Forenaddys » Boston is off until it opens

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Blue Jays opted to give veteran R.A. Dickey some extra rest after a groin injury knocked him out of his last start. The Cincinnati Reds usually cant get Johnny Cueto back out on the mound fast enough. The two six-game winners go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series at Cincinnatis Great American Ball Park. Dickey was previously in action last Saturday in Baltimore, exiting after 6 2/3 frames due to injury and taking a loss despite giving up just two earned runs. He was in line to start the opener of this set on Friday, but will now go on an extra three days of rest. The 39-year-old righty had a four-start unbeaten streak (2-0) snapped with the loss to the Orioles and is 6-5 on the year with a 4.08 earned run average. Dickey is 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA in three previous meetings with the Reds. Cueto, meanwhile, is 6-5 with a 1.92 ERA on the year and logged six scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 11. He then took on the rival Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday and did not factor into a 6-5 win despite giving up just two runs over six frames. The righty, though, did struggle by allowing seven hits and four walks while notching just two strikeouts. Still, Cueto sits at 6-5 with a 1.92 ERA on the year. Cueto, 28, beat Toronto on June 25, 2009 the only other time he faced the club, but did give up five runs over six frames of work. The Reds blew an early 8-0 lead in losing Fridays opener, but did not make the same mistake last night en route to an 11-1 triumph that evened the series. Each of the Reds first seven hitters contributed an RBI, with Jay Bruce and Devin Mesoraco homering to help Cincinnati snap a two-game skid and win for the seventh time in 10 games. Mike Leake allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts over eight solid innings to get the win. "What (Leake) did today by staying in the game for eight innings and giving us a chance to win the game, was save our bullpen," said Reds manager Bryan Price. "It was hopefully something that will pay dividends (Sunday)." J.A. Happ was roughed up for eight runs -- seven earned -- over four innings of work for the Blue Jays, who have lost four of their last five and fell to 3-6 on a 10-game road trip. Like Dickey on Friday, the Blue Jays will give shortstop Jose Reyes some precautionary rest today after he fouled a ball off his leg in the fifth inning of Saturdays loss. Reyes came out of the game and is day-to-day. "I have to ice it like three more times tonight and see how it feels tomorrow," Reyes said on Torontos official website. "Right now its a little bit sore, but its not a big deal. "(Manager John Gibbons) went to my locker and said he was going to give me the day off. Its OK, Ill take that and see what happens." Toronto is 9-5 versus Cincinnati dating back to the 2003 campaign. Cheap Air Max 90 Clearance . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price. Nike Vapormax Outlet . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.c...x-97-shoes.html. Smith, an eighth overall pick, had two goals in only 276 minutes of playing time over 16 appearances last season. The left side midfielder played only 43 minutes in three games this season. Fake Kd Shoes . "It feels good, Ive never had one before, not even in College," Hagelin said after the Rangers outgunned the Jets 4-2, behind some solid goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist following a pretty wide open first period. Cheap Kd Shoes China . When New Zealand finally held on for an 8-7 win, France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy collapsed to the ground, having given every drop of energy he could muster, and lay prone as All Blacks danced around him in celebration. Few critics had given France any chance, but coach Marc Lievremonts team rallied from 8-0 down and came within one kick of taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining, only for flyhalf Francois Trinh-Ducs 49-meter effort to drift wide.BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins own the NHLs best home record. Now they know theyll have home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. Johnny Boychuk scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period, Milan Lucic had two goals and the Bruins clinched the conferences best record with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. With four games remaining on their schedule, the Bruins have 50 regulation and overtime wins -- the leagues first tiebreaker. Second-place Pittsburgh has 44 and cant catch Boston if it wins the rest of its games. "You work so hard for that all season, its nice we could do it here," Lucic said. It was Bostons league-leading 30th home victory. The win also moved Boston two points ahead of St. Louis for the NHLs best record. The Blues lost to Colorado on Saturday. "With the win today we clinched (the conference), and its good for our team," Boston defenceman Torey Krug said. "Were excited about having home ice now." Boston coach Claude Julien knows its been a good season. "You just have to look at our record," he said. "Were at 113 (points). I think that shows you overall weve been a pretty good team. Weve had struggles at times, but I dont think theres an area Id consider a weakness on the team." David Krejci also scored for the Bruins and Patrice Bergeron extended his consecutive point streak to 11 games, setting up Boychuks go-ahead score. Wayne Simmonds and Jay Rosehill scored for the Flyers, who are in a tight race with a group of teams for a playoff spot. "Every game is a must-win," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "There are a lot of teams behind us trying to make the playoffs. We have played good enough to be in the position we are right now and we cant forget that. We have to remember that we are a good team and we are in this position because we did a lot of good things this year." Tuukka Rask stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who had lost their past two games. Ray Emery made 37 saves for the Flyers. Philadelphia has lost three straight. Emery hopes the Flyers can turn thiings around quickly.dddddddddddd "The playoffs come fast and if youre not playing well, normally you see yourselves out pretty quick," he said. "So we definitely want to be sharp going in." Bergeron won a faceoff cleanly back to Boychuk, who fired a slap shot past Emerys glove for the go-ahead goal. Lucic scored less than a minute later and Chris Kelly added an empty-netter with 21 seconds to play. The teams were tied 2-2 entering the third period after the Flyers came back twice. Trailing 1-0, the Flyers snapped a lengthy scoreless stretch on Simmonds power-play goal 14:36 into the second when he gained possession of a shot off the back boards and slipped a backhand behind Rask. Philadelphia was shut out in its past two games, and it halted the scoreless stretch at 165:01. But Boston regained the lead 19 seconds later when Krejci circled the net and fed Lucic, who one-timed a shot past Emery from the slot. Philadelphia then tied it at 2 when Rosehill collected Michael Raffls pass alone at the bottom of the right circle, spun quickly and beat Rask inside the far post at 16:21. Krejcis goal 15:56 into the first period gave Boston a 1-0 lead. He scored off the rebound of Loui Erikssons shot, collecting the puck and shifting to his right before firing a wrist shot into the open side of the net. NOTES: Boston F Jarome Iginla was sidelined for the second time in three games, moving Eriksson to the top line. The team said the first one was because of a lower body injury, but didnt have injury details of this one before the game. "Its very minor," Julien said. "More of a maintenance day." ... Bruins D Kevan Miller was also scratched with an unspecified injury. ... The Flyers host Buffalo on Sunday before three straight road games. ... Boston is off until it opens a two-game road trip at Minnesota on Tuesday. The Bruins are at Winnipeg on Thursday. ... Boston F Reilly Smith was presented the teams Seventh Player Award before the game. The award is voted by the fans for the player that performs "above and beyond" expectations. ... It was the Flyers only regular season visit to Boston. ' ' '