Verein » couple goals and nine points.

TORONTO -- This time, the seventh inning was a breeze for R.A. Dickey. The veteran Toronto knuckleballer, who had made it through six innings in his previous six starts but each time failed to get out the seventh, turned in his strongest performance of the season Saturday, going 8-1/3 innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-2 at Rogers Centre. "I feel like Ive been right on the edge of a game like this for a long time," said Dickey, who gave up five hits, struck out four and only walked one in improving to 5-4. "Thats whats been encouraging. "Thankfully today, I was able to break through the seventh and get into the eighth and ninth." Dickey received a standing ovation from 29,372 fans when he left with one out and two on in the ninth. The As made it interesting, getting the tying run to the plate in that final at-bat but Brett Cecil got Jed Lowrie on a sacrifice fly and struck out Alberto Callaspo for his third save and Torontos fifth straight win. The win moved the Blue Jays 2.5 games up on the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees atop the American League East. The last time Toronto was alone in first place this late in the season was July 6, 2000. Dickey, who won the 2012 National League Cy Young Award with the New York Mets, lowered his earned run average to 3.95, the first time its been under 4.00 since he joined the Blue Jays in 2013. "Its great for our team to be able to keep the momentum that weve been generating over the past week-and-a-half or so," said Dickey, who retired 19 of 21 hitters he faced at one stretch. "Its nice to feel like you did your part in that." "He was dealing it," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "He really was. He was strong. He was very efficient. That particular pitch he throws, when its on its tough to do anything with it. "You can usually tell early on when hes got his good one going and today he did." Brett Lawrie had a home run for the Blue Jays while Melky Cabrera had two hits and two RBIs, and Jose Reyes had a pair of hits as Toronto (28-22) won for the 10th time in their last 12 ball games. They did their damage on Jesse Chavez (4-2), who gave up four runs, two of which were unearned, and eight hits. The Blue Jays used their speed and took advantage of some sloppy defence from Oakland (30-19). "We generated some runs today," said Gibbons as Reyes scored twice from second on balls that never left the infield and Anthony Gose plated from first on a bobble in left field. "The old saying is speed never goes in slumps." After Oakland opened the scoring in the second inning on a Yeonis Cespedes solo home run to straightaway centre field, the Blue Jays tied it up in the third. Gose, who reached on a fielders choice, was moving first to third on Cabreras two-out, opposite field single when left-fielder Craig Gentry bobbled the ball, allowing the fleet-footed Gose to fly around third and slide into the plate ahead of the throw. Toronto took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth. After Lawrie led off the inning by slamming his eighth home run into the Blue Jays bullpen to make it 2-1, they added some insurance, again courtesy of speed and shoddy defence by the As. Gose slapped a sharp single the other way with one-out and moved up to third on a single by Reyes. After a wild pitch advanced Reyes to second, Cabrera hit a ground ball to first baseman Brandon Moss, who booted it as Gose was coming in to score and then flipped it past a covering Chavez, which allowed Reyes to scamper home, punctuating the run with a run head-first slide, making it 4-1. Reyes repeated the feat in the seventh to put the Blue Jays up 5-1. After a lead-off double, he scored all the way from second when Cabrera hit a routine groundball to shortstop but the As made the play too slowly, again allowing Reyes to slide across home plate head-first before Moss could throw him out. "Thats the way I play the game when Im healthy," said Reyes, who spent the early part of the season on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. "Stealing bases. Sliding all over the place. "When Im pain-free Im able to do that stuff, so Im feeling happy. Not only for me, but for the whole team because were playing really good baseball. Its always fun when youre winning." Toronto will go for the three-game sweep of the A.L. West leaders on Sunday afternoon. Notes: The Blue Jays and As wrap up a three-game weekend series on Sunday when Oakland LHP Drew Pomeranz goes against Toronto LHP J.A. Happ. . . Going into Saturdays game, Torontos Edwin Encarnacion led the league in May with 11 home runs and 62 total bases and is second in RBIs with 24 and T2 with 16 extra-base hits in 22 games. . . Since 2010, the Blue Jays lead the Majors with 553 home runs prior to the all-star break, well ahead of the New York Yankees, who are second with 489. Dale Weise Jersey . Kuper, a fifth-round pick in Denvers 2006 draft, started 79 games at guard over eight seasons. He dislocated his left ankle in the last game of the 2011 regular season, and though he started another seven games after that, he never returned to his previous level. James Van Riemsdyk Jersey .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. http://www.officialflyersfanstore.com/authentic-sean-couturier-flyers-jersey/ . -- Rodney Stuckey scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks for the first time in eight meetings, 92-86 on Tuesday night. Jordan Weal Jersey .L. - Defending womens champion Alberta improved to 3-0 at the Canadian junior curling championships with a 10-3 win over Ontario in Sundays afternoon draw. Travis Konecny Jersey . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina.TORONTO – He was the home run acquisition in the summer of 2009. Formerly a member of the rival Canadiens and a noted thorn in the side of Mats Sundin, Mike Komisarek signed in Toronto for five years and a hefty $22.5 million. It was four years later, almost to the day, that Komisarek had his contract bought out by the organization, the American defender unable to realize the nasty game which brought him to the Leafs, seemingly weighed down by the burden of his sizeable contract. When free agency opened this past summer it was David Clarkson getting the big deal in this city, inked to an even grander pact which extended over seven years and was worth upwards of $36 million. Wary of the effect large contracts – and their respective pressures – can have on athletes Randy Carlyle took to drawing a red line on the expectations for Clarkson prior to his exhibition debut with the club on Monday evening. "We dont want him to be anything more than David Clarkson," said Carlyle. "Theres a trap at times when players do change teams and contracts become something notable, the first thing they try to do is change the way they play. Thats one thing we want to guard against. We want David Clarkson to play the way hes capable of playing and [do] the things he normally does, not try to be anything more than what hes been before." "I dont read anything or look at anything," Clarkson said of the expected pressures. "All Im going to do is go out every night and give everything I have. Am I going to be perfect? No. Im going to make mistakes. But Im going to play that same kind of style of hockey that got me here." Clarkson delivered such a brand in his first game with the Leafs. He played with a physical edge, he chirped the opposing bench, he had his opportunities offensively and was generally an irritant. Thumped at one point in the second frame by Nicklas Grossman, the 6-foot-4, 230 pound behemoth on the Flyers defence, Clarkson went about roughhousing with his much larger opponent. "It was like trying to move a fridge," chimed Clarkson, listed at an even 200 pounds. "It was just more that I didnt like getting hit like that." Whether Clarkson can live up to a contract of serious proportions will remain an open question, but one the organization isnt contemplating. "Im not worried about [years] six and seven right now," Leafs general manager Dave Nonis said of Clarkson, hours after the signing was announced in early July. "Im worried about [the first] one and year one I know were going to have a very good player. "I believe that hes got a lot of good years left in him," Nonis continued. "Hes not 35 years old." Clarkson scored 30 with the Devils two years ago, adding 15 in 48 games last season. The Leafs arent hedging their bets strictly with offence though instead looking to their free agent add to provide decent measures of truculence, leadership and many of the intangibles which cant be measured. "If David Clarkson doesnt score 30 goals in a Leaf uniform, but provides all the other things that we know hes going to provide were pretty comfortable were a better team," Nonis noted. It was fitting then that Carlyle would nod in approval when questioned on Clarksons unlikely exhibition scrap with Grossman. "Hes done it all his career," he observed. "Thats why he is what he is." And all the Leafs want him to be. Five Points 1. Clarksons choice A teammate of Clarkson while the two were in New Jersey, Mark Fraser was far from surprised when he got word that the Toronto native had landed with the Leafs. "It was no