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BOSTON – The Blue Jays scorching offence finished a three-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park and sits at or near the top of a number of the sports essential statistical categories. Toronto is first in home runs with 67; its second in slugging percentage (.445) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.773) and sixth in walks (168). Jose Bautista was the celebrated hero of April, smacking eight of his 11 home runs, working to a 1.065 OPS in the opening month. In May its been Edwin Encarnacion, the other half of the Blue Jays deadly three-four lineup combination, who has done most of the damage. With 11 of his 13 home runs this month, including four two-home run games and an OPS of 1.090, you could argue Encarnacions been carrying the lineup. Bautista doesnt want to hear it; not about himself and not about someone else. Theres plenty of credit to go around. "I think everybodys been contributing since day one," Bautista told TSN.ca. "Melky, for instance, is leading the league in hits. Adams (Lind) hitting .320. Brett (Lawrie), even though his average is down a little bit, hes got 20-something RBI. Everybodys helping out. Franciscos got seven, eight home runs and 20 RBI as well. Navarros hitting close to .300." While Bautista insists he hasnt been pitched to differently since Encarnacion has heated up, he expects opposing teams to change their approach once they peruse the pre-scout books and video. "Im sure its going to change," said Bautista. "I think people are definitely noticing and now its going to be more on their radar how hot he is so hopefully that means Im going to get a couple of more mistakes over the plate." Taking his word for it, teams may not be pitching differently to Bautista but at least they now are pitching to him. Consider that in April, while Encarnacion laboured through a relatively slow opening month, Bautista walked 30 times in 122 plate appearances (24.6 per cent). In May, through to the end of Thursdays game, Bautista has walked 11 times in 94 trips to the plate (11.7 per cent). Through Thursday, the Blue Jays had won six of seven and 12 of 17. They have a number of individuals at or near the top of a number of categories. They include: Melky Cabrera: 64 hits, the most in Major League BaseballEdwin Encarnacion: 13 home runs (Tied-3rd); 39 RBI (6th). Jose Bautista: 12 home runs (Tied 6th), 41 walks (1st); .435 on-base percentage (5th); .988 on-base plus slugging (5th). Mark Buehrle: Eight wins, the most in Major League Baseball; 2.16 ERA (8th). GIBBONS LIKES HIS OFFENCE The story of Torontos offensive production got lost earlier this season amid the worry over the starting pitching and the bullpen blowing leads. With the Jays winning, the bats move to the forefront. The skipper has seen it all year. "We can hit, top to bottom," said manager John Gibbons. "Its a strong American League lineup and thats kind of what you need in the American League. Were really a home run threat with most of those guys in that lineup we can burn you that way. I really like the approach we have at the plate. Were taking some hits the other way when its called for. The better pitchers, thats the way theyre attacking you. Were confident right now. You have good games when youre feeling good. Baseball is a game of ups and downs all year long but its a good strong lineup." HENDRIKS TO START FRIDAY The Blue Jays will recall right-hander Liam Hendriks from Buffalo on Friday and he will start the series opener against Oakland. R.A. Dickey will be pushed back to Saturday when he will throw on an extra days rest. "We just decided to split up Buehrle and Dickey," said Gibbons. "Theyre our old reliable guys, kind of our innings eaters." Hendriks is 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA and a 0.801 WHIP for the Triple-A Bisons. The 25-year-old is hoping for his first period of sustained major league success. In parts of three seasons with the Twins, Hendriks was 2-13 with an ERA of 6.06. A corresponding roster move will be made before Fridays game. HOME COOKING The Jays kick off a season-high 10-game homestand on Friday. After the Athletics come in for three, the Tampa Bay Rays will check in, followed by the Kansas City Royals for a four-game series. Toronto has a bus trip series to Detroit for three games June 2-4 and then will return home for six games, three each with the St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. For the Blue Jays, it isnt so much about capitalizing on home field advantage as it is trying to create a home field advantage. Toronto is 10-11 at Rogers Centre and 16-11 on the road. "We have to play good at home," said Gibbons. "Weve played actually better on the road this year than we have at home. Were there for awhile so hopefully we can take advantage of that." "I never want to have any outlook at any period of the season and start a sentence with We have to or We need to or Its imperative that we do anything," said Bautista. "Every time in baseball when you have that mentality things seem to go the other way. Weve just got to focus on the preparation, go out and give it our all every single day and take it one day at a time and hope for good results and if we get them, we get them." Oakland comes to town the leader of the American League West with a record of 30-17. Despite a 5-2, 11-inning loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday, the Athletics have won 11 of their last 13 games. Jaroslav Halak Jersey . After falling 5-0 on home ice in a game that could have tied them for second in the wild card standings, Washington head coach Adam Oates had some strong words for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin. Derek Sanderson Jersey . -- Patrick Kueng of Switzerland was nearly flawless as he captured his first World Cup and halted Aksel Lund Svindals streak of four straight super-G victories on Saturday. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/ . -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. Ray Bourque Bruins Jersey . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. Jake DeBrusk Bruins Jersey . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury.OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder coach Scott Brooks joked during pregame that he didnt like what he saw from Kyrie Irving at the All-Star game. Brooks coached the West and watched as Irving led the East to a comeback win on his way to earning MVP honours. Brooks didnt like what he saw from Irving on Wednesday night, and it was no joke this time. The point guard made it look like All-Star weekend again, scoring 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Oklahoma City 114-104. Irving also had nine assists, five rebounds and four steals. "Kyrie had a huge performance for us," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "He was very efficient in the 43 minutes that he played tonight, I thought offensively, especially." The young Cavaliers, still adjusting to roster changes since the trade deadline, picked up a meaningful victory. Cleveland shot 14 for 21 from the field in the fourth quarter against the Western Conference-leading Thunder. "To come here and get a win in this building versus this team and those players and that coaching staff, for us, is a good confidence booster," Brown said. "Everything for us right now to be a positive will help us long term just as much as it will short term." It was Oklahoma Citys third straight home loss since the All-Star break. The Thunder lost three games at home the entire season before the break. "No one in the locker room, including myself, feels good about it," Brooks said. "The exciting thing is we know we can do better. We just have to maximize our potential." Jarrett Jack scored 21 points, Spencer Hawes scored 19 and Tristan Thompson added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Kevin Durant had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Russell Westbrook had 24 points and nine assists and Serge Ibaka added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder. Oklahoma City is 0-3 since Westbrook returned from his latest knee surgery. Brooks said the bigger issue for the Thunder is their suddenly porous defence. Oklahoma City, one of the leagues top defensive teams all season, allowed 103 points on 55 per cent shooting against Miami and 125 points on 52 per cent shooting against the Los Angeles Clippers before its latest collapse. "Its a defensive toughness," Brooks said. "We have to get tough on the basketball because were giving up too much penetration. WWe have to fight through screens.ddddddddddddThese are things that weve done a great job at, we just have to get back to it." In the closing seconds of the first half, Westbrook dribbled as the clock wound down, then pulled up in front of Irving and drained a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 52-51 lead at the break. The Thunder committed 12 turnovers in the first half, but made up for it by shooting 57 per cent from the field. Durant scored 15 points before the break and Westbrook had 13 points and six assists. Irving had 14 points, four assists and three steals at halftime. The Thunder opened the second half with 3s from Durant and Thabo Sefolosha to take a 58-51 lead. A mid-range jumper by Ibaka stretched Oklahoma Citys lead to 62-53, leading Brown to call a timeout. Cleveland regrouped and cut Oklahoma Citys lead to three on an unusual play. The Cavaliers Luol Deng shot a jumper and Nick Collison was called for goaltending and issued a technical foul for grabbing the net. Irving made the free throw to make it a 69-66 game. The Thunder led 76-72 at the end of the period. "Oklahoma City, they came out and kind of punched us in the mouth a little bit in that third quarter, and our guys didnt panic," Brown said. "They kind of stayed with it." Matthew Dellavedova tied the game at 81 with a floater early in the fourth quarter. Later, a breakaway dunk by Alonzo Gee gave the Cavaliers a 90-86 edge with 7:10 to play. Durants 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 97-95 lead, but the Cavaliers responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Jack and Irving, and they controlled the game from there. "Obviously, playing against a great team, youre going to get up for it," Irving said. "Everyone in the league wants to play against a great team like this, especially on their home floor. But this game doesnt mean any more than any other game that we have coming up. Every game just means a lot at this point, no matter who were playing." NOTES: It was the second consecutive start for Thunder C Steven Adams. He replaced Kendrick Perkins, who is out for six weeks with a groin injury. ... Hawes started for the second time since being traded from Philadelphia. ... Durant was honoured during pregame for being selected as the Western Conference player of the month for January. ... Thunder G Derek Fisher was issued a technical foul early in the second quarter, his third of the season. ' ' '