WOMBAT-Empfang » Foley (49th overall) out of S

TORONTO – Minutes after Kevin Pillar played the hero in Monday nights 5-4 Blue Jays walk off win over the Twins, he alluded to a conversation he shared with Jose Bautista earlier in the evening. The two were in the batting cage moments before game time. Bautista was taking final warm up cuts. Pillar was hitting soft toss. The one-time utility player turned All-Star pulled aside the clubs young, fourth outfielder and offered him some advice. Pillar described it as a discussion about hitting. Bautista told him there was nothing wrong with his swing, that he should remain aggressive in the batters box in order that the pitcher doesnt get too comfortable. He reminded Pillar that in Pillars role, he could step to the plate in crucial, late-game situations. Sure enough, Pillar got the game-winning single to snap a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning. Sure enough, he remained aggressive, perhaps too much so early in the at-bat when Pillar swung at the first two pitches down and out of the strike zone. With the count 1-2, Pillar took a pitch on the outer half to right field, Erik Kratz came around to score and the Blue Jays celebrated. Pillar thought enough of the conversation to share it with the assembled media postgame. Bautista seemed surprised to be approached on the topic. "You hope to have an effect on all your teammates, no matter what you talk about or discuss," said Bautista. "Even if its, hey youre opening up a little bit or having a 10-minute talk about being mentally ready, preparation and mindset and all that. You hope that your teammates listen to you. You dont hope that they do exactly what you say and if you say hop on one foot they start doing it, but if you make a comment that you think is going to help you hope they at least listen. Digest it and if it helps and it works then so be it." The type of conversation Bautista had with Pillar is rare this season, according to Bautista, because the Blue Jays are laden with veterans. The need doesnt arise as often. This, too, is the second year the group has been together after being arranged in the flurry of high-profile offseason moves made in November and December, 2012. "I think each person is more knowledgeable of others capabilities, more realistic with the expectations," said Bautista. "I think last year, people didnt know what to expect exactly with other players. Expectations might have been a little unrealistic, sometimes on the higher end and sometimes on the lower end. Sometimes you might have expected more out of somebody and that might have been not right. Sometimes you expected less and the guys surprise you. So now I think everybody is more in tune with each others capabilities." DICKEY THROWING MORE FASTBALLS R.A. Dickey is using his fastball more this season than he did last year. Hes thrown a heater 14.3 per cent of the time in 2014, compared to 11.9 per cent last season. This years number is more reflective of his 2012 Cy Young award season with the Mets, when 14 per cent of his pitches were fastballs. "I think its conscious because Ive had a lot of high-pitch games," said Dickey. "I had a 31-pitch first inning against (the Twins on Monday night), I had like a 30-pitch against the Royals, first inning. I need to get back to trying to induce contact earlier in counts so in that regard it has been something that Ive consciously tried to do. Especially with teams, Minnesota for instance is a team that leads the league in pitches taken so whenever you have a club like that you want to try to get ahead of guys as much as possible." Dickey is also conscious of his walk rate, which has skyrocketed this year. Hes issued a free pass to 10.2 per cent of hitters hes faced, compared to 7.5 per cent last year and 5.8 per cent in 2012. In each of his last two starts, hes allowed home runs off his fastball. On June 4 in Detroit, Miguel Cabrera took him deep on a first pitch fastball in the first inning. On Monday night against the Twins, leadoff hitter Danny Santana hit a home run off a full count fastball. Dickey had been falling behind in that first inning in Detroit and thought he could sneak a heater by Cabrera. "That was just a roll of the dice," said Dickey. "I had gone 2-0 with the first two hitters and felt that he would want to get in a hitters count. I tried to steal a strike the first time through the lineup and his numbers off me, I think hes had like 14 at-bats and two first-pitch swings and so the percentages were in my favour that he was taking and so I tried to play to those and got burned." Half of the home runs Dickeys allowed this season, five of 10, have been off fastballs. Has he become too predictable, throwing fastballs when in need of a strike? "I would hope not because I try to do a good job of throwing a lot of 2-0, 3-1, 3-2 knuckleballs," said Dickey. "Im not in the habit of routinely throwing a fastball in a fastball