Anmelden » air with his stick

TORONTO -- If the eye-catching smile doesnt get you, the electric play on the basepaths will. Pittsburgh Pirates Store . Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes gets peoples attention with his unique brand of baseball. Hes a dynamo with great range in the field and track star speed. And over the last week or two, he finally looks like the Reyes of old. The three-time all-star, one of the key pieces in a November 2012 blockbuster trade with Miami, was hampered by injury problems in his first season in Toronto. It was more of the same earlier this year as a tight hamstring kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks. Once he returned, it took some time for Reyes to find his rhythm. The leadoff hitter has found it now and his play is a big reason why the Blue Jays have moved to the top of the American League East division standings. "He makes us that much better," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Hes really the catalyst because hes up at the top of the lineup." A revitalized starting rotation and homer-happy lineup are two big reasons why the Blue Jays are flying high. But Reyes has provided the powerful Toronto offence with a real edge since his return. With impressive bat skills and a constant threat to run, Reyes offers a nice contrast to the big swingers like Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista who usually follow him in the order. Pitchers have a hard time concentrating on the plate with a speedster like Reyes on base. "Hes so capable of stirring things up," said Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. "Hes one of those catalysts. Theres a few real catalytic players in the game and hes one of them." Reyes, who had three hits in Wednesdays 3-2 win over the Rays, had an 11-game hitting streak end a night later. He had his first three-steal game as a Blue Jay last weekend and wowed the Rogers Centre crowd by scoring from second base on a groundout. "Hes one of those guys thats hard to take your eye off of when youre watching a baseball game," said Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson. "Hes able to do so many things offensively and defensively. Defensively hes able to play a little bit deeper than most shortstops because he has a tremendous arm and he has the speed to close in on balls that he needs to. "Hes in an elite group when it comes to that. Hes been a lot of fun to watch." However, Reyes isnt immune to the occasional hiccup in the field. He made a throwing error on a potential game-ending ground ball Thursday night and the Royals came back to win 8-6 in 10 innings. He took full ownership for the miscue after the game. "This is baseball, sometimes mistakes are going to happen," Reyes said. "I just have to learn from it." Despite the occasional negative, the native of Santiago, Dominican Republic brings plenty of positives to the diamond. In a game earlier this week, Reyes dropped a soft bunt down in his first at-bat. He accelerated like a shot and seemed to be halfway down the first-base line by the time the pitcher left the mound to retrieve the ball before conceding the single. When the next batter belted one off the wall, Reyes was quickly in full flight and scored with a head-first slide. Its the kind of get-your-jersey-dirty, fast-paced style that fans and teammates love. "The last few weeks my leg feels good," Reyes said. "Its good to play pain-free. I dont have to worry about anything. Before, four or five weeks ago, I still had a little concern with my hamstring being 100 per cent. "But right now its 110 per cent." Reyes, 30, who won a batting title with the New York Mets in 2011, has seen his average rise as his comfort level returned. Entering the game against the Royals, he has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games. The three-time National League stolen base leader (2005-07) has also swiped 11 bags over the last 25 games entering Thursdays matchup. His well-rounded game is a big reason why Torontos offence is so feared. "When they made the trade and brought him in last year, I think thats what everybody kind of envisioned," Gibbons said. "Hes been banged up a little bit since hes been here but now hes healthy. "What hes doing now is really what hes done his whole career and so I think people are just really getting a look at it." Reyes also brings an infectious personality to the ballpark and is usually the first one out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates. More than anything, he has the ability to put the Blue Jays in a position to manufacture runs. Whether through stolen bases, sacrifices or just aggressive base-running, Reyes can often secure that extra base and create more scoring opportunities. "Im capable of doing a lot of stuff," Reyes said. "People (have) seen (over) the last few weeks what Im able to do on the field." Fake Pirates Jerseys .C. -- Unable to get much lift off his sore right ankle, Bobcats centre Al Jefferson figured it was time to make an adjustment. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . - Mike Magee converted two penalty kicks in a 10-minute span of the first half and the Chicago Fire beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Sunday. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . -- A year ago, Flavia Pennetta was close to retiring from tennis.DETROIT - Cam Ward had 28 saves, and the Carolina Hurricanes ended a quarter-century of regular-season futility in Detroit, beating the Red Wings 2-1 on Friday night. The Hurricanes hadnt won a regular-season game at Detroit since Nov. 14, 1989, when they were still the Hartford Whalers. They did win Game 1 of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals at Detroit, but that was their only victory of that series. Elias Lindholm and Jiri Tlusty scored in the first period Friday, and Carolina held on to hand the Red Wings their second regulation loss in eight games. Riley Sheahan scored for the Red Wings in the third period. Detroit has already clinched its 23rd straight post-season berth, and the Hurricanes are out of the running. The Red Wings outshot Carolina 29-19 but ended up with what could be a costly loss in the race for playoff seeding. Detroit will be a wild card in the Eastern Conference, so the Red Wings will face either Boston or Pittsburgh in the first round. With 91 points, Detroit is tied with Columbus, and each team has one game remaining. Philadelphia also has 91 points with two games to play. Lindhollm opened the scoring on the power play, and Tlusty made it 2-0 when he banged a rebound past goalie Jimmy Howard. Pirates Jerseys China. Early in the second, Detroits Tomas Jurco skated in on a semi-breakaway but couldnt put the puck past Ward. At the other end, Eric Staal flipped the puck over a sprawling Howard, only to have Red Wings defenceman Jakub Kindl bat it out of the air with his stick. Detroits Justin Abdelkader had much of the net to shoot at when a rebound came his way later in the second, but his attempt went wide. Sheahan finally jammed the puck past Ward on a power play with 16:17 to play in the game, but Ward made a fine pad save on Abdelkader with about 9:30 remaining, thwarting a 2-on-1 by Detroit and keeping the Hurricanes ahead. Darren Helms impressive open-ice move also went for naught when Ward stopped him in close. The Carolina-Hartford franchise had 16 losses and a tie since its previous victory at Detroit in the regular season. NOTES: The Red Wings recalled G Petr Mrazek from Grand Rapids of the AHL and assigned G Jared Coreau to Toledo of the ECHL. ' ' '