TORONTO – Watching Brett Cecil pitch, its difficult to imagine that just a little more than a year ago, a group of reporters approached his locker stall in Dunedin to ask if hed cracked the 2013 lineup. Jimmy Johnson Jersey . Whats happened since - an All-Star appearance and a 2.82 ERA in 60 appearances last season and a perfect run over his first 10 outings (eight-and-two-thirds innings) this season - is special. There was Cecil on Tuesday, called upon by manager John Gibbons in the seventh inning of a 3-3 game with the Blue Jays in a jam, bailing out his team once again. The Orioles had runners on second and third with one out. Cecil walked slugging left-hander Chris Davis before striking out Adam Jones and Steve Clevenger. The clutch performance paved the way to a six-run eighth and Toronto beat the Orioles 9-3, winning the opening game of a fourth-consecutive series. “Just trying to make good pitches,” said Cecil. Cecil is a native of Dunkirk, Maryland. He went to the University of Maryland and served as the Terrapins closer in his sophomore year of 2006, saving 13 games to set a school record. His success as a reliever in college prepared him for the role hes tasked with now. “I knew right off the bat once I moved to the ‘pen that it wouldnt take long,” said Cecil. “Ive done it before and it worked out in the past and it sure has now.” GIBBONS APPROACH TO BULLPEN Entering Tuesdays action, the Blue Jays had received 103 2/3 innings in 19 games from their starting pitchers, an average of between five-and-a-third and five and two-thirds innings per outing. Toronto will need more from its starting five and the sooner the better. After this coming Mondays off day, the Blue Jays will begin a stretch in which they have one day off between April 29 and June 1. Manager John Gibbons tries to balance the short-term and long-term consequences of each decision. “I mean, youve got to think long-term, but youre trying to win that game, too,” said Gibbons. “If theyre fresh you go to them … You want (starters) to go deeper into the game, but if they start to lose it or start to tire out because of the pitches or whatever it is, you look at the lineup or what youre facing, youre trying to hold that game in check.” Youll start to see more of J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond in the fifth and sixth innings in games if the starters dont get deep. The specialists at the back-end of the bullpen cant be the daily option. “If you wear them down too much, those guys arent going to be probably effective later, anyway,” said Gibbons. “Thats why youre going to need some other guys to step up and get some big outs in the sixth, maybe the seventh.” In the last two seasons, 13 of the 20 playoff teams have had staffs that averaged six or more innings per start. The worst, Cleveland, averaged just better than five-and-two-thirds innings per start last season. The Blue Jays, in the early going of 2014, are averaging about an out fewer per start than the Indians of last year. If that doesnt seem like much, prorate that stat over 162 games. Youre asking your bullpen to get 162 more outs over the course of the season. INJURED JANSSEN IN TORONTO Casey Janssen rejoined his teammates in Toronto on Tuesday after his minor-league rehab assignment was halted. The strain in his abdominal/back area, near his oblique, hasnt improved to the point where Janssen is comfortable continuing to appear in games. He threw an inning for Single-A Dunedin a week ago Tuesday, allowing a hit and striking out one. “To be clear, it wasnt a setback,” said Janssen. “We realized it wasnt going to heal doing what I was doing. So instead of putting our foot on the gas, we had to take it off a bit and listen to my body a little bit more.” Janssen played catch before Tuesdays game with the Orioles. The plan is to throw a bullpen session in Toronto later this week and, if hes feeling better, Janssen will go back out on a rehab assignment. “Thats the frustrating part. Im not in pain,” said Janssen. “I mean theres a little bit of annoyance in there and the thing was, as long as you werent in pain, to keep progressing. So I didnt have symptoms of pain, but realizing that the swelling wasnt going to go away and Im in more jeopardy of maybe reinjuring, either that or somewhere else because Im compensating, we added it all up and it didnt make sense.” The Blue Jays bullpen, usually reliable, had two hiccups toward the end of the just-completed road trip through Baltimore, Minnesota and Cleveland. A six-run, eight-walk eighth inning turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-5 deficit in Thursday nights loss to the Twins. On Sunday, three walks and a bases-clearing double in the sixth turned a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit in a loss to the Indians. Janssen is confident his mates will get back on track. “Those guys are still one of the best in the game,” said Janssen. “I dont care what a game or two happened or didnt happen. Basically, these guys are really, really good. Its a strength of our team and it will be a strength of our team.” ROGERS REBUILDING CONFIDENCE Esmil Rogers pitched two scoreless innings to mop up Saturdays shutout win in Cleveland. After a tough start, he needed it. “I know that I can do that more than one time,” said Rogers. “Anytime they need me, Im going to be there. If Im healthy, Im going to be great.” Rogers has allowed a staff-high four home runs on the season in just 10 1/3 innings pitched. Watching balls fly out of the park, he admits, rattled his confidence. “Sometimes you get a little frustrated about that because people can see you and you want to do the best you can,” said Rogers. “I think about it and I dont want it to happen again, but this is baseball. You dont know when youre going to be good and when youre going to be bad.” Matt Light Jersey .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No. Norm Standlee Jersey . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-stanley-morgan-jersey-large-461f.html . - The Baltimore Ravens and tight end Dennis Pitta reached agreement on a five-year contract Friday.BALTIMORE -- It was one of those rare days when everything went right for the Houston Astros. Houston took an early lead and added to it late. The starting pitching was solid. The bullpen was nearly perfect. The result was a 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday that enabled the young Astros to avert a three-game sweep. "Overall, a good team win," manager Bo Porter said. Jason Castro and Marc Krauss homered to account for all of Houstons offence, and Jarred Cosart (2-3) allowed two runs over six innings for the Astros, who had lost seven of eight before ending Baltimores five-game winning streak. Castro hit a three-run homer off Chris Tillman (3-2) in the first inning, and the Astros made the advantage stand up. "When we can come out and score early, thats really when were at our best," Castro said. "It kind of gives some of the young staff a little bit of a breather from the beginning." It was 3-2 before Krauss connected against T.J. McFarland with a runner on in the seventh. "Those are the runs we have not been able to get," Porter said. "Those tack-on runs that give you an extra cushion, make it a three-run lead instead of a one-run lead. That was a huge home run." Houston is 11-11 when it hits a home run and 1-15 when it doesnt. Although the Astros bullpen came in with a 6.21 ERA, Tony Sipp struck out five in two perfect innings and Chad Qualls worked a hitless ninth for his second save. "I have confidence no matter who they put in behind me that they can get the job done," Cosart said. Jose Altuve had three hits for the Astros, who improved to 6-12 against the Orioles -- including 2-10 at Camden Yards. Everything seemed to fall into place for the team with the worst record in the major leagues. "Weve played some good baseball the last two days," third baseman Matt Dominguez said. "Pitched the ball well, got some timely hits. Hopefully that can give us a jumpstart." Adam Jones drove in both Baltimore runs, giving him 501 RBIs in 981 career games. Tillman gave up three runs, four hits and a season-high five walks in fivee innings. Scott Bull Jersey. The right-hander settled down after issuing three walks and a home run in the first inning, but needed 105 pitches to get 15 outs. "It was a struggle for me. Fastball command wasnt there for me from the get-go," Tillman said. "It was a battle all day." Before the game, the Orioles activated Chris Davis (strained left oblique) from the 15-day disabled list and put catcher Matt Wieters on the DL with a strained right elbow. Davis went 2 for 4 in his first game since April 25. "Felt good," Davis said. "Timing is a little off, little in-between. But it was definitely good to be in there, moving around again." Houston took a 3-0 lead before Tillman retired a batter. After Altuve and Dexter Fowler walked, Castro hit the right-handers next pitch over the centre-field wall. Tillman has yielded seven first-inning runs this season, his most in any inning. "He kept us in the ballgame and threw some zeros up after that," manager Buck Showalter said. "But it wasnt what hes capable of or what weve come to expect. Or more importantly, what Chris has come to expect." Jones hit a two-run single to get Baltimore to 3-2 in the third. A double by Davis in the fifth put two runners in scoring position, but Jones struck out before Nelson Cruz flied out. NOTES: The Orioles were denied consecutive three-game sweeps for the first time since 2005. They won three in a row at Tampa Bay before facing the Astros. ... The game drew 45,944 fans, the second sellout of the season at Camden Yards. ... Baltimores Nick Markakis singled in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, one short of his career high. ... Tillmans 399th and 400th career strikeouts came against George Springer in the first and third. ... Houstons Alex Presley snapped an 0-for-14 skid with a sixth-inning single. ... Bud Norris takes the mound for Baltimore on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against Detroit. The Astros return home to face Texas. ... Since coming to Houston from the Padres organization, Sipp has retired all 12 batters hes faced with seven strikeouts. ' ' '