TORONTO -- This time, the seventh inning was a breeze for R. Le Raven Clark Jersey .A. Dickey. The veteran Toronto knuckleballer, who had made it through six innings in his previous six starts but each time failed to get out the seventh, turned in his strongest performance of the season Saturday, going 8-1/3 innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-2 at Rogers Centre. "I feel like Ive been right on the edge of a game like this for a long time," said Dickey, who gave up five hits, struck out four and only walked one in improving to 5-4. "Thats whats been encouraging. "Thankfully today, I was able to break through the seventh and get into the eighth and ninth." Dickey received a standing ovation from 29,372 fans when he left with one out and two on in the ninth. The As made it interesting, getting the tying run to the plate in that final at-bat but Brett Cecil got Jed Lowrie on a sacrifice fly and struck out Alberto Callaspo for his third save and Torontos fifth straight win. The win moved the Blue Jays 2.5 games up on the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees atop the American League East. The last time Toronto was alone in first place this late in the season was July 6, 2000. Dickey, who won the 2012 National League Cy Young Award with the New York Mets, lowered his earned run average to 3.95, the first time its been under 4.00 since he joined the Blue Jays in 2013. "Its great for our team to be able to keep the momentum that weve been generating over the past week-and-a-half or so," said Dickey, who retired 19 of 21 hitters he faced at one stretch. "Its nice to feel like you did your part in that." "He was dealing it," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "He really was. He was strong. He was very efficient. That particular pitch he throws, when its on its tough to do anything with it. "You can usually tell early on when hes got his good one going and today he did." Brett Lawrie had a home run for the Blue Jays while Melky Cabrera had two hits and two RBIs, and Jose Reyes had a pair of hits as Toronto (28-22) won for the 10th time in their last 12 ball games. They did their damage on Jesse Chavez (4-2), who gave up four runs, two of which were unearned, and eight hits. The Blue Jays used their speed and took advantage of some sloppy defence from Oakland (30-19). "We generated some runs today," said Gibbons as Reyes scored twice from second on balls that never left the infield and Anthony Gose plated from first on a bobble in left field. "The old saying is speed never goes in slumps." After Oakland opened the scoring in the second inning on a Yeonis Cespedes solo home run to straightaway centre field, the Blue Jays tied it up in the third. Gose, who reached on a fielders choice, was moving first to third on Cabreras two-out, opposite field single when left-fielder Craig Gentry bobbled the ball, allowing the fleet-footed Gose to fly around third and slide into the plate ahead of the throw. Toronto took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth. After Lawrie led off the inning by slamming his eighth home run into the Blue Jays bullpen to make it 2-1, they added some insurance, again courtesy of speed and shoddy defence by the As. Gose slapped a sharp single the other way with one-out and moved up to third on a single by Reyes. After a wild pitch advanced Reyes to second, Cabrera hit a ground ball to first baseman Brandon Moss, who booted it as Gose was coming in to score and then flipped it past a covering Chavez, which allowed Reyes to scamper home, punctuating the run with a run head-first slide, making it 4-1. Reyes repeated the feat in the seventh to put the Blue Jays up 5-1. After a lead-off double, he scored all the way from second when Cabrera hit a routine groundball to shortstop but the As made the play too slowly, again allowing Reyes to slide across home plate head-first before Moss could throw him out. "Thats the way I play the game when Im healthy," said Reyes, who spent the early part of the season on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. "Stealing bases. Sliding all over the place. "When Im pain-free Im able to do that stuff, so Im feeling happy. Not only for me, but for the whole team because were playing really good baseball. Its always fun when youre winning." Toronto will go for the three-game sweep of the A.L. West leaders on Sunday afternoon. Notes: The Blue Jays and As wrap up a three-game weekend series on Sunday when Oakland LHP Drew Pomeranz goes against Toronto LHP J.A. Happ. . . Going into Saturdays game, Torontos Edwin Encarnacion led the league in May with 11 home runs and 62 total bases and is second in RBIs with 24 and T2 with 16 extra-base hits in 22 games. . . Since 2010, the Blue Jays lead the Majors with 553 home runs prior to the all-star break, well ahead of the New York Yankees, who are second with 489. Marvin Harrison Jersey . Curlings version of the Ryder Cup will introduce a new format beginning with the 2015 event, set for Jan. 8 to 11 in Calgary, as itll be Team Canada taking on Team Europe this season and in the 2017 event, while itll be Team Canada against Team World (including the U. Barkevious Mingo Jersey .com) - Mike Miller scored a season-high 21 points in a rare start and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 95-91 win over the Brooklyn Nets.NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - THE KEYS: I cant wait for the game tonight and what should be an outstanding finish to what has been an entertaining NCAA Tournament to say the least. You can catch all of the action live tonight at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt on TSN with the pre-game show before the 9:10pm et/6:10pm pt tip-off. Here are 3 Keys for each team. Enjoy! UCONN KEYS: 1. DOMINATE THE GUARD PLAY: Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright have been terrific so far in the tournament. Their ability to take you out of your comfort level with their tenacious defense and their ability to create and make their own shots is big. They are more experienced and, in my opinion, as talented, if not more talented, than the Harrison twins - they must dominate this match-up and frustrate the young guards. 2. REBOUNDING: Kentucky is +9 per game in the Tournament on the boards. That is a huge disparity and a big part of Kentuckys game is the second or third shot per offensive trip. UConn must neutralize this or theyll be in trouble. This is not one of UConns strengths. but theyve got to find a way to win the 50/50 battles and be physical. With the Wildcats, UConn is giving up lots of size inside. 3. DeANDRE DANIELS: After averaging 20 points and nine boards in his last three games, Daniels has to continue to be that versatilebig man for the Huskies inside and use his shot-making ability while facing the basket. Hes a tough cover and his ability to make the three-ball and lure you away from the hoop can take the Kentucky big out of their comfort zone a bit. They did a wonderful jjob stopping Wisconsins big man, Frank Kaminsky, with lots of attention. Marlon Mack Jersey. Daniels has to pick his spots, yet has to assert his game early and establish the fact that hes a guy getting lots of touches and attract the double team to open things up for teammates. KENTUCKY KEYS: 1. LATE SHOT CLOCK & GAME CLOCK SITUATIONS: The Wildcats have really impressed me with their discipline and poise in the tight situations. Decision-making with the ball and the types of plays and shots theyve been getting have been much improved over the early part of the season. Theyve been excellent at being organized and fundamentally sound on defence with a great attention to detail as the game progresses. They must continue to be sound on both sides of the ball. 2. TURNOVER MARGIN: Take care of the rock. Thats what it comes down to. Kentucky has been really steady in this regard and helped prevent run outs against their defence. They are a very good half-court defensive team that has the quickness, athleticism, size and length to frustrate opponents. You get folks into that type of game and then grind them. UConns guards want to run and create chances in open space. The fewer turnovers, the more the style of play favours you. 3. MARCUS LEE / JULIUS RANDLE / JAMES YOUNG: Energy, offensive rebounds, blocks, deflections, post scoring effort plays and paint domination are major areas that these, among many of the Kentucky young front court players, can get the upper hand over the Huskies. Beat them to the punch and be the better front court. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '