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NEW YORK – The Blue Jays entered Thursdays series finale at Yankee Stadium losers of eight of their last 11 games. Raptors Jerseys 2020 . 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) Toronto Raptors Pro Shop . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. Custom Toronto Raptors Jerseys ., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ .Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. BOSTON -- Boston Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck went onto the court right after the final buzzer sounded to pull aside the game ball for coach Brad Stevens. It took five games, but the Celtics finally helped Stevens earn his first NBA victory. "Im going to celebrate for a whole 12 minutes, and then Im going to start watching Orlando and trying to figure them out," the first-year Celtics coach said after Boston beat the Utah Jazz, one of the leagues other winless teams, 97-87 on Wednesday night. Brandon Bass scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 18 to lead Boston to its first win of the season. The game reunited Stevens, the former Butler coach, with Gordon Hayward, the Bulldogs star who took them to the 2010 NCAA championship game against Duke and just missed a shot from inside half court that would have won it. "We exchanged greetings before the game," said Hayward, who had 28 points and nine rebounds. "But being the competitors we are, we both wanted to win the basketball game." Now one of the two remaining winless teams in the NBA this season along with the Denver Nuggets, Utah trailed by 25 points in the third quarter and opened the fourth down 22 before scoring 17 of the next 20 points. Hayward had eight points, five rebounds and three assists in the fourth quarter, but the Jazz never got closer than six points. "Hes a lot better than when I coached him. And he was pretty good when I coached him," Stevens said. "I was there when he was a puppy. ... But I wish he would have backed off a little at the end." The attendance of 17,130 was about 1,500 fans short of a sellout, ending a streak of 289 games dating to the end of the 2006-07 season. That was the last game before the Celtics brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join Paul Pierce for a New Big 3. The trio helped Boston win the 2008 NBA title and took the Celtics back to the finals two years later. But the team was dismantled this summer when Garnett and Pierce were traded to the Brooklyn Nets and coach Doc Rivers left for the Los Angeles Clippers. Stevens, who guided Butler to consecutive NCAA championship games, took over the Celtics -- his first NBA experience as a coach or player. Stitched Raptors Jerseys. The rebuilding Celtics lost their first four games, including last weeks home opener in which they blew a 22-point lead. But the Celtics held on in Stevens second game in front of the home crowd, thanks largely to a second quarter in which they outscored Utah 27-8 and turned a three-point deficit into a double-digit lead. "Eight points in the second quarter. Eight points in the second quarter," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "Thats where we lost the game right there." Gerald Wallace had nine points and nine rebounds for Boston. Derrick Favours had 10 points and 14 rebounds and Enes Kanter scored 22 points with eight boards for the Jazz, who open a season with five straight losses for the first time since 1974, when they were still in New Orleans. "Its a long year," said Corbin, whose team goes to Chicago and Toronto. "Were in a bad stretch right now, losing five games in a row. Youve got two more tough ones on this road trip and youre still shorthanded. But you know what, nobodys going to feel sorry for us." The Jazz opened a 16-3 lead in the first 5 minutes but Boston scored the next seven points and cut it to 26-23 by the end of the quarter. The Celtics made the first four baskets of the second to take the lead, and they scored 12 consecutive points at the end of the half to take a 16-point lead. "You had two hungry teams that needed a win. We got off to" a fast start, forward Richard Jefferson said. "But we didnt come out in the second quarter." It was 70-45 midway through the third quarter and 84-62 heading into the fourth before the Celtics missed eight of their next nine shots. Kanter made a layup to cut it to 89-83, but Bass made a jumper and Jared Sullinger made a baby hook with 3:16 to play to make it 93-83. NOTES: The Celtics entered the night averaging 21 turnovers per game; they had 15. Utah averaged 19.8 turnovers and committed 22. ... The Celtics avoided starting the season 0-5 for the first time since 1946, when they lost the first five games in franchise history. ... The Jazz played the "old Celtics," also known as the Brooklyn Nets, on Tuesday night and lost 104-88. ' ' '