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The Blue Jays have had an incredible month of May - no two ways about it. Authentic Carl Soderberg Jersey . With two games still to play, they are 20-8 including a nine-game win streak that came to an end at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre in 10 innings. If they win the last two games in May against KC, they will close out the month at 22-8. A year ago only four teams had a singular month better than that, three in the American League and one in the National League. Three of the four made the post-season and the other, the Texas Rangers, made it to the knockout tie-breaker and lost out in Game 163. The Tampa Bay Rays were the best going 21-5 in June, while the Cleveland Indians were a scorching 21-6 in a pressure-packed September run. The Rangers were 20-7 in August. The Blue Jays best month in 2013 was June where they finished 17-9, including an 11-game win streak. but they quickly faded after that. The Dodgers actually put together the most incredible short-term run on the way to winning the NL West. On June 20, they were sitting 12 games below .500 and there was talk skipper Don Mattingly was on the verge of being fired. Then, almost coincidentally with the arrival of Yasiel Puig , they went 8-1 to close out June, followed by a League best 20-6 in July and 23-6 in August. That in total is a fabulous 51-13 run that led them to finish the campaign at 90-72. Im not saying one 20-win month guarantees you a playoff spot. Injuries can undermine all that momentum, but one huge month can provide a team with an incredible boost of confidence and provide a bit of a cushion for the inevitable cold spells as the season unwinds. Heres something else. I know the season is only one-third over, but I cant remember the last time the Blue Jays had contenders for four major awards. Edwin Encarnacion for MVP, Mark Buehrle for Cy Young, Melky Cabrera for Comeback Player of the Year and, possibly, Casey Janssen for Fireman of the Year ( 8-for-9 in save opportunities, so far) and, if Edwin werent my pick for MVP, Jose Bautista would be right there, too. A lot can change over the course of the final fourth months of the season, but you cant ignore all of the positives coming out of the Blue Jays camp after all those years wandering in the wilderness. - There has been plenty of talk about the Blue Jays trying to pry right hander Jeff Samardzija loose from the Chicago Cubs to shore up the rotation and possibly push the Blue Jays over the top. Well, Alex Anthopoulos made it pretty clear on Thursday, the Blue Jays wouldnt be making any trades until July at the earliest and could wait up until the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. This wont really make any difference as far as possible dealings with the Cubbies go this season, but in their entire 37-plus years history, the Blue Jays have only made six trades with the Cubs. Only one really included a significant name player from a Blue Jays standpoint. On December 10, 2001, Gord Ash, embarking on his final season as Jays GM, dealt shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Cubs for lefty reliever Felix Heredia and a player to be named later, who turned out to be 3B/SS prospect Jim Deschaine who never made it to the Majors. Heredia only spent one season with the Jays before leaving as a free agent. Alex spent two-plus years with Chicago and even went to the playoffs with them in 2003, the year of the " Bartman" catch down the left-field line, that helped the then Florida Marlins rally to win that NLCS in seven games and ultimately go on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Some Blue Jays fans believe George Bell was dealt to the Cubs. Not so, as he left the Jays and signed with the Cubbies as a free agent on December 6, 1990. On March 30, 1992 Bell was swapped across town to the White Sox for reliever Ken Patterson and, yes, Sammy Sosa who would go on to become a tainted legend with the Cubs. That is to this day considered to be the worst trade in White Sox history. Outside of teams that have never won the World Series, the Cubs have the worst Fall Classic legacy. They are 2-8 all-time and, since winning their last World Series over the Detroit Tigers in 1908, they have won only one playoff series since when they edged the Atlanta Braves in a five-game NLDS in 2003. They dropped seven-straight World Series appearances between 1910 and 1945 and their all-time playoff win-loss record is 27-54. If thats not enough, they have the worst record in the Majors this season at 19-32 and are sitting in last place in the NL Central 11-and-a-half games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and the season isnt even two months old yet. - Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Josh Beckett will be the latest to try and equal a record that most feel can never possibly be broken. Beckett will have the chance to throw a second-straight no-hitter when the Dodgers host Francisco Liriano and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds made history within a four-day span in June of 1938. On June 11, the 23-year-old lefty, in his first full season in the Majors, pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Braves, then known as the Bees. It was the first no-hitter by a lefty since 1931. Four days later at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Vander Meer was the Reds starting pitcher in the first night game ever in New York in front of a sellout crowd of 48,000. "Vandy" was outstanding again. He almost lost it in the ninth when he walked the bases loaded with one out, but he got a force out at the plate for the second out and then got Leo Durocher to fly out to end the game. Though he was a four-time All-Star and was one of a handful of pitchers to lead his league in strikeouts three years in a row, he finished with a 119-121 record and a 3.44 ERA with 29 career shutouts, He also has the ever-lasting fame that goes with back-to-back no-hitters. Josh Beckett gets his shot at immortality on Friday night. Authentic Tyson Jost Jersey . -- Phil Mickelson came to the St. Authentic Paul Kariya Jersey . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team. http://www.cheapnhlavalanchejerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-rene-robert-jersey . It was the first game back in Columbus for Rangers star Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets franchise leader in goals, assists and games. He was given a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period, but was booed loud and long after a second-period, two-handed shove up high on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. Peyton Manning would have been more appropriate choice. Like Manning, Faber is a former world champion and about as good as it gets in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Walking out of the cage on top? Thats where it gets tricky for the laidback Californian. Faber has a knack for losing MMA title fights, yet hes back in the octagon Saturday night with another shot at the belt. Faber fights 135-pound champ Renan Barao at UFC 169 at the Prudential Center, just a few miles away from MetLife Stadium, the site of Sundays Super Bowl. Hes 0 for 5 as the challenger in title bouts since 2008 — a measure of both his inability to rise to the occasion, yet proof of his tenacity to fight back toward the top. "Look at any other sport in the world. Who just quits if they didnt get No. 1?" Faber asked. "The reason I keep getting into these title fights is because no one else can beat me. Ive had fights to get into these positions and I win. And I win decisively." He sure does, including a stout 4-0 record in 2013. He choked out Michael McDonald just six weeks ago on a UFC on Fox card, and was pressed into service for Saturday night when injury-prone Dominick Cruz pulled out with a torn groin. "Im kind of used to Cruz not fighting these days," Faber said. Another UFC card going off without Cruz seems almost as automatic as one with Faber chasing another championship. Faber lost decisions to Cruz (2011) and the first Barao bout (2012) to extend his title-fight losing streak. "I figured Id fight him again," Faber said. "You start thinking about things right after the fight, the things that were difficult, the things you had success with. But I havent been dwelling on it, thats for sure. But looking again and recapping his fighting style is something Ive had to do." Fabers most notable championship reigns came with World Extreme Cagefighting. But "The California Kid" knows he needs a UFC championship to cemment his status as one of the best in the world. Colorado Avalanche Jerseys China. "Saturdays a defining moment in his career," UFC President Dana White said. Jose Aldo defends his 145-pound championship against Ricardo Lamas and Alistair Overeem fights Frank Mir in a heavyweight bout to headline the fifth major UFC card at the Prudential Center since it opened in 2007. The UFC carved out a big slice of mainstream success in the New York area this week, with billboards and buses in Times Square promoting the show, and main event fighters were welcomed at the NFLs media day. "Anybody who knows the sport knows what great fights these are," White said. "Do I think were going to do 1 million buys this weekend? No, but I think were going to do well." Overeem and Mir could have main evented a PPV a few years back, but both heavyweights are fighting just to stay in UFC. Mir, a former heavyweight champion, hasnt won a bout in more than two years and has talked openly about moving into a broadcasting career. Overeem is riding a two-fight losing streak and is far removed from his prime and his last big win over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in 2011. Hes not not ready to quit. "Fighting in the UFC is the biggest stage, so theres always pressure to perform," Overeem said. "Ill keep fighting. What else can I do?" Only 34, Mir points to aging fighters like Dan Henderson as a reason to keep going in the cage for a few more years. "If I was losing to the No. 20 guy who just got to UFC, then after he beats me he cant win another fight," Mir said, "that would weigh on me." Mir said there was no shame in losing to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, and Josh Barnett. And if Mir has to fight elsewhere, even the self-proclaimed UFC lifer would consider his options. White isnt quite ready to proclaim Mir-Overeem a good ol fashioned "loser leaves town" bout. "Everybody keeps asking me if those guys are done, if one of them are getting cut," he said. "What if the fight is a (great) fight? Ill keep them both. But they need to perform on Saturday night." cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '