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. Mario Gotze Jersey . 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. Karim Bellarabi Jersey . He was attracted by the punishing defence, the strong running game and a coaching staff he trusted. The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver. Sami Khedira Jersey . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions. http://www.germanyfcsoccershop.com/c-32-joshua-kimmich-germany-jersey.aspx . Bring on Freddy Garcia. The well-travelled 36-year-old right-hander earned his second NL victory since 2007, and his first since he joined the Atlanta Braves last month, pitching six innings to help beat Miami 6-1 Thursday.SARNIA, Ont. -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Forward Michael Dal Colle led the Generals (2-0-0) offensively with two goals and an assist and now leads the OHL with seven points in two games. Brian Hughes and Bradley Latour also scored for Oshawa while Josh Sterk chipped in with two assists. Nikolay Goldobin scored two goals and set up one more for the Sting (0-1-0) as Daniel Nikandrov and Craig Duinick added single goals. Danial Altshuller made 27 saves for the victory while Brodie Barrick stopped 25-of-30 shots in a losing cause. Duinick opened the scoring 4:46 into the first period to give Sarnia a 1-0 lead. Hughes responded with a short-handed goal at 9:23 to tie the game, however Goldobin scored at 14:05 to give the Sting a one-goal edge after 20 minutes of play. Dal Colle scored the only goal in the second period, which came by way of the power play with only four seconds left on the clock. Nikandrov and Latour traded goals midway through the third period before Dal Colle gave the Generals their first lead of the game at 15:31. Goldobin looked to force overtime for Sarnia when he tied the game 4-4 with only 37 seconds remaining in the period, however Smith scored the eventual winner on the next shift for Oshawa. Oshawa went 1 for 6 on the power play while Sarnia failed to score on ten chances with the man advantage. --- Storm 4 Otters 3 (OT) GUELPH, Ont. -- Zac Leslie scored 13 seconds into overtime and added two assists in regulation as the Storm edged Erie. Jason Dickinson had a goal and an assist for the Storm (1-0-0) while Robby Fabbri and Tyler Bertuzzi each scored once. Stephen Harper, Connor Brown and Michael Curtis supplied the offence for the Otters (0-0-1). Justin Nichols made 36 saves for the win as Oscar Dansk turned aside 33 shots in defeat. --- Rangers 4 Spirit 2 KITCHENER, Ont. -- Darby Llewellyn scored twice as the Rangers doubled up Saginaw. Justin Bailey andd Matia Marcantuoni also scored for the Rangers (1-0-0) and Brent Pedersen had two assists. Ilkay Gundogan Jersey. . Tyson Teichmann made 25 saves for the win. Cody Payne scored both goals for the Spirit (0-2-0) and Jake Paterson stopped 52-of-55 shots to give his team a chance for the two points. --- Knights 3 Whalers 0 LONDON, Ont. -- Anthony Stolarz stopped all 30 shots he faced as the Knights blanked Plymouth. Kyle Platzer scored twice for London (1-0-0) while Dakota Mermis had a goal and an assist. Francesco Vilardi was a team worst minus-2 for the Whalers (0-1-0) while Alex Nedeljkovic made 37 saves in a losing cause. --- Attack 5 Steelheads 3 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Gemel Smith recorded his second career hat trick as Owen Sound downed the Steelheads. Holden Cooke and Daniel Milne each scored for the Attack (1-0-0) and Kyle Hope chipped in with three assists. Trevor Carrick, Sam Babinstev and Bryson Cianfrone scored for Mississauga (1-1-0). Brandon Hope made 28 saves for the win as Spender Martin turned aside 17 shots in defeat. --- 67s 5 Bulls 4 OTTAWA, -- Taylor Fielding scored twice and Mike Vlajkov had a goal and two assists as the 67s came from behind to defeat Belleville. Joseph Blandisi and Sam Studnicka also scored for Ottawa (1-0-0), which trailed by two goals in the third period, and Jacob Blair made 17 saves for the win. Brady Austin and David Tomasek had a goal and an assist each for the Bulls (0-1-0) while Garrett Hooey and Scott Simmonds rounded out the offence. Charlie Graham stopped 34 shots in a losing cause. --- Frontenacs 5 Battalion 2 KINGSTON, Ont. --Ryan Kujawinksi and Darcy Greenaway had two goals each as the Frontenacs beat North Bay. Billy Jenkins also scored for Kingston (2-0-0) and Matt Mahalak stopped 32-of-34 shots for the win. Mark Raycroft and Mike Amadio scored for the Battalion (0-1-0) while Jake Smith made 26 saves in defeat. --- Greyhounds at Wolves SUDBURY, Ont. -- Game was postponed at the 1:21 mark of the first period due to fog in the arena. A new date has yet to be determined. Cheap Jerseys 2018 Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online ' ' '