ating around." The nine-year veteran is clearly eager to show what

NEW YORK -- Before this season, J.A. Happ had a career record of 62-61 with a 4.13 ERA. This year, hes putting up Cy Young Award numbers.Happ won his career-best 11th consecutive decision to become the first 17-game winner in the majors, pitching the Toronto Blue Jays past the New York Yankees 7-4 on Wednesday.Hes just turned into a better pitcher. Hes more of a command guy, Toronto manager John Gibbons said. Hes got a great feel. Hes doing a tremendous job.Melvin Upton Jr. hit a three-run homer and Darwin Barney had an early two-run double for the first-place Blue Jays, who hold a slim lead over Baltimore and Boston in the AL East. Russell Martin added three hits, including an RBI single off CC Sabathia, as the Blue Jays took two of three in the series, delighting a vocal contingent of Toronto fans at Yankee Stadium.Happ (17-3) pitched into the eighth inning and extended the longest active winning streak in the majors. He struck out nine, walked one and yielded solo homers to Gary Sanchez, Starlin Castro and Chase Headley.If you can try to limit them to solos, you give yourself a chance. Thats kind of what happened today, Happ said.Signed as a free agent in the offseason to a $36 million, three-year contract, Happ has won five straight starts. The 33-year-old lefty, who hasnt lost since June 6 at Detroit, is 3-0 in four outings against the Yankees this year.Hes dominant, teammate Josh Donaldson said. Hes just been doing his thing, day in and day out. Hes just been great.Happ hides the ball well and has a sneaky fastball that he moves all around and can elevate to get strikeouts. His big season is a continuation of his success down the stretch last year, when he went 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 11 starts after getting traded from Seattle to Pittsburgh.Hes a pleasure, man. Hes an absolute pro. As consistent as you can get, said Martin, the Blue Jays catcher. Hes got good stuff and hes aggressive, doesnt walk many guys. When they get runs, they have to earn them.Happ was lifted after Headleys infield single with one out in the eighth. Joaquin Benoit gave up an RBI single to rookie Aaron Judge that made it 7-4, but Roberto Osuna struck out Didi Gregorius on a 97 mph fastball with two on to end the inning.Osuna got four straight outs for his 27th save in 29 attempts.Martin hit an RBI single in the fifth that put Toronto ahead 4-2 before Upton broke it open with an opposite-field drive to right, the latest right-handed Toronto hitter to take advantage of the short porch at Yankee Stadium over the past two days.It was Uptons first home run for the Blue Jays since they obtained him from San Diego in a trade July 26. He began the day batting .190 with two RBI in 58 at-bats for Toronto.Been waiting for it, and it finally happened. Obviously, it feels good, Upton said. Just trying to get going and help this team.Sabathia (7-10) lasted six innings in a bizarre outing. The big lefty struck out seven of the first 13 batters and finished with 12 strikeouts, his most in four years. But he was charged with a season-high seven runs and nine hits while losing his fifth straight start against Toronto.Theres no reason we shouldve given up more than four today. We had a tough day defensively that cost us, New York manager Joe Girardi said.Sabathia became the first pitcher in Yankees history to strike out at least 12 and allow seven earned runs.Yeah, its crazy. But Ill be back out there in five days and be ready to go, he said.DONALDSON DAY TO DAYDonaldson, last years AL MVP, was removed after six innings. The team said he jammed his right thumb in his final at-bat, a groundout to second.He couldnt hold the bat, Gibbons said.X-rays were negative and the slugger is day to day, according to Gibbons, who said Donaldson had a similar injury earlier this season and it didnt last long.Donaldson said he hopes to play Friday in Cleveland.Its obviously not the first time its happened this year, but it got me pretty good and I didnt want to do any further damage, he said.Donaldson was the DH, with Barney playing third base.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: After going through a full pregame workout with the club Friday in Cleveland, theres a good chance CF Kevin Pillar (sprained left thumb) will head to Florida this weekend to play a couple of minor league rehab games, Gibbons said. The team hopes Pillar will be ready to come off the 15-day DL next Tuesday against the Angels. ... RF Jose Bautista (sprained left knee) is feeling better and theres an outside shot hell be ready to come off the DL after his 15 days are up on Aug. 25, Gibbons said.Yankees: LF Brett Gardner (ankle) was back in the lineup after missing four games. Gardner batted leadoff as Girardi rested CF Jacoby Ellsbury, C-DH Brian McCann and 1B Mark Teixeira against Happ.UP NEXTBlue Jays: Following an off day, Toronto begins a three-game series Friday night in Cleveland. LHP Francisco Liriano faces Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (9-5, 3.97 ERA). Liriano is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts for the Blue Jays since they acquired him from Pittsburgh at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. He is 6-12 with a 5.46 ERA overall.Yankees: New York plays 12 of its next 15 games on the road, starting with a six-game West Coast swing. After an off day, RHP Masahiro Tanaka (9-4, 3.40 ERA) pitches Friday night at the Los Angeles Angels against RHP Jered Weaver (8-10, 5.32).Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . 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Wholesale Jerseys China .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach.The infirmary is filling up quickly in Winnipeg, and the offensively fraught Blue Bombers are counting on a few number-twos to fill in and help the club earn their first win at Investors Group Field, and more importantly, snag another victory over an East Division rival before a string of contests against a dangerous looking West. "As the football nature of things work, you always get hurt at the same position," said head coach Tim Burke. "Its the way it always works." Starting defensive tackles Bryant Turner and J.T. Gilmore remain out for Week 4 against the visiting Argonauts, as well as linebackers Rene Stephan and Jeremy McGee. Terrell Parker, the teams new starting weak-side linebacker, was lost to a torn ACL against the Tiger-Cats in Week 3. Ian Wild was activated off the practice roster and will slot in for Parker as well as for long-snapper Chris Cvetkovic who injured his calf in practice. "It definitely helps that you have one of the best defences in the CFL that youre playing on," said Wild, who enters his first professional game this week. "Youve just got to do your role. I think thats why our defence is so good, because everybody does their role and we play team defence." Some good news on the Blue and Gold injury front is the long-awaited return of strong-side linebacker Johnny Sears after recovering from offseason knee surgery. "Everything is feeling good right now so its about time to get back and let loose," said Sears, who thinks he and Wild will have a smooth transition into the starting lineup. "I think well be able to hit the ground running. I think it was difficult the first day at practice because new guys were getting in new positions but I think from watching a lot of film and getting the reps at practice — single reps for just us in particular — I think we should be fine." The most devastatingly hit position is the receiving corps — the same group quarterback Buck Pierce is having trouble utilizing consistently through the seasons first three weeks. SStarters Terrence Edwards (shoulder), Chris Matthews (back), and leading pass-catcher Cory Watson (hamstring) are all out, leaving backups Isaac Anderson, Doug Pierce, and Rory Kholert to fill in.dddddddddddd Third-year receivers Jade Etienne and Clarence Denmark round out the suddenly inexperienced group. But whoever is on the receiving end, it all starts with offensive leader Buck Pierce, who has taken an inordinate amount of sacks this season as offensive coordinator Gary Crowtons new system for 2013 works to keep him "protected" in the pocket. "Sometimes Buck has got to help us by getting rid of the ball," said Crowton. "I think Buck can do a little bit better job getting rid of that football and not take the sacks. Even though we gave up six sacks (against Hamilton), which were not happy with at all, I think the rest of the time we were passing we had a cleaner pocket. He has better vision and could see what he was looking at without a guy in his face when throwing the ball. That was positive. We just cant have those errors." But after another relatively uninspiring outing under Crowtons new system, the team plans to take the reins off Pierce in Week 4 and allow him to play his gunslinger-type game and work to extend plays outside of the pocket. "Until you really break out and have a great game and show everybody what you can do — we just havent done that this year, so those question marks are still kind of floating around." The nine-year veteran is clearly eager to show what he is capable of. "I love going against this type of defence," said Pierce on facing the Argonauts. "For the challenges that they pose, and I think weve got a good plan going in this week, so Im excited about it." "Ive always kind of related (Toronto defensive coordinator) Chris Jones as a guy that wants to go out there and brawl," added Pierce. "My mentality coming into this game is its going to be a fight. Its going to be a fight and Im ready for 12 rounds of it." ' ' '