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With their loss to the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night, the Toronto Blue Jays lost sole possession of first place in the American League East for the first time in 43 days. Not only were they bumped out of first in their division, but theyve also dropped out of a wild card spot, trailing the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners by a game going into Fridays match-up. Which brings the question with just over a week until the All-Star Break - is this team actually a playoff contender? Since their last World Series victory, the Blue Jays have been mired in a 20-year playoff drought. But it wasnt like they werent trying to change their ways. That blockbuster trade with the Marlins in 2012 produced just one more win last season than the previous one. They finished 23 games behind the John Farrell-led Boston Red Sox and 17 1/2 games back of a wild card spot. So where do things sit for this season? How did they stay atop of the division for such a long period of time? The offence has certainly been a factor. The team has had their fair share of home runs - especially in the month of May led by Edwin Encarnacion - but the small ball has been evident too. And it certainly has - until recently - a lot to do with a healthier roster. But the real question around this team making it to the postseason will depend on their ability to crawl back to a comfortable lead. They have a tough ten-game road trip prior to the All-Star break. In their first lengthy road trip of the season, they went a combined 3-7 in Baltimore, New York and Cincinnati. And over the past six seasons, Toronto has struggled hard on road trips of nine or more games. In fact, since their nine-game road losing streak in 2009, the Blue Birds have an abysmal 66-108 record over 18 road trips of nine or more games. Over those 18 road trips, they returned home with a winning record just three times. That all said, do you think the Toronto Blue Jays will re-take the division and make the playoffs this October or will are we looking at another disappointing season? As always, its Your! Call. Cheap KD Shoes Free Shipping . -- Canadian mens rugby coach Kieran Crowley has made four changes to his starting roster for Saturdays Pacific Nations Cup clash against the United States. Cheap KD Shoes Wholesale . -- Mississippi State was crushed twice by Florida last season, once by 35 points and the other by 25. http://www.wholesalekdshoes.com/ . Both sides came closest to scoring in the first half, when Roma had a goal from Mattia Destro waved off for offside and Inters Rodrigo Palacio headed high. "A draw was a fair result. Neither squad had many chances," Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. Wholesale KD Shoes . Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Discount KD Shoes .com) - Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist both scored in the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings denied the Minnesota Wilds comeback bid with a 5-4 win on Tuesday. TORONTO -- Drew Hutchison has given the Toronto rotation a nice boost this year in his first season back since undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has had troubles at Rogers Centre though and one rough inning proved costly on Wednesday night against New York. Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in the Yankees four-run third inning as New York (40-37) salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 5-3 victory. The Yankees ended a four-game losing skid and moved 2 1/2 games behind first-place Toronto (44-36) in the American League East. "I felt I got stronger as the game went on," Hutchison said. "It was disappointing to have that big inning, especially to allow three runs with two outs and not be able to make that big pitch. "It turned out to be the difference in the game." Former Blue Jay Kelly Johnson reached on a walk to open the frame and scored on a Francisco Cervelli double. Hutchison (5-6) got the next two outs before giving up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury that brought Cervelli across with the go-ahead run. Teixeira padded the lead by turning on an 0-1 pitch for his 14th homer of the year. "Hutchison pitched really well, he only made a couple of mistakes that one inning and we made him pay," Teixeira said. "Other than that, he was throwing some dirty pitches. It was good to get the four runs when we got them." Hutchison, a 23-year-old right-hander, has a 4-2 record and 2.23 earned-run average on the road. But he entered play with a 1-3 record and 8.72 ERA at home. "Thats the farthest thing away from my mind," Hutchison said of the uneven splits. "Im disappointed that I was not able to deliver a better performance for us and not give us a better chance to win." New York starter Hiroki Kuroda (5-5) was effective over 6 1/3 innings and David Robertson got the last five outs for his 18th save. Ellsbury had three of New Yorks nine hits. Jose Reyes, who had three hits for Toronto, took the first pitch from Kuroda over the wall for his sixth homer of the season. It was his third leadoff home run of the year and 21st of his career. Reyes scored again in the fifth inning after he moved Munenori Kawasaki to third base with a ground-rule double. Melky Cabrera brought them both home with a sharp single to left field. Hutchison struck out the side in the sixth inning and was replaced in the seventh by left-hander Rob Rasmussen. Hutchison alloowed seven hits, four earned runs and two walks while striking out six.dddddddddddd "Overall I think hes been pretty good (this season) -- actually very good," Gibbons said. "Hes still a young kid. Hes going to go through his growing pains." Rasmussen faced three batters and did not record an out. He walked Brett Gardner, hit Jeter with a pitch, threw a wild pitch to the backstop and walked Ellsbury to load the bases. Sergio Santos came on in relief and gave up a sacrifice fly to Teixeira that brought Gardner home with an insurance run. The Blue Jays had the potential tying run at second base in the eighth inning but Adam Lind hit a weak comebacker that ended the inning. Kuroda allowed eight hits, three earned runs and two walks. He had four strikeouts. Notes: Announced attendance was 34,710 and the game took three hours two minutes to play. ... After the game, Toronto infielder Steve Tolleson said he has been blurred vision over the last two weeks. He plans to see a specialist on Thursday. ... Toronto slugger Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a hamstring strain. He remains day to day. ... Before the game, the Blue Jays sent Kevin Pillar back to triple-A Buffalo and selected the contract of fellow outfielder Brad Glenn. To make room on the 40-man roster, infielder Jonathan Diaz was designated for assignment. ... Fans who came down early for batting practice got to watch San Franciscos Tim Lincecum complete his no-hitter against San Diego. The ninth inning of the 4-0 game was shown on the video scoreboard. Earlier, the two late-afternoon World Cup soccer games were shown in a split-screen style. ... The Blue Jays will continue their nine-game homestand Thursday with the opener of a four-game set against the Chicago White Sox. Left-hander J.A. Happ (6-4, 4.87) is scheduled to start for Toronto against right-hander Scott Carroll (2-3, 4.30). ... The Blue Jays reached the one-million mark in attendance on Tuesday night. It took 39 home dates to reach the mark this year, six more than last year. ... It was the Blue Jays first series win at home since a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay from May 26-28. ... Toronto has hit at least one homer in seven consecutive games. ... The Yankees get an off-day Thursday -- on Jeters 40th birthday -- before kicking off a six-game homestand Friday against Boston. ... The Blue Jays had an even 40-40 record after 80 games last season. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '