TORONTO – Three cities, 10 games, 10 days. The Blue Jays embark on the longest remaining road trip of the season having concluded a successful 5-2 homestand against Texas and Boston, two of the American Leagues weaker sisters. The fun begins at House of Horrors North (with deference paid to Tropicana Field, the Jays original House of Horrors), also known as Yankee Stadium, where Toronto is winless in its last 16 games dating back to an August 29, 2012 victory. On that day, J.A. Happ got the win in relief and CC Sabathia took the loss. Players insist they pay no mind to the skid in the Bronx. "Playing a team in our division thats right there with us, having said that the success or failures in New York, we just dont think about it," said closer Casey Janssen. "I know that the media loves to take this on but we just havent played well there. We can beat them at home. We can beat them on the road. We can. We just havent." "Those guys are aware of it but I dont know if you need to have a team meeting over it," said manager John Gibbons. "Go out and play harder? I dont know." There was no Curse of the Bambino. No billy goat has prevented the listless Cubs from reaching a World Series since 1945. There is no hex on the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, even if it feels like it. The coaches discuss the Yankee Stadium issue in meetings. "The bottom line is its always been a tough place to win anyway," said Gibbons. "I dont remember it being this difficult and its strange because weve always played pretty good at Fenway." Gibbons hinted hell make one change prior to Fridays game. The team wont take batting practice on the field, opting for the underneath cage instead. The skipper joked that he wants to avoid seeing the "Yankeeography" show the hometown team runs on its scoreboard during visitors batting practice. On a daily basis, the Yankees pump out content reliving one of the franchises numerous excellent decades or profiling one of clubs legendary players. The Blue Jays go to Boston for three games to start next week and follow that up with four games against the Astros in Houston. The non-waiver trade deadline, July 31, falls on the day the club arrives deep in the heart of Texas. The Jays will enter Yankee Stadium tied with New York for second in the American League East, three games behind Baltimore for the division lead and a half-game ahead of Seattle for the second wild card spot. Both Toronto and New York have won three straight games heading into their series. The Jays throw, in this order, Mark Buehrle, Drew Hutchison and J.A. Happ. The Yankees throw, in this order, Hiroki Kuroda, Shane Greene and Chase Whitley. Surely, the odds would suggest the Blue Jays will nip this Bronx skid in the bud. "Half these guys werent here to lose with us or turn it around," said Janssen. "When we walk in to any place we expect to win. Yankee Stadium is no different." STROMAN BRILLIANT AGAIN There isnt much to be said about Marcus Stroman. His pitching is doing the proverbial talking. The 23-year-old rookie tossed seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball in Thursday afternoons 8-0 win over the Red Sox, a victory which gave Toronto a three-out-of-four series victory. He teased a no-hitter through six complete. At that time, Stroman had thrown 91 pitches. Would manager John Gibbons have allowed Stroman to work into the ninth, likely at 120 pitches or more, had Shane Victorino not led off the seventh with a single? "Youll never know. Youll never know," joked Gibbons. "I think they would have let me go," said Stroman. "Im pretty sure they would have let me go. But, yeah, theyre definitely watching pitches so it becomes tough if I would have got up into the ninth and I would have had 120, 130 pitches, its almost like, what do you do? Im pretty sure they would have let me go. I think they have the confidence in me to let me go now." Its a double-edged sword. "I cant say Im glad he gave up a hit," said Gibbons. "That was going through our minds. This keeps going, you know youve got a young kid, youre trying to win a division, you know, do you keep throwing him out there over and over? I dont know if relief is the right word but (giving up a hit) didnt hurt." Stroman, in 10 big league starts, has a 2.21 ERA. In four of his last five starts, each at least 6 2/3 innings, he has held his opponent scoreless while still in the game. He was charged with two earned runs in a loss to the White Sox on June 28. Those two runs crossed when Dustin McGowan, in relief of Stroman who had left with two runners on, allowed a three-run home run to Chicagos Dayan Viciedo. Jakeem Grant Jersey . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. Chase De Leo and Mathew Dumba responded for the Winterhawks, who suffered just their fourth loss in their last 46 games, a string of success running all the way back to Jan. DeVante Parker Jersey . Didnt need any help this time. Wood beat Cincinnati for the first time in his career, repeatedly pitching out of threats for seven innings, and Chicago stalled the Reds week-long surge with a 2-0 victory Monday night. http://www.wholesaledolphinsjerseys.com/...y-mccain-jersey. – Team Canadas Brooke Henderson carded a 4-under 67 at Craigowan Golf and Country Club to jump into the lead at the Canadian Womens Amateur Championship on Wednesday. Walt Aikens Jersey . 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. Eric Rowe Jersey . -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division.TORONTO – Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. St. Louis was all that and more for most of a cold March night. They dealt the sliding Leafs their sixth straight loss – seven in the past eight games – and a very loud exit from the current playoff picture. Once on firm ground toward a second straight trip to the postseason, Toronto now sits 10th in the East, trailing Columbus and Detroit for the final two wild card spots with only eight games left to play. Skidding for nearly two weeks without even a single point they are in danger of fumbling away what seemed like a sure thing. Fear of that reality, it seems, is slowly infecting the group. "Well, certainly were afraid of letting it slip away," Joffrey Lupul conceded after a 5-3 loss to the Blues, the Leafs winless since Mar. 13. "The whole year we thought we were a playoff team and we still believe that now." At this moment, however, they are not. And what once seemed unthinkable as recently as two weeks prior when they stormed through California has now become a very real reality. The Leafs may not make the playoffs and they know it. And that fear of fumbling it away is driving the nerves of a flailing group. Head coach Randy Carlyle observed "tenseness" during the first half of Wednesdays game, one that saw St. Louis completely manhandle their sinking opponents, especially so in a dominant first frame. Big, hard, fast and strong, the best team in the West controlled possession of the puck almost without exception, peppering Jonathan Bernier with 23 shots while scoring the first two of four unanswered. "Its like we were frozen for 30 minutes of the hockey game," Carlyle said. "We didnt pick up the puck and skate with it at all. And thats showing signs of being nervous, tense, [lacking] confidence, not wanting to make a mistake which led to more offensive zone time [for the Blues]." Only when the score tilted at 4-1 did they start to push back and in a well-repeated theme, muster the kind of tenaciousness and enthusiasm required for winning at this time of year. Carl Gunnarsson and James van Riemsdyk scored to slice the deficit to one, but like those rallies in each of the previous five losses, the Leafs ultimately ran out of time. Desperation was just a little too late. "Right now it seems like when we get down then were playing with no fear," Lupul said. "Theres something to be said about being down and not having that fear anymore, but realistically weve got to play like that right from the start. Its more of a psychological thing than it is a physical thing for sure." Whether they can overcome that imposing mental hurdle and recover in time to make the playoffs remains an increasingly uncertain question. With stumbling starts, glaring defensive breakdowns, inconsistent offence and poor goaltending, theyve found ways to lose hockey games in rapid order and are feeling the pressure from it. Losing six straight for the first time since the infamous 18-wheeler collapse in 2012, the Leafs now they sit on the outside of the playoff picture with a daunting weekend set ahead against the Flyers and Red Wings. Their fate could be determined in a matter of days. "Theres reason for concern, but its not completely time to panic," Lupul said. "Were still right there. Weve got a game Friday, we play Detroit [on] Saturday, you win those two games and all of a sudden things look a lot different." Five Points: 1. Berniers Back Even Bernier – making his first start since Mar. 13 – couldnt rescue the Leafs from the Blues. And he tried. The 25-year-old was spectacular early on, turning away the first 20 St. Louis shots in a one-sided opening frame. He eventually ceded four goals on 48 shots. It was just his third loss in regulation when facing 40 shots or more (8-3-2). Bernier had missed the previous five games with a groin injury, rushing back to stabilize the Leafs wobbling crease. "Lot of work, but felt okay," he said afterward. Stretching constantly, in between whistles and during TV timeouts, Bernier was seemingly shy of 100 per cent, but surely felt the need to return with his teams chances of reaching the postseason flailing. Asked if he rushed back from the injury, Bernier said, "You always want to be back as soon as possible." "It was a little sore obviously, but I was just trying to get it loose a little bit in between whistles and timeouts." 2/3. Ready to Start? Scoring first didnt help the Leafs much on this night. They scored the first goal for the first time in eight games with Lupul tucking a Nazem Kadri pass beyond Ryan Miller on a power-play, but it was down-hill from there. Alrready owning possession for much of the period to that point, the Blues tied the proceedings at one when T.ddddddddddddJ. Oshie squeezed a rebound through the pads of Bernier. They went in front for good on the first of three from David Backes on a power-play, Dion Phaneuf failing to clear the puck adequately. St. Louis had 23 shots for the period, the most Toronto has allowed in any one period this season. "Thats a heck of a hockey team over there," van Riemsdyk said. "The way they play, lines 1-4, [defence] pairings 1-3, theres not much of a falloff. They kept coming. Thats no excuse for us. We have to find a way to get off to a better start." Strong and sturdy, the Blues cycled and cycled and cycled without giving the Leafs even a taste of the puck. "We couldnt break their cycle," Lupul said. "We couldnt get the puck." It was the kind of grinding performance Carlyle would like to see more from his team in Toronto. "They did a lot of things that were trying to convince our hockey club to do as far as hanging onto the puck a little bit more," he said. "We understand were not as big and strong and as physical as some of those teams that are able to do that, but thats more of the style this time of year – if you watch the games – thats whats being played." The Leafs are now 8-20-4 when they trail after the opening period. "Again we played 30 minutes of hockey tonight and showed that we can play, but wheres the 60 minutes?" Carlyle said. "We cannot afford to not start the way weve been starting. We have to have more of an effort or consistent, confident start than weve had in these games." 4. Phaneuf Phaneuf played fewer than 21 minutes and had what may have been his worst game of the season. The Toronto captain was on the ice and largely responsible for three of the first four St. Louis goals, having what Carlyle described as a "rough night". The 28-year-old made his first error late in the first, fumbling away an opportunity to clear the puck on a penalty kill, the Blues regrouping to score the first of three from Backes. Then early in the middle frame Phaneuf lost a puck battle with Alex Steen in the offensive zone. Lagging to get back defensively, he was beaten down the ice by Backes, the Blues captain eluding Bernier for the third St. Louis marker. About 10 minutes after that it was Steen muscling Phaneuf to the ice just outside Berniers crease, shaking free to whistle a backhand just under the bar for a 4-1 lead. Phaneuf was unavailable to media after the game. 5. Six-Game Skid Losing a bunch of close games, prior to Wednesday night, Lupul believed the Leafs had actually played better at points in their slide than in many victories this season. "Absolutely," said Lupul before the loss to St. Louis. "We track scoring chances – our team does – and were out-chancing teams every night. You can look at that and say were doing some things right, but its the time of the year that that doesnt really matter anymore, its all about wins. Youve got to translate that into getting more wins." The 30-year-old observed that the margin for winning and losing at this time of year is "really close". "Its been a topic of discussion in here," he said. "Were generating chances. Were not giving up near as many as we have, but were coming out on the wrong side of the game so that doesnt really matter. "And on the flip side when we were winning games and getting out-chanced we were saying the same thing in here, like come on, what are we doing? But now its the time of the year that it doesnt really matter how you get the job done it just needs to get done." Stats-Pack 1-7-0 – Leafs record in the past eight games. 23 – Shots allowed by the Leafs in the opening period Wednesday, the most of any period this season. 8 – Fights for David