the designated hitter? "Maybe Francisco can play second," joked Gibbons. In all seriousness, Francisco has been a revelation for the ballclub since signing a minor league deal on April 2 and arriving in Cleveland to meet his new Blue Jays teammates on April 20. Coming off an 18-home run season split between Atlanta and Milwaukee last year, Franciscos already hit five in 61 at-bats for Toronto. He doesnt get cheated, either, having deposited one in the fourth deck of Rogers Centre, just above Paul Beestons name on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence. Franciscos slash line of .311/.403/.623 (1.026 OPS) is well above his career .248/.308/.447 (.755 OPS) but even if his history suggests his numbers will regress the longer he plays, until it happens, Francisco needs to stay in the lineup. "Right now were looking at everything," said manager John Gibbons. "While hes hot weve got to find a way to keep him in there somehow." The obvious play is to move Brett Lawrie to second base. It doesnt have to be permanent. Lawrie, should the decision be made, hopes its only temporary. "Im going to do it because its for the team but Im not necessarily amazed about it," said Lawrie. "Im a third baseman. Its where I play. Its what Ive been doing. Its what I did to work to get here. Obviously Francisco is swinging a hot bat but were going to have to find another way to get him in the lineup, who knows, but if I do get put at second base thats how it goes. Ill just do it for my team." Look at this hypothetical starting lineup with Francisco at third base and Lawrie at second base: Reyes – SSCabrera – LFBautista – RFEncarnacion – 1BFrancisco – 3BNavarro – CLind – DHLawrie – 3BRasmus – CF One through nine, wheres the easy out? The Blue Jays would be giving something up defensively with the realignment but Francisco has proven to be more adept at third base in Lawries absence than expected. "Ive been very impressed," said Gibbons. "I think that was his rap. His defence was the reason he never really established himself but we havent seen it. Of course hes not Lawrie down there but how many guys are?" Dont count on Saturday being Lawries return date. He took ground balls on Friday afternoon and participated in batting practice for a second consecutive day. Its part of the process of ramping up the effort level, testing his sore right hamstring. "Ive still got to do some other stuff baseball-wise," said Lawrie. "Ive still got to get up to relatively full speed to see how were doing. Ran on the treadmill today at a little bit higher pace so feeling a little bit better." Lawries willing to be a team guy. He also wants the appropriate recognition for his gold glove caliber play at the hot corner. "Im a third baseman," said Lawrie. "I worked my butt off to get where Im at. Im not saying its not going to help the team. Im here to do what it is to help the team but I worked my butt off to be that good at third base and continue to do what Im doing. I work everyday over there. Still continuing to get my work in and second base, it is what it is, man, its not what Im here to do. I worked my butt off to do what I do out there." Curry 2 Fake .com) - Colorado forward P. Scorpio Shoes Sale . "Im very pleased to be able to add a quarterback with Adrians experience and skill set," Calgary head coach and general manager John Hufnagel said in a statement.BOSTON -- While Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos injury was on everyones minds, the Boston Bruins were able to get back to playing hockey a lot quicker after it happened. Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Stamkos was hurt with 7:11 to play in the second period. He entered the day tied with Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby as the NHLs leading scorer. Stamkos got tied up with Boston defenceman Dougie Hamilton and crashed into the right post. His left skate appeared to hit the post first before his right leg crashed into it around the shin area. He tried to get up twice before going down to the ice in pain, grabbing his leg just above the ankle. When he left the ice on a stretcher, players on both teams tapped their sticks on ice as the fans applauded in tribute. The Lightning confirmed on the teams Twitter account that Stamkos suffered a broken right tibia. No further information was available. "A player like that, I dont know how serious it is, but it looks pretty serious to me," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "You dont want to see that." Its bad news for the Lightning and for Canadas Olympic team. Stamkos was considered a lock to represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Games. Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for his 18th career shutout and second this season. Jarome Iginla added an empty-net goal with 59 seconds left. Anders Lindback, playing just his fifth game of the season, made 23 saves for Tampa Bay, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. "Injuries happen. Hes gone a long time in his career without being seriously hurt," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Theres no sugarcoating it. Hes a huge part of our team. You can make an argument here that if you were going to hand out the MVP in our league now, you can give it to him. Is that a hole in our team? Yes, it is." The Bruins jumped ahead with just under three minutes left in the period when Bergeron scored off the rebound of Torey Krugs shot that caromed off the skate of Loui Eriksson. They made it 2-0 when Paille broke in down the right wing, shifted to his backhand and slipped a shot past Lindback iinside the right post. Under Armour Cheap Online. During the play, Tampa Bay defenceman Sami Salo also appeared to hurt his right leg and had trouble making it to the bench. He was briefly assisted by one of the referees on the ice and didnt return in the third period. "Well, I mean that is a big blow for them. Nobody wants to see that happen to anybody," Iginla said. "He was obviously in a lot of pain and I didnt hear for sure what happened to him, but I imagine its got to be, for him not to get up, hes a tough player and plays hard and stuff. So he must have been in some serious pain." Tampa Bay veteran Martin St. Louis didnt know how bad the injury was, but felt his team still played tough. "I thought we played hard. We just couldnt get the puck in the net," he said. "We really cant think about (Stamkos injury) now. Weve got a game to play (Tuesday). Were going to be playing a lot of hockey. I dont know how bad it is. Its tough to comment. "We lost him tonight for a period and a half. I think its a big part of our team. I thought we battled." It was Tampa Bays second loss in nine games. The Lightning came into the day leading the NHLs Atlantic Division, but the loss of Stamkos will be a major blow. "Now weve got to pick ourselves up and see what were made of," Cooper said. "Its a tough one for the game. You want to see guys that have It and Steven Stamkos has It. Now well see what were made of. You talk about a test, this is a test." Boston won its third straight. NOTES: Stamkos streak of scoring a goal was stopped at six games. ... Boston won its seventh straight against Tampa Bay. ... The Bruins Krug, Dennis Seidenberg, David Krejci, Johnny Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski each bought $2,500 of tickets that were given to military members and their families, who had a chance to meet the players after the game. ... It was the 80th meeting between the franchises. Boston has won 51. ... The Bruins wore military-style camouflage jerseys during warm-ups. ... It was the Lightnings second of a three-game road trip. They play at Montreal on Tuesday night. ... Boston is off until hosting Columbus on Thursday. ... The game was the opener of an NHL-NBA doubleheader. The Celtics were slated to face Orlando at night. ' ' '