in your own zone, so were kind of shooting ourselves i

The Toronto Blue Jays start their second-half quest to regain ground in the American League East as they open a three game series with the Texas Rangers tonight at Rogers Centre. Curt Schilling Diamondbacks Jersey . Toronto went into the break two games above .500 at 49-47. It could have been so much better, though, as the Blue Jays were 14 games above .500 on June 6 and held a six-game advantage atop the American League East. But thanks to losses in 23 of 34 games Toronto finds itself four games back of Baltimore in the American League East. The Blue Jays also limped into the break, dropping seven of their last nine games. "Were in second place," outfielder Jose Bautista said. "Were obviously not playing the baseball that we started off playing and that were capable of playing. Weve had a lot of injuries to deal with. "Bottom line is, weve got to figure out how to win some of these games that weve been losing, especially close ones. Hopefully we can manage to keep winning enough games to stay in one of the top two positions in our division, and when we get all our big bats back, kind of get back in the thick of things." Still, the Blue Jays have at least 49 wins at the break for the first time since 2006 On Friday, Toronto will hand the ball to righty R.A. Dickey, who has lost five of his last six starts. Dickey lost to Tampa Bay on Sunday, but pitched well, giving up just two runs in six innings, but still fell to 7-9 on the year to go along with a 3.82 ERA. Dickey, who started his career with Texas back in 2001, is 2-1 against his former team with a 2.91 ERA in six games (3 starts). Toronto took two of three from the Rangers earlier this season. No team needed the break more than Texas, which has lost eight straight and 22 of its last 25 games. The Rangers have also lost 11 of their last 12 on the road and now occupy last place in the American League West, 21 games back of first-place Oakland. "Commitment is doing what the game asks you to do and not looking for a reward for what youre doing," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Im in the process of getting this new bunch to understand what it means. Dont worry about stats or numbers. Its about the team. Some people need to check their attitude and check what commitment is." The Rangers havent dropped nine in a row since May 30-June 8, 2003. "It has been tough," Washington said. "Through it all, they have handled it very well. In reality, wed liked to have handled it better and get more wins. It didnt happen, but I didnt see any letdown." Getting the call for the Rangers on Friday will be All-Star Yu Darvish, who was one of the few bright spots on the team, going 8-5 with a 2.97 ERA. Darvish, though, is just 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA over his last five starts. "Just a little erratic. He usually finds himself on the course of the ballgame," Washington said. "There have been a couple of games there where hes been having trouble just trying to find the pitches he wanted to use as a combination." Darvish is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in six career starts against Toronto. Robbie Ray Diamondbacks Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. Jake Lamb Jersey . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. http://www.diamondbacksteamproshop.com/diamondbacks-taijuan-walker-jersey/ . According to TSNs Farhan Lalji, Richardson is heading to Toronto for a physical and is expected to sign with the Argonauts. TORONTO -- Randy Carlyle really liked how the Toronto Maple Leafs started against the San Jose Sharks. In a game he saw as a measuring stick, they got three shots on net in the first two minutes and looked like they could hang with one of the top teams in the NHL. Then Frazer McLaren took exception to Andrew Desjardins hit on Jerred Smithson and things fell apart. McLarens penalty was the first of many costly ones as the Leafs lost to the Sharks 4-2 Tuesday night at Air Canada Centre, their fifth straight defeat. "Disciplines a huge part," said Leafs winger Mason Raymond, who scored a goal and committed two penalties. "Youre killing penalties, youre not playing offence and youre playing in your own zone, so were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot there." Taking ill-timed penalties is often a recipe for failure, and thats especially the case against a high-powered team like the Sharks (19-3-5), who entered the game second in the league in goals per game. But more so than giving them the man advantage, the Leafs (14-11-3) stunted their own flow by going to the box. McLarens penalty came not long after the Leafs got the games first three shots in the first 1:21 and controlled much of the play. Even though the Sharks didnt score on the ensuing power play, they didnt give the puck up much for the rest of the period. Former Leafs forward Mike Brown opened the scoring for the Sharks midway through the period when he tipped a shot from defenceman Jason Demers five-hole past James Reimer. "It kind of bounced around a little bit and just squeezed through," said Reimer, who made 37 saves. "I wasnt able to close my legs quick enough. Thats just the way she goes." The lasting effect of San Joses seemingly never-ending possession was the Leafs trying desperately to catch up. When Jay McClement took a hooking penalty and then Raymond was called for tripping 33 seconds later, the Sharks wasted little time before captain Joe Thornton scored on the five-on-three power play to take the lead. "Go down five-on-three, and that took the momentum totally for the period in their favour," Carlyle said, making reference in part to a 17:17 shot drought the Leafs went through. "When you give a hockey team like that momentum, they can skate, theyre big, there was no real surprise on what they were going to do. They did it. And it took us till the second period before we got our things going." The Leafs got things going in part because of San Joses lack of discipline. Raymond scored a power-play goal off the rush 2:44 in, and Phil Kessel was the beneficiary of Logan Coutures high-sticking minor later when he scored on the power play. Jarrod Dyson Jersey. Centre Tyler Bozak, who fed Kessel for his 200th career goal and 15th of the season, left the game for good after with what Carlyle called an upper-body injury. The Leafs were already without centre Nazem Kadri, who missed the game with a death in his family. Carlyle didnt know the severity of Bozaks injury but acknowledged that it hurt against the Sharks. "For half the game, almost, we were short," he said. "We had three centres. Were taxing a lot of people here right now." For part of the second period, the Sharks were getting taxed thanks to the Leafs turning the tide. "I think we maybe got a bit lackadaisical at the start of the second period for about 10 minutes and they really gave it to us," Thornton said." The 10-minute mark it kind of switched. We had a timeout and we kind of flipped it back on them." Naturally it was another penalty that caused the reversal. The Sharks had started to get more attack time, and when Raymond took a high-sticking penalty, it gave San Jose the spark it needed. Again, the Sharks didnt have a power-play goal to show for their efforts, but they had enough attack time to put the Leafs on their heels. At no point was that more evident than on the shift that led to Mark Stuarts game-winner. Torontos fourth line of McLaren, Smithson and Colton Orr were caught on the ice for 1:48. The Leafs had chances to clear it, including Morgan Rielly failing to ice the puck, but when they didnt, Stuart skated in and scored his third of the season. "Theyre tired and theyre fourth line so, no disrespect, but you can maybe try things that you ordinarily wouldnt do," Stuart said. "I think we had a lot of good looks on that shift. We were able to get a good bounce and capitalize on it." Having the fourth line and a 19-year-old defenceman on the ice for almost two minutes wasnt what the Leafs wanted, but they got some chances to tie it in the third. Ultimately it wasnt enough, and Couture iced it with an empty-net goal at 18:36 of the final period. "I thought we worked hard out there, I thought the effort and the compete level was there," winger James van Riemsdyk said. "(We made) a couple mistakes. Theyre a good hockey team, theyre going to capitalize on their chances." NOTES -- The Leafs held a pre-game moment of silence for Toronto police constable John Zivcic, who died in a car accident Saturday. ... Cody Franson missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. Carlyle had called him a game-time decision, but the defenceman did not take part in warm-ups. Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '