CLEVELAND – Ask a Blue Jays fan still hesitant to believe in the team whether a 5-4, nine-game run through Baltimore, Minnesota and Cleveland would be satisfactory early in the season, and the answer likely would be in the affirmative. Adam Oates Jersey . Yet its those defeats, snatched from the jaws of victory, which sting the most and Toronto had two of them on the trip. The Jays led 4-2 in the sixth inning when Aaron Loup walked the bases loaded and gave up a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to the Indians David Murphy. Cleveland had a lead it wouldnt relinquish, ultimately winning the game 6-4. The meltdown was relatively minor compared to Thursday nights eighth inning debacle in Minnesota, which saw three relievers give up six runs on just one hit and an unseemly eight walks in a 9-5 loss to the Twins. Its jarring because the Blue Jays bullpen has been consistently reliable. It raises two concerns about the pitching staff. First: the walks. Six more on Sunday afternoon for a season total of 81, which pending the behaviour of Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers in their game against the Dodgers later Sunday, ranks second-most in baseball. "The walks have killed us so far," pitching coach Pete Walker told TSN.ca before Sundays game. "I think its cost us a couple of ballgames." Walks just cost them another one. Second: with the exception of Mark Buehrle, the starting staffs inability to pitch deep into games. "Bottom line, weve got to get some innings out of our starters or our bullpen will be dead come May," said manager John Gibbons after Sundays defeat. Such was the dichotomy of Brandon Morrows performance on Sunday. His six strikeouts over five-plus innings belied the fact Indians hitters battled him throughout. Michael Bourn led off the game with a nine-pitch at-bat. He struck out. In the second, Michael Brantley put the Indians ahead 1-0 with a solo home run on the ninth pitch. An inning later, in the third, Jason Kipnis worked a full-count, 10-pitch walk. Morrow was done at 95 pitches one hitter into the sixth. He threw almost 30 per cent of his pitches (28 of 95) in those three plate appearances alone, leaving Gibbons to wish for more efficiency. "I havent been able to do it as much as I would like to," said Morrow of pitching into the sixth and seventh innings. "Today it was one long inning in the middle; without that I would have been in a better position to finish that sixth." Walker is preaching contact early in counts. He doesnt want pitchers worried about strikeout totals. He wants aggression and laments that radar gun readings are posted on electronic scoreboards. "Its trusting your stuff and really believing that your fastball is good enough that day," said Walker. "I think a couple of our guys might be down in velocity and sometimes that affects your approach. You dont see that 97 on the board and its 92, 93 and all of a sudden you dont trust that fastball in as much as you did last year." Its easy to fall in love with the radar gun and easy to forget that the Blue Jays best pitcher to this point, Mark Buehrle, no longer tops 84 miles per hour with his fastball. "I think it comes down to realizing its not the velocity, its the location," said Walker. "Your fastball is your fastball that given day and it needs to be located regardless. I think, for the most part, thats what we need to get back to and thats something were focusing on is fastball command and pitching inside a little more aggressively." Through 19 games Blue Jays starters have pitched 103 2/3 innings, averaging less than 5 2/3 innings per start. A team with playoff aspirations needs more. R.A. Dickey is presented with the next opportunity to join Buehrle in bucking the troubling trend. He starts Tuesday nights series opener at home with Baltimore. NAVARROS STRANGE ALLERGY If youve been to a Blue Jays game and noticed that Dioner Navarro kicks away the catchers box chalk outline before kneeling for first inning warm up pitches, theres a good reason. Navarros allergic to chalk. The problem dates back years to Navarros minor league days. He would come home after games with skin cracks on his hands. His wife put two and two together since Navarro would always swipe at the dirt to improve his grip, and she suggested he be tested for allergies. Now its habit for Navarro to kick away the chalk before the game begins. Fake Ducks Jerseys .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. Paul Kariya Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. https://www.cheapducks.com/947c-ryan-kesler-jersey-ducks.html .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory.A 12-game winning streak has landed the Boston Bruins on top of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings, overtaking the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins have been consistently among the top teams for the past few months, but their current run has taken them to the top, despite not having a strength of schedule deficit compared to the Western Conference powers. Moving up this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins go from nine to six. Even though they have just one regulation win in the past six games, the Penguins also got wingers Chris Kunitz and James Neal back from injuries and that provides a relative boost compared to last weeks ranking. The never-say-die Detroit Red Wings are still hanging around in the playoff race, thanks largely to Gustav Nyquist, who has seven goals in the past six games, to help Detroit go 4-1-1 and jump to seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings, still depleted by injuries, are up from 24 to 21. Heading the otther way, the Toronto Maple Leafs have dropped five straight as goaltender James Reimer has struggled to fill in for injured starter Jonathan Bernier and the Leafs dont play a structured enough game to get by without great goaltending. Stu Grimson Jersey. As a result, they sink from 17 to 22. Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators dropped three spots, to 25 and 26, respectively, not through any great failings of their own, but the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames all performed better and/or got healthier. Among other Canadian clubs, the Montreal Canadiens are up one spot, to 12, and the Winnipeg Jets are up two spots to 17. The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames are both up a couple of places, to 23 and 24, respectively. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '