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NEW YORK – As the Blue Jays venture into Yankee Stadium for an important three-game series with their foes in pinstripes, there are a number of storylines to latch on to before considering who will take the mound for Toronto on Tuesday night. Its the first-place Blue Jays against the team closest to them in the American League East. Toronto enters the series with a four-and-a-half game lead on the Yankees. Its another chance, the second of what will be as many as six, to wave goodbye to New Yorks future Hall of Fame shortstop, Derek Jeter. Here in New York, the dulcet voice of the late, great public address announcer, Bob Sheppard, brings No. 2 to the plate. Jose Reyes is back in New York, too. He made his name over in Queens playing for the Mets. R.A. Dickey is here but wont pitch. He won the Cy Young award two seasons ago on the other side of the city. Oh, and dont forget about the Blue Jays rookies mound opponent on this Tuesday: a rookie himself, technically, the Japanese phenom Masahiro Tanaka, whos dominated the early days of his major league career like he dominated for years back home. Then there is Marcus Stroman. Its strange that this, essentially a homecoming for a young man raised in the Long Island town of Medford, is somewhat lost in the shuffle. Hes the 23-year-old who stunned general manager Alex Anthopoulos, blowing his bubble gum in the middle of his windup. The kid seems born for the spotlight, even if it will shine more brightly on others. "Im usually pretty good with dealing with things like that," Stroman said on Sunday. "I dont let anything get to me or get me overly excited or kind of get me out of my game. Im fine. Im in a good place mentally. I feel good going into it. I have kind of an off-day just to hang out with friends in the city and then it will be Game on Tuesday." Medford is a sleepy town, according to Stroman, more than an hour from New York City. Its closer to the upscale Hamptons, a drive of about 45 minutes. Medford has one high school, Patchogue-Medford High School, which Stroman attended before moving on to college at Duke University. The town will awaken this evening. Many of its inhabitants, in fact, will venture to Yankee Stadium to watch the hometown boy pitch. Stroman has purchased up to 70 tickets for close family and friends. He said hes been told by another 50 or 60 people theyve bought ducats. Hell have a throng of about 130 people here rooting him on. "Anytime you have an opportunity to pitch in front of a bunch of family and friends, its exciting," said Stroman. "I should have a lot of – a bunch of people texting me, bunch of friends from high school, college, a lot of people reaching out to me saying theyre going to be at the game so thats always exciting to pitch in front of people whove been there along the way." Stroman is 3-1 in his first year in the big leagues, 2-1 as a starter. Hes gone six innings in each of his first three starts, losing his last outing against the Twins. In two of those appearances, including the Minnesota defeat, he didnt walk a batter. He has impressed with his fastball. His breaking stuff, particularly his curveball, has baffled opposing hitters. Hes developing his changeup. Hes not developing confidence. He already has it. His coaches brag about it. "I certainly dont see him as a guy whos going to nibble and pitch around guys," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "Hes definitely on the attack. His walks have been down and I would like to think that thats going to continue with him. He certainly trusts his stuff. Theres no doubt about that." Growing up, Stroman went to Yankees games at the old stadium and saw the Mets at Shea. He didnt cheer for either team. He admired players. Like most native New Yorkers, he watched Jeter in awe. On Tuesday night, hell pitch to Jeter. He doesnt know what to expect. "I cant even tell you," said Stroman. "Im sure itll settle in once Im kind of on the mound but Im pretty sure it will be surreal." Air Max 97 Sale Uk .S. international midfielder Michael Bradley is complete. Air Max 97 Clearance . With just under five seconds remaining - the Raptors having clawed back from a 19-point deficit and pulled within one - DeRozan took the handoff from Chuck Hayes. http://www.cheapairmax97uk.com/ . Jones, from Winnipeg, built a 3-0 advantage after three ends by scoring two in the second and one in the third. Chinas skip Bingyu Wang cut that lead to 3-1 in the fourth before Canada added another three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. Cheap Air Max 97 Uk . Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp said there was no new information on the 80-year-old Hall of Famers condition. The family has requested privacy. Cheap Air Max 97 Wholesale .C. - Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek says guard Goran Dragic will return to the starting lineup against the Charlotte Hornets after missing the last two games with a strained back.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- James Shields would have been wise to pop some Dramamine, Ned Yost some antacids. The Royals ace survived six shaky innings mostly of his own doing Sunday, and the Kansas City offence supplied just enough offence against Hiroki Kuroda to squeak out a 2-1 victory. "Shields had to grind it out again and again," said Yost, his manager, who spent the entire game on edge, "and he made it through some choppy waters." Even without any motion-sickness medicine. The Royals have won the last seven games that Shields (7-3) has started, and hes earned the win in four of those. The veteran right-hander may have lasted only six innings in this effort, but he gave up only six hits to the punchless Yankees and allowed one unearned run. "Theyre always tough," said Shields, who faced the Yankees for the 30th time, more than any other club. "They make good at-bats. Its always a grind whenever you face them." Aaron Crow escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and Wade Davis recorded the 500th strikeout of his career during a perfect eighth before Greg Holland survived a shaky ninth for his 18th save. The All-Star closer gave up a leadoff single to Ichiro Suzuki and then sent him to second on a wild pitch. Holland kept his cool, retiring Brian Roberts on a fly out, pinch hitter Mark Teixeira on a groundout and then striking out Brett Gardner to end the game. "Shields battled his butt off," Crow said. "You want to make sure he gets the win." The Yankees failed to score more than four runs for the 10th consecutive game, though the not-so-aptly-named "Bronx Bombers" certainly had their share of chances. Not just in the ninth inning, either. New York stranded runners on first and second in the first inning. It loaded the bases with nobody out in the second and failed to score. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the third with a double and was left on third base. And Roberts was stranded after a fourth-inning double. "Somehow weve got to find a way to get it done," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. In all, 10 of the first 12 outs Shields recorded were with runners in scoring position.dddddddddddd The Yankees finished 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position. "It was a game of missed opportunities," Derek Jeter said. "We had a lot of opportunities. Gives those guys credit. Weve seen Shields for years now and hes as good as they come, especially with guys on base. He bears down." While the Yankees were struggling to find a clutch hit, the Royals managed to string together the only real success they had against Kuroda (4-4) with two outs in the second inning. Hot-hitting Salvador Perez, who cracked a three-run homer in an 8-4 win Saturday night, got things going with a single. Cains base hit drove in the first run and Moustakas, in the throes of another major slump, added another single to make the score 2-0. That was all the Royals could muster against Kuroda, who had been unbeaten in his last six starts. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three in seven innings. New York finally scored in the sixth, when Yangervis Solarte hit a double and reached third base on a passed ball. Suzuki drove him in with a groundout to shortstop. But given a chance to tie the game, the Yankees kept coming up empty. Their failure in the ninth inning came after Gardner sent a triple to the wall with one out in the seventh. Crow rebounded to get Jeter on a ground out, and then struck out Ellsbury with a full-count pitch to leave the tying run 90 feet away. "When guys are scuffling it seems like they are scuffling in bunches. When you get hot it seems like a lot of guys are hot," Jeter said. "These are the times youve got to keep swinging. The only way to get out of it is swing out of it." NOTES: Davis has not allowed a hit in 15 appearances. ... The double by Roberts was actually a ground-rule double. A ball boy picked up his fair ball down the right-field line and gave it to a fan. ... Royals 2B Omar Infante ended a 0-for-19 slump with a single in the third. ... LHP Vidal Nuno starts the series finale Monday for New York. LHP Jason Vargas starts for Kansas City. ' ' '