Sippenforum » injury.Then theres the Jarryd Hayne conundrum.A

TORONTO -- All-Star slugger Josh Donaldson said the first half of Torontos season has been a little bit of a roller coaster.That ride is heading upwards as the first half ends.Donaldson hit a three-run homer, R.A. Dickey won back-to-back starts for the first time in a month and the Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 on Sunday in the teams final game before the All-Star break.Toronto heads into the break having won eight of nine and 18 of 25. The Blue Jays are second to Baltimore in the AL East and tied with Boston for the first wild-card spot.We feel pretty good with where were at right now, Donaldson said. Weve been playing well as of late. Hopefully have a nice break, everybody comes back ready to go and continue this momentum.Dickey said Torontos recent surge feels like it could be a sustained thing.Donaldson is the sixth player in American League history to hit at least 20 home runs and score 80 runs or more before the All-Star break. The others were Lou Gehrig (1936), Ted Williams (1946), Reggie Jackson (1969), Frank Thomas (1994), and Alex Rodriguez (2000).I think that has something to do with the guys hitting behind me, Donaldson said, referring to slugger Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders. Bautista is currently recovering from a sore left big toe. Encarnacion and Saunders will be joining Donaldson for the All-Star Game in San Diego.Donaldson is the first player to score 80 or more runs before the break since 2008, when Ian Kinsler (84) and Hanley Ramirez (80) both did it.Dickey (7-9) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time since victories at Boston on June 3 and at Detroit on June 8.We didnt do much against Dickey, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. We hit a couple of balls hard early and after that he settled in. He did a very nice job.Jesse Chavez got two outs in the eighth and Brett Cecil got the third. Bo Schultz finished for Toronto, which has won eight of 11 against Detroit.The Blue Jays took a 2-0 led against Anibal Sanchez (5-10) in the second when catcher Josh Thole hit a bases-loaded single. For Thole, the RBI were his first since hitting a solo home run at Tampa Bay on April 4, Torontos second game of the season.Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP, made it 5-0 with a two-out drive in the fourth, his 23rd.Saunders made it 6-1 with an RBI single off Kyle Ryan in the eighth.Sanchez lost his second straight start, allowing five runs and eight hits in four innings. He has lost seven straight decisions as a starter, including five in a row on the road.I want to make the second half strong, Sanchez said. Right now I can say I had the worst first half of my whole career. Ive got to continue working.Encarnacion sat out after dropping his appeal of a one-game suspension for making contact with umpire Vic Carapazza. An All-Star this season for the third time, Encarnacion was suspended for bumping Carapazzas shoulder after being ejected at the end of the first inning in Torontos 19-inning loss to Cleveland on July 1.THIS IS 40Toronto continued its 40th season celebrations with a pregame ceremony honoring several former Blue Jays, including Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar, slugger Joe Carter and two-time World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston.TRAINERS ROOMTigers: OF J.D. Martinez (right elbow) is taking swings but is still a few weeks away from a return, Ausmus said.Blue Jays: Donaldson started at DH for the second straight day, with Darwin Barney at 3B.UP NEXTTigers: Following the All-Star break, RHP Justin Verlander (8-6, 4.07) starts the opener of a three-game home series against Kansas City. Verlander has won once in his past four starts.Blue Jays: Toronto heads on the road after the All-Star break, with RHP Marcus Stroman (7-4, 4.89) starting the opener of a three-game series at Oakland. Stroman allowed two runs in eight innings to beat Kansas City on July 6. Custom Los Angeles Angels Jerseys .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. Los Angeles Angels Pro Shop . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. Wholesale Angels Jerseys .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. Cheap Angels Jerseys . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. With Laurie Daley having begun his changing of the guard, Jake and Tom Trbojevic and Bryce Cartwright headline a list of young stars who will come into NSW State of Origin contention in 2017.Daleys decision to look to the future was vindicated when the Blues snatched a 22-18 win in Wednesday nights dead rubber at ANZ Stadium.The likes of James Tedesco, Tyson Frizell and Matt Moylan - who were among eight NSW debutants this series - made strong statements about their representative futures.In the centre of the park, Paul Gallen is retiring while prop James Tamou struggled for impact all series - failing to make 100m in any of the three games.Daley will need to find room for Boyd Cordner, who was NSWs best in game one before missing the rest of the series with a broken toe.Cordner also shapes as one of two leading candidates for the vacant Blues captaincy, along with Tigers skipper Aaron Woods.Manly forward Jake Trbojevic was brought into camp as a developmental player for game three and will come under consideration next year.Andrew Fifitas brain snap in the second half which saw him sin-binned for putting Gavin Cooper in a headlock may also count against him.Several years ago it was thought his cards had been marked due to his ill discipline and with Penrith attacking gun Bryce Cartwright making continual improvement, especially in defence, his place could come under threat.In the backline, Blake Ferguson was close to being dropped for game three, and had a quiet night at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday before coming up with a decisive break that leed to Michael Jennings winning try.ddddddddddddosh Dugans future in the side is far from certain, with Sea Eagles winger/fullback Tom Trbojevic knocking on the door while Canterburys Brett Morris has proved his class with seven tries in his three games back from injury.Then theres the Jarryd Hayne conundrum.After failing to make the Olympics with the Fiji Rugby Sevens side, a return to the NRL is reportedly on the cards and he would be considered a walk up start for the Blues.But with Tedesco having made such an impressive debut, Daley will have a monster selection headache if we see Hayne back in the NRL.Gallen said he went into representative retirement feeling assured that the Blues future was bright.We blooded a lot of guys, eight debutants, 11 or 12 changes from last year and we needed to do that and Lauries done it gradually over the last couple of years, Gallen said.This week I think the boys really started to understand what its all about and it was quite pleasing for myself to be honest.The boys got it, we played for 80 minutes and we got the win, which is what we needed to do.Possible NSW 2017 side: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Jack Bird, 4. Michael Jennings, 5. Tom Trbojevic, 6. James Maloney, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Aaron Woods (c), 9. Nathan Peats, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Wade Graham, 12. Boyd Cordner, 13. Tyson Frizell, 14. Matt Moylan, 15. Bryce Cartwright, 16. Josh Jackson, 17. Jake Trbojevic. ' ' '