secret that [Clarkson] was a big fan of the blue and white," Fraser grinned. "There couldve been 29 other teams in the running and I think I knew who he wanted to sign with more." 2. Bernier debut Jonathan Bernier made few, if any, changes to his pre-game routine ahead of his first start with the Leafs on Monday night. "Its pretty much the same," he said. "Actually the only thing that changed [is] we have meals here and then I go for a little nap. Pretty much the same routine as usual." Bernier said the most difficult adjjustment to a new team, new city, new everything really, was actually on the ice, getting a read on the system his team employs.dddddddddddd "Youve got to make sure that you know where your [defencemen] are going to be," he said, noting the need for understanding of such tactics on the penalty kill and opposition forecheck. "For me especially, handling the puck, thats a big adjustment." Bernier stopped 15 of 16 shots before he was replaced by Drew MacIntyre midway through the game. 3. Gardiner revival It was sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin, the last point that Jake Gardiner felt his confidence dip to where it plunged last season. But after some redemption in the playoffs and an offseason spent back in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Gardiner is feeling revived heading into his third pro season. The 23-year-old looks back to his experience in 2013, one that saw him bounce between the Marlies, Leafs and press box, as likely to be beneficial over the long run. "It was nice to have a down in my career just to know what its like," he said earlier this week, "try to never experience that again obviously and just keep moving forward." Following that disappointing second season with the Badgers in college, Gardiner returned as a junior and dominated, finishing second to teammate Justin Schultz in scoring among all WCHA defenders. 4. No Maintenance Troy Bodie has at least one fan in Randy Carlyle. "Hes a no maintenance guy," said Carlyle of the imposing 6-foot-4 winger, inked to a one-year deal this past summer. "Hes one of those guys that you think if there was a model for your younger players to model themselves after Troy Bodie would be one of those guys. Coaches love no-maintenance players." Carlyle coached Bodie for parts of three seasons in Anaheim, the now son-in-law of MLSE President Tim Leiweke spending the past two seasons in the American League. "Hes not a flashy guy," continued Carlyle of Bodie, who played for Dallas Eakins and the Marlies in 2009-10. "I would say hes an up-and-down winger thats going to take the body, good teammate." Opportunity may just be knocking for Bodie with fellow fourth line element Frazer McLaren scheduled to miss at least two weeks with a fractured pinky finger. Carlyles fondness for the brash ingredient is known and because of his familiarity with the player, Bodie could sneak his way onto the roster. "I know what he expects," Bodie said of the Leafs coach, "so its nice for me not to come into this camp blind. I understand what he expects and what kind of player he would want me to be if I was there playing for him." 5. A brief on T.J. Brennan The Leafs represent the fourth organization T.J. Brennan has been apart in a matter of months. Drafted and bred by the Sabres (a second round selection in 2007), Brennan was finally shuffled off to Florida this past March. He went on to play 19 games for the Panthers, posting a couple goals and nine points. A restricted free agent, he and the front office in Sunrise couldnt come to terms on a new contract and thus Brennan was on the move again, this time to Nashville for Bobby Butler in mid-June. The Predators opted not to qualify Brennan and aimed to sign him to a two-way deal. Brennan though, desiring some level of control, declined and became an unrestricted free agent. Sensing some opportunity and a good fit, he signed with the Leafs for one year on a one-way deal. "It seemed like a good partnership here," said Brennan, who played 22-plus minutes on Monday, paired with Gardiner against the Flyers. "It definitely seemed like somewhere I could grow and really settle in and take the things Ive learned from Buffalo, Florida and the minors and really establish myself." The Leafs like the edge and offence Brennan can potentially provide – he scored 14 goals with Rochester in 2013 – and see his addition as an opportunity to inject depth on the blueline. Quote of the Night "I wouldnt say it was a classic NHL game." -Randy Carlyle on his teams 4-3 loss in the shootout. Up Next The Leafs travel to Ottawa for a Thursday clash with the Senators. ' ' '