Almost immediately after the Toronto Blue Jays finished May with an outstanding 21-9 record, skipper John Gibbons basically said that was all well and good, but the Jays couldnt let up and had to avoid the "June Swoon". Kevin Faulk Womens Jersey . That prompted me to go back through the years that Rogers has owned the club to see how many times the Jays have actually stumbled in June and seriously damaged their seasons. This is Rogers 15th season of club ownership. They have had three general managers, Gord Ash (inherited), J.P Ricciardi and Alex Anthopoulos. Theyve also had six managers, Buck Martinez (inherited), Carlos Tosca, John Gibbons (twice), Cito Gaston and John Farrell. Over the 14 complete seasons, they have had five winning Junes and nine losing ones. Of those nine losing months of June, I can only classify a couple of them as season-wreckers. In 2008, after a great May, the Jays stumbled in June to a 10-16 mark. John Gibbons remembers it well because he was fired on 20th of that month and replaced by Cito Gaston. Cito went on to have one of those Junes of his own two years later in 2010. The Jays went 9-17 that month, though they recovered to finish at 85-77, albeit still winding up in fourth place in the tough American League East. Cito retired from his second stint as Blue Jays manager at the end of that season. In 2002, the Jays got off to a horrible 8-20 start under second-year skipper and now Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez. The team seemed to be coming around a bit and actually swept the Detroit Tigers in a three-game series that carried over in the start of June. But on June 3, Ricciardi fired Buck and promoted one of his own hires in bench coach Carlos Tosca to be manager. The Jays finished with a 15-12 record for that month. The Jays most common June record is 12-15. Four times they have hit those figures and once they just missed it, going 12-14 in 2009. The Jays best Junes in the Rogers era have been 15-11 in 2003, 16-11 in 2006 and 17-9 last season under Gibbons fuelled by that 11-game win streak. Even with that stellar month, the Jays still finished at 74-88, just one game better than the year before under John Farrell. In his four full season managing the Jays so far, Gibbons actually has a winning June record at 59-48, but I guess that une 2008 firing would make a man just a little wary. The season that sticks out in comparison to this year is 2010. The Jays, under Cito, were 31-22 at the end of May. Thats nine games over .500, exactly the same as this years edition were at 33-24. The 2010 team, as we mentioned, finished at 85-77, but didnt come close to making the post-season. So Gibbonss point is well taken. Even though, the Jays have equalled their best record through the end of May since Rogers took over they still have a long way to go - a four-month grind in fact - to try and earn their first playoff spot since 1993. - When the Tampa Bay Rays opted to keep lefty David Price in the off-season, it looked as though they were committed to winning this season. Many pundits, yours truly included, thought they actually had the talent to win the AL East. Now, thanks to injuries to pitchers Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson and Alex Cobb and a distinct lack of hitting, they have tumbled into the basement in the East at 23-34 after getting swept at Fenway over the weekend. Ben Zobrist, perhaps their most valuable player, is back off of the DL, as is Cobb, but now Wil Myers is on the disabled list with a sprained right wrist. It will be interesting to see between now and the deadline if the Rays put the blame for this season on the injuries or if they go into full rebuild mode and make Price the centrepiece of their wheeling and dealing. - The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, have staged a dramatic recovery. After dropping 10 in a row and losing starters Felix Doubront and Clay Buchholz to the disabled list, as well as third baseman Will Middlebrooks, theyve turned around and won seven straight and have closed to within six games of the Blue Jays and two-and-a-half of the second Wild Card slot. - The Baltimore Orioles are breathing a huge sigh of relief. Nelson Cruz got nailed on the left hand by a Scott Feldman pitch on Sunday versus the Houston Astros and had to leave the game after just one at-bat. Fortunately, the x-rays were negative. Cruz is turning out to be the biggest bargain basement pick-up of the off-season. The 33-year-old slugger, in the wake of his PED suspension, left the Texas Rangers as a free agent and signed late with Baltimore on a one-year deal worth $8 million. Cruz leads the Bigs with 20 homers and 52 runs batted in, just ahead of the Jays Edwin Encarnacion who has 19 roundtrippers and 50 runs batted in. Cruz is putting up career numbers in a contract year. He has never hit more than 33 home runs in a season and has never driven in more than 90 in a campaign. Barring an injury, he should easily surpass both totals and help keep the Os in the East race all season long. - If the season ended today and, of course, it doesnt, the Blue Jays would play the Detroit Tigers in the American League Divisional Series and would have home field advantage in the series. That would be a dream match-up in these parts and adds a little bit of drama for their upcoming three-game set starting Tuesday night at Comerica Park. The Jays will be sending Drew Hutchison, R.A. Dickey and J.A. Happ up against Anibal Sanchez, Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander. Rob Gronkowski Jersey . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Julian Edelman Youth Jersey . While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/Elite-Tedy-Bruschi-Patriots-Jersey/ . Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers.HOUSTON - J.J. Watt had one of the best games of his stellar career in Houstons win over Washington in the season opener. With No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney out for 4-6 weeks after knee surgery, the Texans will need the defensive end to build on his great 2014 debut this week against the Raiders. Watt had two tackles for losses including a sack, blocked an extra point, recovered a fumble and swatted down a pass. He also was credited with five hurries of Robert Griffin III in a 17-6 win that snapped a 14-game skid by Houston. Of course, the overachieving Watt wasnt ready to pat himself on the back for his performance in his first game since signing a six-year, $100 million contract. "Theres still a lot of things I can do better," Watt said. "It was the first game of the season so Im still working through some things ... I had a lot of fun out there but theres still things to correct." That doesnt mean he wasnt delighted to fill in so many different categories on the stat sheet. "In that way I think it was one of the better games," he said. "Whether it was the extra point or the knockdown or the TFL and those types of things, thats pretty neat when you can contribute in more ways than one. Thats the type of game thats fun to play in." The expectations were high for this defence featuring Watt and with the addition of Clowney, who moved from defensive end to outside linebacker in defensive co-ordinator Romeo Crennels scheme. The loss of Clowey is a blow for the unit, but the team is confident that Whitney Mercilus will fill in nicely while he recovers. Mercilus was a late first-round pick in 2012 who started each game for the Texans last season and said that Watts work encourages the rest of the defence to play better. "Its great to have somebody on the defence like that who can make plays and it actually motivates the whole defence to go out there and try to keep doing that over and over," Mercilus said. Houstons defence got a boost in Week 1 with the return of middle linebacker Brian Cushing, who had 114 tackles in 2011, but has played justt 12 games combined in the past two seasons because of injuries. Sony Michel Patriots Jersey. Cushing had five tackles in his return and the Texans were also impressed by the work of Brooks Reed. Reed is Houstons other starting outside linebacker, who had five tackles and a sack on Sunday. Watt likes that the defence has so many guys who can make an impact. "You never know where the next hit is going to come from, you never know where the next big play is going to come from and thats when your defence is really successful," he said. "When you cant really prepare for one thing or another and every guy is doing their part and playing their role the defence as a whole really fits together." This week the Texans will face rookie quarterback Derek Carr, whose brother David was the first overall pick of the Texans in the franchises first season in 2002. Watt was very complimentary of Carr and knows that he and the Oakland offence will be a challenge. "Anytime a rookie quarterback is named a starter in the NFL it shows that his coaches and his teammates have confidence in him," Watt said. "And for you to be able to earn their confidence and trust in such a short amount of time says a lot about you." Sunday will also be a reunion of sorts for Watt now that former teammate Antonio Smith plays for the Raiders. Smith spent the last five seasons in Houston, starting on the line with Watt since his rookie season in 2011. "I learned a good deal. Hes a very good guy," Watt said of Smith. "He taught me some things and also taught me the ropes about the NFL." Watt was a first-round draft pick, but appreciated hearing about the ups and downs at the start of Smiths NFL career. Smith was released by the Cardinals twice and had a stint in NFL Europe before re-signing and becoming a starter in Arizona. "Even though my path was different I still learned from it and it was a great story," Watt said. "He found a way to persevere through it all ... so I learned from him that way, too." ___ Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '