We tried to motivate our guys all day

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TORONTO – Unless the Blue Jays are laying the groundwork to promote top pitching prospect Aaron Sanchez from Triple-A, Fridays roster move is at best pointless and at worst, a hindrance. Authentic Sports Jerseys . On its own, its hard to see how the acquisition of left-hander Brad Mills off waivers from Oakland on Thursday, followed by the optioning to Buffalo of right-hander Chad Jenkins on Friday, makes the Blue Jays a better baseball team. Sitting four games out of first place in the American League East entering post-All-Star Break play, the priority must be to improve the ballclub with each transaction. This results in the shuffling of back-to-back first-round picks. Jenkins (20th overall in 2009) gets shuffled out. Right-handed pitcher Deck McGuire (11th overall in 2010) was designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster for Mills. Manager John Gibbons, left to answer for a move he likely had no say in, offered this on Mills: "Hell be our long guy," said Gibbons. This, according to Gibbons, is to facilitate a larger role for Todd Redmond. "Youll probably see him in the middle of the game, later in the game," said Gibbons. Jenkins, who was gone before media had a chance to speak to him, could be forgiven if he was scratching his head all the way to Pawtucket, where hell join his Bisons teammates and begin his fourth stint with Buffalo this season. The 26-year-old has a 3.72 ERA in 15 appearances, 19 1/3 innings, for the Blue Jays this season. Clearly, hed developed a degree of Gibbons trust, seeing use in high leverage situations late in close ballgames. Mills, 29, is a journeyman. A fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2007, he posted an 8.57 ERA in 14 appearances, nine starts, with Toronto spread over three seasons starting in 2009. After a stop in Anaheim (sent west by the Blue Jays in the December, 2011 deal for catcher Jeff Mathis), Mills has spent time in the Rangers, Brewers and Athletics organizations. He made three starts for the As this season after Oakland acquired him for one dollar from Milwaukee, winning once before becoming expendable after the blockbuster trade for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Redmond has had a solid year for the Blue Jays, posting a 2.57 ERA in 25 appearances but pitching mostly in low leverage situations. There have been 14 occasions when Redmond has entered the game with Toronto either leading or trailing by at least three runs. "Basically Red was pitching in blowout-type games so he wasnt getting a lot of work and hes pitched very good," said Gibbons. "Were going to give him a shot in a little bit tougher roles and see what he can do with them; pitch him more often." Redmond had been the long man with Jenkins serving a hybrid long man/high leverage role. Now, its Mills as the long man with Redmond serving a hybrid long man/high leverage role. The only thing the club has accomplished is the addition of a depth pitcher. Maybe Jenkins helps to fortify a pitching staff in Buffalo thats soon to lose Sanchez. It could be similar to the recent acquisition of Brett Wallace, meant to cover Buffalos loss of Dan Johnson, who joined the Blue Jays when Adam Lind went on the disabled list. Then again, maybe it isnt and this is just another move in the seemingly constant waiver wire scavenger hunt that leaves Jenkins the odd man out. REYES GETS CORTISONE SHOT Jose Reyes used the four-day All-Star Break to spend time with his family at their Long Island, New York home. He didnt exercise and he didnt participate in any baseball-related activities. Reyes had good reason for it. "I didnt do anything because I had a cortisone shot in my shoulder," said Reyes. "I had to sit for a couple of days at home and rest and go from there. Today, I feel good. Its all about baseball now, you know, second half. Were still in the mix to continue competing." Reyes played in Sundays game against the Rays and received the shot afterward. Hes been dealing with soreness in his rotator cuff, soreness that comes and goes, for most of the season. Entering Fridays play, Reyes had appeared in 79 of Torontos 96 games, the majority of which have been played on the fake surface at Rogers Centre. His body needed the break. "People know on the field that we play here, on the turf, its going to hurt your body a little bit," said Reyes. "When you have the opportunity to take a day off you have to take it and enjoy it." ARENCIBIA RETURNS TO TORONTO After a two month stint with Texas Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, J.P. Arencibia was back in the big leagues in time to begin the second half of the season in, of all places, Toronto. The irony wasnt lost on the former franchise catcher. "Its crazy the way life works. I think things happen for a reason," said Arencibia. "Obviously (its) where my