TORONTO – Its a sign of the times for the Blue Jays. Avalanche Jerseys 2020 . The team that leads the major leagues with 69 home runs and is second in slugging percentage (.443) and on-base plus slugging (.770) won again on Saturday, 5-2 over Oakland, thanks to strong pitching and speed on the bases. "We stink, we stink," joked R.A. Dickey when asked about the much-maligned starting rotation, which has posted a 2.84 ERA through the last turn, dating back to the start of last weeks series at Fenway Park. "Were going to keep stinking, too. Were happy to be under the radar. Were happy that people dont, as a staff, give us any respect. Its okay. We are professionals and were going to keep grinding and well see where we end up at the end of this thing." Dickey hurled 8 1/3 innings of two-run baseball, marking the first time this season he threw a pitch after the seventh inning. After exorcising that seventh inning demon, one thats seemed to plague him through most of the season, he urged that neither he nor his rotation mates get too comfortable. "One thing I feel like we cant do is take things for granted," said Dickey. "Were in a good spot right now but theres going to be a challenging stretch too during this year so weve got to really ride the wave as long as we can ride it." The home run-happy Blue Jays wouldnt go without in that department on Saturday. Brett Lawries leadoff blast in the fifth broke a 1-1 time. Toronto has homered at least once in 27 of its last 32 games. But, offensively, the Jays win, the clubs fifth in a row, was built on the legs of Jose Reyes and Anthony Gose. With two out in the third and the Athletics ahead 1-0, Anthony Gose took off from first base on a 2-2 pitch to Melky Cabrera. Shortstop Eric Sogard darted for second to cut down the would-be base stealer, which opened up a left side single for Cabrera. Gose never stopped running and when leftfielder Craig Gentry bobbled the pickup as he approached third, Gose made the turn home and scored the tying run. In the fifth, after Lawries home run had given Toronto the lead, Gose singled with one out. Reyes followed with a single of his own, advancing Gose to third. Reyes went to second on a Jesse Chavez wild pitch. Cabrera hit a groundball to Oakland first baseman Brandon Moss, who had the ball deflect off his glove as he prepared to step on first and make a play on Gose at the plate. Both Gose and Reyes scored and the Jays were ahead, 4-1. Two innings later, in the seventh, Reyes doubled with one out and attempted a steal of third. Cabrera put the ball in play, a grounder to Sogard, and Reyes didnt stop. He rounded third, hustled home and beat the Moss throw to the plate. The Jays led 5-1 and there was no looking back. "You know the old saying, Speed never goes in slumps and they can make some things happen," said manager John Gibbons. "Reyes has been around the game for a long time and hes always done that. Gose is on his way up and trying to make a name for himself and thats what he does." "Its a lot of speed there," said Reyes of the threat Gose and he present heading into the middle of the batting order. "Gose has been unbelievable for us. Not just what he brings, just playing good defence in the field and he can run every ball down. Thats something that we need. Like I said, well just take it one game at a time and continue to play the way that we play with timely hitting and good defence." Reinforcing the fact Toronto is getting contributions from different players each day, Saturday marked the first time all season that Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion failed to reach base safely in the same game. Santos Throwing Sergio Santos, on the disabled list since May 11 with a forearm strain, played catch for a second straight day prior to Saturdays game. He threw from approximately 70 feet on Friday and from 80 feet on Saturday. There is no timetable for Santos return to action. Hendriks Dispels Australian Stereotypes Friday nights winning pitcher, 25-year-old Liam Hendriks, is a native of Perth, Australia, the western-most major city in the country. Since moving to North America, hes become accustomed to dealing with questions about common stereotypes attributed to Australians. Which is the silliest? "That we all live about 15 miles away from each other," said Hendriks. "We have over 20 million people in the country. Obviously we only occupy like five percent of the country and 95 percents barren but thats the biggest one, that we all live 15 miles away and we all ride to school in kangaroos." No, he hasnt met Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame. Yes, hes been asked that question on many occasions. Hendriks wife, Kristi, is a native of Montreal. Her influence is all over one of his new favourite sports. "Im a huge hockey fan," said Hendriks. "Im a Canadiens fan, a Montreal Canadiens fan." Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . Dillon Brooks scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting for Canada while pulling down six rebounds and picking up six steals. Teammate Chris Egi had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Colorado Avalanche Gear . The redshirt freshman finished the regular season with nearly 3,500 passing yards, and 35 touchdowns with another three on the ground while leading the Seminoles to the top of the BCS Rankings. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . The 27-year-old forward has informed the Leafs that he will be unable to play in Monday nights home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Although still not in total sync as new teammates, Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis are making a difference as a backcourt for the Dallas Mavericks.Ellis scored six of his 28 points in overtime and added 10 assists, Rondo scored 21 points and hit a huge 3-pointer in OT, and the Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings 108-104 on Tuesday night.Rondo, who came to Dallas in a mid-December trade with Boston, erased a one-point deficit with a 3-pointer, giving Dallas the lead for good at 104-102 with 1:19 remaining. Ellis made four free throws from there to close it out.Rondos 3 was obviously a big one, but I thought he made some big passes, too, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. He was real aggressive and played good defence on the ball.The Mavericks rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to avoid a third straight loss. Dallas was coming off two humbling losses to Detroit (118-105) and the Clippers (120-100).When youre down 10 points with 4:11 to play, you virtually have to pitch a shutout to win the game or even get it to OT, Carlisle said. Our guys did that. Its an important game, you dont want to lose two in a row in the Western Conference. We didnt want a third one to happen.DeMarcus Cousins, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter, had 32 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, but also committed nine turnovers for the Kings. Darren Collison had 18 points and seven rebounds.Sacramento lost Rudy Gay, its second-leading scorer, late in the first quarter with a left knee strain. Gay, who is averaging nearly 21 points a game, had four points in 10 minutes.Minus Cousins and Gay, the Kings were limmited offensively in overtime when they missed all seven shots and were outscored 9-5. Avalanche Jerseys China. With (Cousins) out in overtime, we were able to set up our defence, Mavs centre Tyson Chandler said. Hes a load, one of the premier players in the league.Chandler had 16 points and 17 rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points and Chandler Parsons finished with 13 for Dallas, which rallied from a 24-point deficit to beat the Kings on Nov. 11.There were some unfortunate things that happened toward the end of the game in regulation, Collison said. But they hit some tough shots down the stretch, Dirk with a 3, Rondo with a 3, and it put us back a step. We got a little bit stagnant.With the game tied at 92, Cousins committed an offensive foul, his sixth, and slowly walked to the Kings bench with 21 seconds left as the Mavericks called timeout. Ellis missed a long jumper with a second left to send the game into overtime.Dallas hasnt dropped three consecutive games since last March.TIP-INSDallas: In a terrible shooting slump (7 of 37) the previous four games, Rondo got going following a scoreless first quarter. He had made 6 of 8 shots in the second and had 12 points. He finished 10 of 16 and added seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.Sacramento: This was the fourth of six straight home games for the Kings, who are 10-12 at Sleep Train Arena. The homestand concludes with consecutive games Friday (Miami) and Saturday (Clippers). ... Hall of Fame baseball player Joe Morgan sat in a courtside seat next to Chris Mullin in the second half.UP NEXTMavericks: Visit Denver on Wednesday.Kings: Host Miami on Friday. ' ' '