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NEW YORK – The Blue Jays entered Thursdays series finale at Yankee Stadium losers of eight of their last 11 games. Theyd dropped 15 in a row in the Bronx dating back to 2012 and had seen their lead over their pinstriped rivals in the American League East dwindle to two and a half games. This is a slump. Its lasted for about two weeks. The downturn comes on the heels of a terrific May, when Toronto won 21 of 30 games and Edwin Encarnacion captured the imagination of fans with his 16-home run month. This is not is the end of the world, nor does this slump suggest a long-term trend. This is on the offence and thats a good thing because theres too much talent in the Blue Jays lineup for the widespread malaise to continue. To wit: The starting pitching has been fine. You could say its been good and you wouldnt be wrong. In the last 11 games, Jays starters have allowed four or more earned runs only twice and have pitched to a staff ERA of 3.71. The starting pitching was supposed to be the weakness. So far it has held up. The Jays have hit only four home runs in their last 11 games. Not surprisingly, three of the home runs came in two of the three victories. Toronto continues to lead baseball with 93 team home runs, which is crucial to the clubs attack. Of the 338 runs the Jays have scored this season, 147 (43.4 per cent) have come via the long ball. Jose Bautista hasnt hit a home run in 11 games, his longest power drought of the season. Hes still hitting for a respectable average, .275 with five of his 11 hits going for doubles, but the Jays miss his power bat as the club struggles, having scored three or fewer runs eight times in the span. This is a phase, both for the individual and for the ballclub, Bautista said, that was bound to happen. "If you can execute every single day for 162, youd probably win 140 games," said Bautista. "We dont expect to execute every single day. But we do have to pick it up. Its one thing, were running into some St. Louis good pitching, some other pitching staffs. I dont want to speak badly or worse about the Yankees or the Orioles but its not the same. We faced much better pitching at home during the last homestand than we have on this road trip, except for Tanaka, who did a tremendous job. So we shouldve won some of these games that we lost." It hasnt helped, either, that Edwin Encarnacion has hit only one home run in the last 11 games. "Weve lacked some timely hitting," said Bautista. "Our pitching has been there enough, I think, that we shouldve won some of these games that weve lost. We just need to keep going on offence. We got really hot at one point and kind of hitting a little cold spurt now. Weve just got to overcome it and not get 10 hits a day but get them when you get the baserunners on." Bautista has repeatedly acknowledged hes bought in to hitting coach Kevin Seitzers philosophy of using all fields. The slugger has become a better all round hitter. His 1,000th career big league hit, achieved in the eighth inning of Wednesday nights loss, was a double to right field. That alone would have been a story last season. This year its commonplace. "I think Im more aware of some situations where people are going to keep challenging me inside, especially when Im behind in the count or theres the right situation when theres a defensive shift," said Bautista. "Why not try to go over there and it ended up working out again? But the previous at bat I tried going that way and I hit into a force out, when Melky got forced out at second. So it works sometimes, sometimes it doesnt." Its difficult to watch a team go into a funk, especially when it had become customary for fans to watch Toronto out-slug and, often, out-pitch opponents. Despite the recent struggles, the Jays offence remains top 10 in important statistical categories: Home runs – 93 (1st)On-base percentage - .329 (5th)On-base plus slugging percentage - .760 (2nd)Walks – 243 (9th) Victor Moses Jersey . According to Tony Barrett of The Times, the Liverpool captain is set to announce that he will leave the club at the end of the 2014-15 season. Andreas Christensen Chelsea Jersey . Tepesch, back from the minor leagues, earned his first major league victory in more than 10 months and the Rangers edged the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Wednesday. http://www.chelseasoccerjerseysonline.com/womens-david-luiz-chelsea-jersey/ . Fifth-seeded Cilic gained his fourth title in Zagreb and became the third Croat overall to win at least 10 career titles. Cilic also lifted his career record in Zagreb to 22-4, winning 20 of his last 21 matches at the event. Alvaro Morata Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career. Pedro Chelsea Jersey . Louis Cardinals have agreed to a one-year contract.Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - There was clearly no looking ahead for the U.S. womens hockey team. The Americans accounted for the first 26 shots in their semifinal against Sweden and rolled to a 6-1 victory, earning a spot in the gold medal game on Thursday against either Canada or Switzerland. Alex Carpenter, Kacey Bellamy and Amanda Kessel scored to stake the Americans to a 3-0 lead before the Swedes even registered a shot against U.S. goaltender Jessie Vetter late in the opening period. The United States outshot Sweden by a whopping 70-9 count in the rout. Monique Lamoureux, Megan Bozek and Brianna Decker also scored for the Americans, who havent won gold since womens hockey made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Games in Nagano. Sweden has just one victory in 28 meetings with the U.S., but it was a big win -- a 3-2 shootout triumph in the 2006 Olympic semifinals. The Americans gained a measure of revenge four years later with a 9-1 rout of the Swedes in the 2010 Olympic semis. Anna Borgqvist was credited with the lone goal for Sweden late in the contest, spoiling Vetters shutout bid. Vetter finished with just eight saves. Valentina Wallner started in net for Sweden and was pulled after yielding five goals on 47 shots. Kim Martin Hasson turned aside all but one of the 23 shots she faced in relief, including a penalty shot by Jocelyne Lamoureux late in the third. The Americans grabbed a 1-0 lead on a power play. Kelli Stack carried the puck through the offensive zone along the right wing and circled behind the net before firing a pass into the slot for Carpenter, whose shot was headed wide but deflected off the skate of a Swedish defender and slid into the net.dddddddddddd Bellamy increased the advantage just 1:06 later when a blast from the left point eluded a screened Wallner, and Kessel chipped in a rebound from the left side of the crease with 8:41 remaining in the period to make it 3-0. The Swedes took a timeout after the third goal and had a couple of chances on the power play late in the period, but managed just one harmless shot. An interference penalty on Swedens Pernilla Winberg early in the second period led to Monique Lamoureuxs power-play goal, and Bozeks point blast slid under Wallner with 7:43 left in the second for a 5-0 cushion. Wallner was pulled soon after. The Swedes finally snuck a shot past Vetter, as Borgqvist deflected an Emma Eliasson point shot into the back of the net with 6:56 remaining. The Americans had a hard time beating Martin Hasson, who made a nice pad save on Jocelyne Lamoureuxs penalty shot attempt. Lamoureux tried a spin move in front of the crease and Hasson kept the right pad extended to turn aside the backhand attempt. Martin Hasson finally yielded a goal with 3:02 to play when Deckers shot from the slot rang off the crossbar and Swedish defenseman Emilia Andersson inadvertently kicked it into her own net. ' ' '