whole career started; where I grew up. I mean, walking around is a little different for me but, obviously, Im here to do a job and Im excited to be back." Arencibia had a big effect on the outcome of Friday nights game. His three-run home run in the seventh inning increased the Rangers lead to 5-0. Texas won 5-1. The Rangers have a plethora of catchers now that Geovany Soto, the incumbent, has returned from a knee injury. The Rangers used a combination of Robinson Chirinos and Chris Gimenez after Arencibia was outrighted to the minor leagues in mid-May. Thanks to left ankle surgery which will keep first baseman Mitch Moreland out of action until September, possibly the rest of the season, the Rangers have a hole at first base. Carlos Pena was designated for assignment. Arencibia gets a chance to fill the void. His two months in the minor leagues were helpful. "I 100-percent needed it," said Arencibia. "I think that it was something that necessary and I went back and had to iron some things out and be who I can be. That was really the main thing, changing my mentality and really understanding myself." Arencibia hit .279/.320/.542 with 14 home runs in 48 games with Round Rock. In his first stint with the Rangers, he hit .133/.182/.233 with one home run in 20 games. The former Blue Jay was non-tendered last offseason after hitting .194/.227/.365 despite 21 home runs. Sports Jerseys . While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. Stitched Sports Jerseys . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/ . The 24-year-old right winger has one assist in nine games this season with the Sabres. In his career, he has three goals and six assists in 43 NHL games. PORTLAND, Ore. -- It took one more day than they wouldve liked, but the Edmonton Oil Kings are Western Hockey League champions for the second time in three seasons. Four different Oil Kings scored in a decisive second period as Edmonton won Game 7 of the WHL final 4-2 over the Portland Winterhawks. In Sundays Game 6 in Edmonton, the Oil Kings watched a three-goal lead evaporate in the third period before losing 6-5 in overtime. Edmonton again built a three-goal lead through two periods on Monday, and didnt let this one get away. Mitch Moroz, Curtis Lazar, Reid Petryk and Mads Eller all scored in a four-goal second period for the Oil Kings and Goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 32 shots in victory. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brendan Leipsic scored for Portland, which got 29 saves from goalie Brendan Burke. As the Oil Kings celebrated on the ice after the game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, they held the No. 26 jersey of Kristians Pelss, a former teammate who drowned last summer at age 20. "Hes been with us through this whole thing," said Lazar. "He motivates us to make ourselves better. We know hes looking over us, we played for him and it showed." Bjorkstrand scored his league-leading 16th goal of the playoffs- but his first of the final series- at 4:42 of the first to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead. "They came at us hard for 10 minutes but we weathered the storm," said Edmonton coach Derek Laxdal, who won a Memorial Cup championship as a player with the Winterhawks in the same building in 1983. "I told the guys I won a championship here and I wanted them to do it,, too. Clearance Sports Jerseys. " The Oil Kings busted out in the second period, scoring three times in less than six minutes to take command. Moroz scored at the 3:50 mark of the period to tie the game, then Lazar and Petryk scored 40 seconds apart near the midway point of the period to make it 3-1. "We actually got kick-started with us taking a penalty," said Lazar. "We wanted to kill it off, and it actually led to some offence and we just kept rolling." Ellers goal with 2:43 left in the period gave the Oil Kings their second consecutive three-goal lead through two periods. Leipsic scored with 3:22 left in regulation, but the Winterhawks couldnt pull off a second unlikely comeback in two days. "We talked that the sun was going to come up today and our energy would come up, too," said Laxdal. "We tried to motivate our guys all day. Our guys were gutsy." The Oil Kings are off to the Memorial Cup, which begins Friday in London, Ont. This was the third straight year Edmonton and Portland have met in the WHL final series. The Oil Kings prevailed in seven games in 2012, while the Winterhawks won in six games last season. Portland appeared in the WHL finals for the fourth straight season, but dropped to 1-3 in those series. "Itll always hang there, that disappointment," said Portland coach Mike Johnston. "Eventually well look back at our records and conference and division championships, but we were so close to tasting victory. "We know how hard it is to move on, were fortunate to have had some cracks at it the last few years." ' ' '