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TORONTO - Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach Kevin Seitzer usually stands right behind the cage during batting practice while the players take their cuts. From time to time, hell move over to the side and will weigh in with a quick tip or two. Its a comfortable approach that has paid dividends for the American League East division leaders, who boast an offence that is among the best in Major League Baseball. "I think hes hands on when he needs to and he sits back and he watches when he needs to too," said Blue Jays catcher Erik Kratz. "We have a lot of good hitters here and with good hitters comes success and some streakiness. "He does a good job of limiting the bad streaks and extending the good streaks." The teams offensive statistics over the first two months of the campaign have been eye-opening. Entering Wednesdays games, the Blue Jays led the major leagues in home runs (83) and were second in runs scored (296), RBIs (281), slugging percentage (.451), hits (534) and OPS (on-base plus slugging — .784). Toronto was also tied for second in on-base percentage (.333) and sat fifth in team batting average (.264). Seitzer keeps a close eye on all the numbers but values some statistical categories more than others. "Runs scored is the one Im most concerned about," he said. "If youre scoring runs, whether you do it by home runs, situational hitting, youve got to be able to get on base, draw walks, be able to move runners and get big hits when guys are in scoring position. "It kind of encompasses everything really." The 52-year-old native of Springfield, Ill., was hired by the Blue Jays last fall after spending parts of five seasons as a hitting coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals. He succeeded Chad Mottola, who spent one year in the position. Seitzer, a two-time all-star as a player, had a .295 career average over 12 seasons with the Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians. As a coach, he has preached the importance of preparation and making hard, consistent contact in the box. "Have an idea of what the pitcher has got and what hes going to try to do, and then what each guy needs to do in order to have the best chance to succeed," he said of his approach. "I like to keep things simple. I dont like it complicated, they dont want it complicated. "Theyve made really good adjustments so far." The power portion of the Toronto lineup has delivered so far with sluggers Edwin Encarnacion (.272 average, 19 homers, 50 RBIs) and Jose Bautista (.310, 14 homers, 41 RBIs) on pace for big seasons. Among the other notable performances, first baseman Adam Lind is batting .347 while Melky Cabrera has a .303 average. Juan Francisco is hitting .276 with nine homers and 24 RBIs in just 36 games. As for that important runs scored category, three Toronto players are in the top 15 in the major leagues: Bautista (44 - tied for fourth), Encarnacion (41 - tied for seventh) and Cabrera (37 - tied for 14th). Those numbers are a big reason why Toronto took a 35-24 record — the second-best mark in the American League — into Wednesdays game at Detroit. Its a big step up from this time last year, when the Blue Jays were last in the East at 24-34. "Its been phenomenal," Seitzer said of the teams effort. "If youre in first place after the first third, then the second third and the third one, then youre right where you need to be. So I couldnt ask for more right now." The 2013 Blue Jays posted decent offensive numbers despite their poor 74-88 record. The team was ninth in runs scored (712), fourth in homers (185), 11th in RBIs (669), eighth in slugging percentage (.411) and 15th in batting average (.252). While Seitzer deserves his share of the credit for the improvement, hes quick to praise the players for their professional approach and effort. He has been very impressed with what hes seen so far. "Probably the most (impressive thing) is the talent level and then secondly, their work ethic and preparation going in," he said. "When you have that combination and the ability to make adjustments along the way, youve got a chance to do some damage every night. Theyve been doing great." Cheap Jordan 9 Retro . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. Wholesale Air Jordan 9 . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. http://www.cheapairjordan9.com/ . - The Baltimore Ravens have hired Steve Spagnuolo to be their secondary coach and assistant head coach. Air Jordan 9 Online Store . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Air Jordan 9 Clearance . The teams were scoreless for most of the first two periods before Canada scored three times in a span of less than four minutes. Sarah Potomak opened the scoring on the power play.ST. LOUIS -- Jedd Gyorkos grand slam gave him a spot in Padres history and his team a come-from-behind victory. Gyorko hit his third career grand slam and drove in five runs, sparking San Diego to a 9-5 rain-delayed victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night. It was Gyorkos 31st career homer and set the team mark for most homers by a Padres second baseman, surpassing Mark Loretta. "It seems like once a game I come up with the bases loaded," Gyorko said. "Thats a credit to the guys hitting in front of me. I have to capitalize more like tonight." Gyorkos eighth homer came on an 0-1 pitch from Kevin Siegrist (1-3) with one out in the seventh. The Padres had loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before Gyorkos drive to left. "It was a fastball down and in," Gyorko said. "It probably wasnt a bad pitch. I just put a good swing on it." Rain then halted play later in the inning. The game was delayed 1 hour, 46 minutes and only a handful of the crowd of 44,079 stayed to watch the finish. The Cardinals, who had won three in a row, dropped to three games back of Milwaukee for the NL Central lead. The Brewers beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers 3-2. "We get some offensive production early on; its hard to see that go away," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We had two really rough innings that made for a bad day." Alex Torres (2-1) earned the win when he got the last out in the sixth in relief of rookie starter Jesse Hahn. San Diego won for the sixth time in its last eight games. "Our guys did a nice job and swung at strikes for both of our rallies," San Diego manager Bud Black said. Matt Adams two-out RBI triple in the fifth gave St. Louis a 5-4 lead. It was Adams team-high fifth triple. The Cardinals struck for four runs in the second. Jhonny Peralta hit a run-scoring double down the left-field line and scored on Oscar Taveras one-out double that hit just in front of the wall in centre. Taveras returned to the starting lineup afterr two days on the bench.dddddddddddd The rookie outfielder did have a pinch-hit RBI single Friday to snap a 2-for-20 slump. Matt Carpenter added a two-run double for the Cardinals. Rymer Liriano tried to catch the line drive. It landed in front of him and bounced by. But San Diego got the runs back against Shelby Miller in the third. "It was good to see us come back against a good young arm like that," Black said. "Im very happy for the guys and their at-bats." Gyorko had an RBI single and rookie Jake Goebbert hit a bases-loaded triple with two down. He had four RBIs in his first 25 games. "You get a four-run lead, you dont go out and give up four runs," Miller said. "Unacceptable. Obviously, it doesnt sit well with me. I should have done a better job of making pitches." Seth Smiths third hit in the eighth drove the Padres final run. TRAINERS ROOM Padres: 3B Yangervis Solarte returned to the lineup after missing two games with a mild left oblique strain. He was in the leadoff spot for the third time this season. Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder) threw 30 pitches off the bullpen mound before the game. He had not pitched off a mound since his June 17 start against the New York Mets. He will undergo an MRI on Monday to check the shoulder. TARGET PRACTICE St. Louis CF Jon Jay was hit twice by a pitch. He also was hit by a pitch twice Friday, giving him four in two games. He leads the major leagues with 14 hit by pitches. CARDINALS HALL OF FAME Willie McGee, Jim Edmonds, Mike Shannon and the late Marty Marion were honoured Saturday with their induction into St. Louis newly created Cardinals Hall of Fame. UP NEXT Rookie RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (3-3, 2.72 ERA) faces Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (14-7, 2.34 ERA) in the finale of the four-game series. Despaigne pitched seven scoreless innings in a victory over Colorado in his previous start. Wainwright is 5-2 with a 1.47 ERA against the Padres. He is coming off a 3-0 loss at Miami in his last outing. 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