Regeln » . As if he had been rehearsing it

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." Custom Packers Jerseys . -- Having already fallen behind because of the NFL lockout, Blaine Gabbert couldnt afford a lengthy holdout. Wholesale Green Bay Packers Jerseys . -- The Minnesota Vikings released reserve cornerback A. http://www.packerscheap.com/128j-cheap-darnell-savage-jr-jersey-packers.html .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. Green Bay Packers Dexter Williams Jersey . The Bulls seem to be getting along fine without him. D.J. Augustin scored 27 points in a start for Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 filling in for Carlos Boozer as the Bulls improved to 7-2 since trading the popular Deng with a 98-87 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. Authentic Green Bay Packers Jerseys . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier.TORONTO - Greg McKegg scored the winner and Drew MacIntyre made 29 saves as the Toronto Marlies shut out the Milwaukee Admirals 2-0 in American Hockey League action Thursday night. With the win, the Marlies complete a three-game series sweep of the Admirals and move on to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. T.J. Brennan added an empty netter with less than 25 seconds remaining for his second of the playoffs. Admirals starter Marek Mazanec made 21 saves in the loss. Toronto, which lost both regular season meetings with Milwaukee by an 8-3 margin, never trailed in the series while outscoring the Admirals 13-4. Playing in his first game since March 30, Marlies defenceman Andrew MacWilliam made his presence felt in the second period catching Admirals forward Calle Jarnkrok with a huge open-ice hit at the Toronto blue-line. Moments later, Milwaukee forward Francis Wathier was assessed a boarding penalty for his hit from behind on Brennan. On the ensuing power play, McKegg opened the scoring on a cross-ice feed ffrom Jerry DAmigo for his first of the playoffs at 17:31.dddddddddddd With his assist, DAmigo now has two goals and five assists and is the league leader in playoff points with seven. Less than a minute later, Kenny Ryan had excellent chance to give Toronto a 2-0 lead, on a breakaway, but held on too long before shooting and Mazanec managed to get his left pad on it. The Marlies played a tentative first period, their first game since Sunday, and were outshot 11-8 by the Admirals. Toronto will now await results from both the Chicago-Rochester first-round matchup and the Grand Rapids-Abbotsford series to determine their next opponent. The second round of the Calder Cup playoffs isnt expected to start until next weekend. Notes: Toronto forward Carter Ashton (knee) and defenceman Andrew MacWilliam (concussion) made their series debuts. Spencer Abbott (shoulder) and Peter Holland (lower body) have yet to play in the playoffs. ... Marlies alumnus Ron Ellis dropped the puck in a ceremonial faceoff pre-game. 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