those opportunities weve had to take the bull by the horns

NEW YORK -- On the wild-card front, the New York Yankees were not able to make any more progress on their deficit but they were able inch a little closer to first place Monday night.The Yankees will look to gain another game on at least one front Tuesday night when they continue a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.New York has won nine of its last 14 since the non-waiver trade deadline, which saw the trades of Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Miller. The Yankees have tied a season high by going four games over .500 for the third time and this stretch has coincided with a younger roster, which was displayed during the series opening 1-0 win.Rookie Chad Green struck out 11 in six innings while retiring the first 13 hitters and Aaron Judge had an RBI double in his third career game off R.A. Dickey. Green also was pitching to catcher Gary Sanchez, who is hitting .302 in 11 games since joining the Yankees on Aug. 3.I dont think anybody thought we were giving up, Green said. Obviously when you trade Beltran, Miller and Chapman, everybody thinks youre giving up but you still got great players here. So the young guys are going out there, trying to enjoy the moment and take it day-by-day.The Yankees won despite going 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranding 14 but are 5 1/2 games out of first place for the second time in three days. They have not been less than five games out of the lead since April 28.In terms of the Yankees interests in winning the division, their ideal scenario is to hope the Boston Red Sox beat the Orioles while they beat Toronto. If merely getting into the playoffs is fine, New York fans should root for the Orioles since the Yankees are 4 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot.Regardless of what unfolds in Baltimore, the Yankees will need continued improvement from Michael Pineda. Although Pineda is 6-10 with a 5.07 ERA, he is 4-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his last 13 starts.The Yankees have won nine of those starts, including last Thursday in Boston. New York rallied late for a 4-2 win and Pineda put the Yankees in position to win by allowing two runs and eight hits in six innings.I thought he battled, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. They had baserunners, but he made some really big pitches when he had to.Pineda has made pitches when he has to at times against the Blue Jays, going 2/3 with a 3.54 ERA in nine starts. He faced the Blue Jays April 13 in Toronto and allowed two earned runs and five hits in six innings.Despite Mondays loss, Toronto still is the American Leagues best road team. Toronto has lost three straight road games for the third time this season although it still has won seven of its last 11 games outside of Canada.Its crucial, Toronto manager John Gibbons said before Mondays loss. You got to hold your own on the road.Torontos only four-game road losing streak was two losses in Tampa Bay April 5-6 and two in Boston April 15-16.After Dickey allowed a run and four hits in five innings, Marco Estrada will take the mound Tuesday. Estrada took the loss in the April 16 game but has not lost a road start since, going 4-0 with a 2.85 ERA in his last eight road outings.Estrada was outstanding Aug. 3 in Houston when he allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He followed it up by laboring through five innings last Tuesday in a 9-2 loss to Tampa Bay when he allowed three runs and seven hits while throwing 113 pitches.Just a little rusty, I guess, Estrada said. Those things are going to happen. At least I gave the team a chance, I thought there were a few pitches that could have gone my way. Ive got to do a better job I guess of getting ready.In 12 starts on more than four days rest, Estrada is 4-5 with a 3.57 ERA and the Blue Jays hope he resembles the pitcher who allowed one run and four hits in seven innings Aug. 3 in Houston.The amount of rest has not mattered against the Yankees for Estrada, who is 3-2 with a 3.92 ERA in seven starts against them since joining the Blue Jays last season.Estrada held the Yankees to a .243 average last year but has been sharper this season as evidenced by the .140 (7-for-50) mark New York had off him in two May starts this season.On five days rest, he allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings during an 8-4 win at New York on May 25 and on May 30, he allowed three hits in eight scoreless innings during a 4-2 home victory. Old Skool Vans Canada . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Cheap Old Skool Vans For Sale . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. http://www.cheapoldskoolcanada.com/ . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. Old Skool Vans Cheap Canada . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Wholesale Old Skool Vans . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Surrey 95 for 2 v YorkshireScorecardYorkshires batting line-up is often notable less for who is in it than who is absent. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root are seldom glimpsed playing for the White Rose these days. The same might soon be true of Gary Ballance, if his unexpected England recall goes according to plan.Now Kane Williamson has joined that trio as an unwanted absentee. Worn down by his arduous schedule - playing in all three formats of the county game is an unforgiving task, especially for international captains returning from a busy home season, the World Twenty20 and the IPL - Williamson and Yorkshire agreed that he would miss this Championship game. His fourth consecutive season at the club will end with Fridays T20 at Trent Bridge. Its very simple. We just thought it would aid him and be the most beneficial thing for him to have a rest. Theres nothing sinister, its as simple as that, Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie said.In an ideal world wed obviously want him to play. But we felt it was in his best interests and everyones best interests that he had a couple of days away to spend some time with his partner and clear his mind a bit. Were fully supportive of that. Hes a great lad and there was some really good, honest communication. Thats the good thing about it: hes confident enough coming to us as a support staff and saying lets open this conversation up.For Yorkshire, at least, the strength of the relationship between player and club indicates Williamsons desire to return to in the future. But the temptation to view Williamsons decision as an indictment of the demands of the modern cricketer are obvious. It does highlight that scheduling is an issue, Gillespie said. Its been an incredibly busy period for everyone. Everybody gets affected with illnesses, injuries and the like.Williamsons decision was particularly ill-timed for Yorkshire: not only are three players absent with England but Travis Head was unable to get his visa processed in time to play against Surrey.dddddddddddd The upshot is that Azeem Rafiq, who has a first-class average of 22.10, is down to bat at No. 5, although the sight of David Willey at No. 9 shows that Yorkshire still retain batting depth.For the proudest of cricketing counties, this feels like a decisive juncture in the season. Last weeks defeat to Middlesex at Scarbrough, while only Yorkshires first of the season, highlighted that the team are not quite purring as during title-winning campaigns in the last two seasons.We had a really good chat after the game, Gillespie said. It was an opportunity to have a midseason review. We felt, being honest, that weve played some decent cricket in patches but we havent quite taken those opportunities weve had to take the bull by the horns, as we have in the last couple of years. Thats something were aware of. Weve spoken about, as a batting group, the need to go big if you get in. Weve had a lot of scores between 40 and 80 but havent had lads going on to get those daddy hundreds to really put the pressure on the opposition. Thats something we can be better at.On the first morning at The Oval, Yorkshire bowled and fielded with a zest not to squander the chance to become the first side to win a hat-trick of titles since they themselves last managed the feat, in 1968. Andrew Hodds diving catch, snaffling Dominic Sibley down the leg side, was particularly impressive. But after 23.1 overs of funereal batting in the gloom, during which Surrey stumbled to 36 for 2, Zafar Ansari and Aaron Finch then added 59 at a run a ball before the showers intervened.And while Yorkshire regretted Williamsons absence, Surrey had a surprise omission of their own. Arun Harinath, whose record of 620 runs at 36.47 apiece this season is bettered only by Kumar Sangakkara, is not the complaining type, but had plenty of cause to be miffed about being dropped. ' ' '