Gallerie » uarter. Stoudemire had a powerful follow dunk over Maso

If the Toronto Blue Jays are indeed out of the running for an American League wild card playoff spot, someone might want to let Jose Bautista in on it. The Toronto slugger has continued on a recently torrid pace for the Blue Jays as theyve stayed on the fringes of playoff contention, and hell attempt to continue the run on Tuesday night when they host the Chicago Cubs in game two of a three-game set at Rogers Centre. Torontos win in Mondays opener was its seventh in nine games, though the club remains behind a handful of teams vying for the second and final wild card position. Bautista homered in the 8-0 victory, stretching his current hit streak to 12 games and leaving the ballpark for the 32nd time this season. Hes homered in six straight home games, one shy of joining Hall of Famers Roy Campanella and Willie Mays as the only players in 100 years to hit one in seven straight games at home. His blast on Monday was No. 200 with Toronto. "Im very proud and honored to have done it here," he said. "Im just really happy." The Cubs have scored just seven runs in a four-game losing streak, including a three-hit shutout in Mondays loss to rookie Marcus Stroman. One more loss would equal the five-game skid they endured in mid-July. They face veteran Mark Buehrle on Tuesday, and the lefty will try to erase a stretch of six starts in which hes 0-2 with a 4.36 earned run average while getting barely more than two runs per game from the offense. He allowed five hits in eight scoreless innings of his last outing on Thursday against Tampa Bay, a game the Blue Jays ultimately won in 10 innings, 1-0. Buehrle hasnt won at home since June 1, but hes 3-2 in seven starts against the Cubs with a 2.42 ERA. Chicago counters with righty Jake Arrieta, whos pitched six innings and allowed two or fewer runs in eight straight starts. He defeated Milwaukee, 7-1, in his last outing seven days ago after going six innings and giving up five hits. Hes not been quite as successful on the road, however, losing three decisions in his last four starts. In interleague play, though, hes won two straight while surrendering a single run in 14 2/3 innings. His last start against Toronto came two years ago, when he was with Baltimore. On Monday, the 23-year-old Stroman (10-5) retired 19 in a row at one point and struck out eight with no walks in his first career complete game. Dioner Navarro had two RBI for the Blue Jays. Chicagos Jacob Turner (5-9) allowed five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits over six innings. The Jays and Cubs are meeting for the first time since 2008, when Chicago took two of three games north of the border. John Stockton Jazz Jersey .com) - The Utah Jazz look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when the Denver Nuggets visit Salt Lake City Monday night. Rudy Gobert Jersey .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-donovan-mitchell-jazz-jersey/ . The alley-oop looked easy -- just like everything else after halftime for the Miami Heat. James scored 32 points, Wade added 22 points and eight assists, and the Heat trailed by 11 early in the second half before running away to a 107-88 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Donovan Mitchell Jazz Jersey . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. Dante Exum Jersey . - Hitting was supposed to be the Pittsburgh Pirates weakness coming into the season yet they lead the major leagues in home runs through the first 16 games of the season. NEW YORK -- At least the New York Knicks can say they won a city championship. Only the Brooklyn Nets have a chance to compete for a real one -- though theyd better play a lot better than this. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points and the Knicks, playing without the injured Carmelo Anthony, beat the Nets 109-98 on Tuesday night to win the season series between city rivals. And in an otherwise massively disappointing season, apparently local bragging rights do matter. "Hell yeah," Knicks guard J.R. Smith said. "I mean, Im cool with some of those guys over there, so I can still say something when were in the gym this summer. As long as I can say they didnt beat us that many times, were good." The Knicks prevented the Nets from clinching the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and won their third straight in their too-little, too-late strong finish. Amare Stoudemire and Smith each added 14 points. Anthony had an MRI exam Tuesday that revealed a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He wont play Wednesday against Toronto, the final game of the first season in his 11-year career that wont end with a playoff berth -- and potentially his last as a member of the Knicks. He has said he will become a free agent in July. Marcus Thornton scored 24 points for the Nets, who werent sharp despite playing starters Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. The other starter, Shaun Livingston, remained sidelined with a sprained right big toe. The Nets still have a magic number of one for finishing fifth. But they could fall to No. 6 if they lose Wednesday in Cleveland and Washington beats Boston. "Tonight was an example of how not to take a step forward. We were off our game offensively, defensively, all phases of the game and thats not how you want to go into the playoffs," Pierce said. The Knicks would be in the playoffs themselves if they played against everyone else the way they did against the Nets while winning three romps. All four games were on national TV, though none was really worth watching after halftime. The Knicks won a pair of routs, 113-83 at Barclays Center in December and 110-81 at Madison Squarre Garden two weeks ago.dddddddddddd The Nets won by 23 in their lone victory. The overhyped city series didnt live up to preseason expectations, much like the Knicks. Players from both sides had sparred in the press during the summer after the Nets made their big off-season moves, expecting to battle to be the best in New York and also the Atlantic Division. Well, the division champion isnt from New York -- or even the U.S. Toronto finished ahead of both teams. The Knicks have defeated the Raptors, Bulls and Nets, currently the Easts Nos. 3-5 seeds, in their last three games, and coach Mike Woodson said it was "irritating" that his team would be watching the playoffs from home. "If we had handled our business early on and didnt let some of the close games get away, we probably wouldnt be standing here. Wed probably be preparing for playoff basketball, but thats not the case," Woodson said. "We put ourselves in this hole and were going to have to live with it this summer and then try to figure it out next season." The Knicks led 29-18 after one and the game got fun midway through the second quarter. Stoudemire had a powerful follow dunk over Mason Plumlee, screaming into the rookies ear afterward. Plumlee responded in the best way possible, dunking on the Nets next two possessions. Plumlee finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. But Brooklyn never really got into the game, and the only real interest in the second half were some occasional dueling chants between the split crowd. A "Goodbye Melo!" chant from a section of Nets fans was soon followed by a loud "Lets go Knicks!" NOTES: The Nets wore their Brooklyn Dodgers-inspired grey uniforms on Jackie Robinson Day. He debuted for the Dodgers as the first black player in the major leagues on this date in 1947. ... Pierce became the sixth player in NBA history to score 1,000 points in 15 straight seasons, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19), Karl Malone (18), John Havlicek (16), Elvin Hayes (15) and Robert Parish (15). ... Mirza Teletovics wife gave birth to twins earlier Tuesday and the Nets reserve forward also will miss Wednesdays game. ' ' '