count but because I dont feature the same velocity as a lot of guys its a lot easier to put the barrel on the ball if theyve seen multiple fastballs in an at-bat; if theyre not well located in particular." JAYS INK TWO MORE PICKS The Blue Jays locked up their second and fifth round picks from last weeks amateur draft. They are highly-touted right-handed pitcher Sean Reid-Foley (49th overall) out of Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida and centerfielder Lane Thomas (144th overall) out of Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both players are 18 years old. Cheap Nike Air Max Australia . - While a fast-paced offence has become more of a fixture in recent years, the San Antonio Spurs can still grind out games when needed. Nike Air Max Australia Online . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week. http://www.cheapairmaxaustraliasale.com/. The 17-year-old had four goals and four assists in 38 games for Liberec in the Czech pro league this past season. Zacha had three goals and two assists in seven games at the world mens under-18 championship in April when the Czech Republic took the silver medal. Cheap Wholesale Air Max Shoes . Mueller is the grandson of the late Ron Lancaster, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback and longtime head coach in the CFL. Last season, Mueller was quarterbacks coach of the University of Regina Rams, his alma mater. Nike Air Max Shop Australia . The Italian side scored twice in a four-minute span in the second half to defeat former stars from S. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Mookie Betts put his first grand slam as his top rookie season highlight so far. Betts hit Bostons fourth slam of the year, Anthony Ranaudo pitched six effective innings and the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 Friday night. "I cant tell you the last time Ive hit a grand slam, going back to high school and everything else," Betts said. "Just to hit one is pretty enjoyable." After Yoenis Cespedes drove in his second run of the game with a double, Betts connected off Chris Archer (8-7) to cap a five-run second inning that made it 8-0. Ranaudo (3-0), recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game, gave up three runs and five hits. He has won all three of his big league starts. "I thought we had a lot of good at-bats," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Mookie, obviously, was the big blow in the second inning. Anthony Ranaudo made it stand up." Archer allowed eight runs and 10 hits over four innings. There were no incidents in the first meeting between the teams since Archer and the Rays took issue with the way David Ortiz acted after hitting a three-run homer off the Tampa Bay pitcher on July 27. Archer made a point of saying he didnt appreciate Ortiz flipping his bat before beginning his home run trot, and added that the star DH "feels like hes bigger than the game." Former Rays ace David Price, traded to Detroit July 31, and Ortiz began feuding after Big Papi homered off the former AL Cy Young winner last fall in the AL championship series. Price hit Ortiz with a fastball May 30, leading to more verbal sparring. Ortiz singled in five at-bats. Cespedes, Daniiel Nava and Will Middlebrooks each hit RBI singles during a three-run first.dddddddddddd The Rays also made an error in the inning, and have committed at least one error in six consecutive games. "It broke badly," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "We made a couple mistakes." Boston sent nine batters to the plate in the both the first and second innings. Brandon Guyer hit a two-run homer in the fifth and added an RBI single in the ninth for the Rays, who have lost nine of 13. TRAINERS ROOM Red Sox: Farrell fully expects INF Xander Bogaerts to be reinstated Saturday from the seven-day concussion list. Rays: CF Desmond Jennings was a late scratch due to left knee soreness. ... OF Wil Myers had an infield single in four at-bats and is 6 for 37 with 14 strikeouts since returning from a broken right wrist that kept him sidelined for 70 games. MINOR MATTERS The Gulf Coast League Red Sox and one of the two GCL Yankees teams have advanced to the best-of-three championship series. Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, signed to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract a week ago, is scheduled to make his pro debut in Game 2 Sunday. ... Boston LHP Edwin Escobar was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for Ranaudo. JETERS FAREWELL The Rays will honour retiring New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter before the game on Sept. 16. Its the middle game of Jeters final series at Tampa Bay. UP NEXT Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (9-11) and Red Sox RHP Allen Webster (3-2) are Saturday nights scheduled starters. Webster gave up two runs, three hits and five walks in 5 1-3 innings to beat Archer on July 27. ' ' '