e midfield role in a vastly different way to either Walcott or

TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays have put up some impressive numbers of late and the long ball is helping them get it done. Edwin Encarnacion hit two of Torontos season-high five home runs as the Blue Jays capped a two-game mini-sweep of Philadelphia by outscoring the Phillies 12-6 on Thursday at Rogers Centre. It was the second straight night that the Blue Jays had a double-digit run total as they extended their winning streak to five games. "Were some kinda hot right now," said Jays manager John Gibbons. Toronto (18-17) has hit at least one homer in eight straight games, a big reason why they have moved back over the .500 mark. Colby Rasmus, Juan Francisco and Adam Lind also went deep to help make a winner of R.A. Dickey (3-3). "Were swinging it good right now and everybody is feeding off each other," Gibbons said. "I would say right now its probably a good club to pitch for." Dickey had a few rough moments but his knuckleball was moving nicely and it regularly handcuffed the Phillies. He worked into the seventh inning and struck out a season-high eight batters. "Im making strides," he said. "I had a good (knuckler). I had one that was a swing-and-miss one tonight. It was comfortable out of my hand all night long." Former Blue Jay starter A.J. Burnett (2-2) was roughed up for six earned runs over six innings. He allowed nine hits and two walks while striking out four. "Balls ran over the plate tonight," Burnett said. "I wasnt on the corners at all. The hook was inconsistent. I had it at times. The bottom line is the balls werent on the corners, the ball was in the middle of the plate." Encarnacion set the tone early by blasting his 200th career homer in the second inning. "(Im) swinging at better pitches, (Im) more confident and (Im) feeling great at the plate," Encarnacion said through translator Luis Rivera. Rasmus hit a rainbow shot that barely cleared the wall by the right-field pole later in the frame. Lind added a two-run shot in the sixth inning as the Blue Jays pulled away. "You want to come in and stop the bleeding and set the tone and that wasnt there," Burnett said. Encarnacion added a two-run shot in the seventh and Francisco tagged a solo shot on the next pitch. Jose Reyes broke out of a slump as his ground-rule double in the third inning ended an 0-for-10 skid. He stole third and came home on a Jose Bautista sacrifice fly. Reyes was at it again in the fifth inning after he was hit by a pitch. The speedy shortstop -- who battled a hamstring problem last month -- stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Bautista groundout. "You can tell hes feeling a lot more comfortable and he was able to turn it loose," Gibbons said. The Blue Jays have won their last eight meetings against Philadelphia (15-18). They will continue their nine-game homestand Friday with the opener of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels. Toronto, which clobbered the Phillies 10-0 a night earlier, outhit Philadelphia 13-10 in front of an announced crowd of 18,158. The Phillies opened the scoring in the second inning and scratched out singles runs in the fifth and the seventh. Ryan Howard hit a two-run shot off reliever Esmil Rogers in Philadelphias three-run ninth inning. Dickey allowed seven hits, three earned runs and walked three batters over 6 1-3 innings pitched. Notes: The game took three hours to play. ... Olympic curling champion Brad Jacobs was in attendance. ... Toronto optioned right-hander Chad Jenkins to triple-A Buffalo before the game. ... Bautista has reached base in all 35 games this season. ... It was Encarnacions 12th career multi-homer game. ... Howard has seven homers this season. ... Dustin McGowan (2-1) is scheduled to start for Toronto on Friday against Garrett Richards (3-0). ... It was the 20,000th game in franchise history for the Phillies. The team played its first game on May 1, 1883, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Providence Grays at Recreation Park. Athletics Jerseys China .com) - Blake Griffin led five Clippers in double figures with 24 points and the LA Clippers got back on track with a 101-97 win over the Utah Jazz. Oakland Athletics Shirts . I kept my eyes focused up on the camera during each approach. I just tried to stay focused on my form, as I didnt know what the ball reaction was. I was quite emotional at the end. I did not actually see any of the shots in the game until I got home and watched the video. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/115m-chris-bassitt-jersey-athletics.html . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. Ancelotti says "Gareth had some problems at the beginning (of the season) but when he found good physical condition he scored a lot of goals, he had a good impact on the team. Wholesale Athletics Jerseys .J. -- Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets. Oakland Athletics Pro Shop .Bekker was added Wednesday in exchange for allocation money after two seasons with Toronto. The native of Canada had 29 MLS appearances, including 16 starts. Hes also played in 13 games for the Canadian national team.Last season was a breakthrough campaign for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez. The 21-year-old Spain international became a first-team regular at the Vicente Calderon and quickly marked himself out as a key asset to Diego Simeone.Atleti were runners-up in the Champions League last term - narrowly losing out on penalties to bitter rivals Real Madrid - and Saul was vital in guiding Los Colchoneros to their second final in three seasons having scored a sublime solo goal against Pep Guardiolas Bayern Munich in the semi-final. The versatile, all-round midfielder is now being linked with Arsenal, with the Gunners reportedly eyeing further reinforcements after their £80m summer spending spree.The Football Whispers Index currently gives Sauls potential move to the Emirates a score of 1.1 out of five, which suggests any such deal is far from certain. But the fact that this one has crept up from a zero rating a couple of days ago means momentum could be building.Saul was a prospect of note within the Atletico Madrid academy for several years before his first-team debut in a Europa League fixture against Besiktas as a 17-year-old in 2012. Saul ignited Atletis Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich with a sensational solo strike at the Calderon The Elche-born midfielder moved to Madrid to initially join Real Madrids academy in 2006, before moving across the capital to sign for Atleti in 2008. The youngster, who has represented his country at all youth levels, became a regular for Atletis B team B team in 2010.A 2013/14 loan spell with Rayo Vallecano saw Saul hone his skills by playing predominantly as a centre-back, developing the kind of appreciation for the defensive side of the game that has served him so well in Simeones ultra-disciplined system.Sauls accelerated progression to first-team regular was largely due to the misfortune of a team-mate. Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes was ruled out with a broken leg for most of last season, freeing up a berth which was soon claimed by the Spaniard. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ?￡6.99. No contract. Also key to Sauls ever presence in the side was his versatility. Although he has played mostly right of Atleticos midfield four, he is equally adept at playing on the other flank, or centrally as either a deep-lying pivot or a more advanced attacking midfielder.With such versatility and a remarkably broad skill set for one so young, its easy to see why Arsenal would be interested.Gunners boss Arsene Wenger bolstered his midfield options this summer with the £30m capture of combative midfielder Granit Xhaka, who arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach in May. Is Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez the missing piece to Arsenals midfield puzzle? The north Londoners were also linked to moves for wide men, with French newspaper LEquipe claiming a bid had been lodged for Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez, as well as the yearly links to Julian Draxler in the German media.Despite this, such moves did not materialised. Could Wenger have been keeping his cash aside with a swoop for Saul in mind? If so, the Atleti man would likely find himself competing for places with a couple of English players whose development seems to have stalled of late.Former Southampton pair Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are the players who would be most threatened by the potential arrival of Saul, as Alexis Sanchez has taken up a more central role this season while record signing Mesut Ozil is among the first names on the team sheet at the Emirates. Will Wenger spend again? Arsenals January transfer targets: Riyad Mahrez and Julian Draxler linked Lets see how Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain stack up when compared to the one-cap Spain international.Theo WalcottWhen isolating tthe players statistical performance over the last three seasons, some interesting trends appear.dddddddddddd Walcotts directness is shown by the fact that he has netted 13 goals - five more than Saul - despite having only played 2449 minutes of football to the Spaniards 3897.The England attacker also boasts better shot accuracy, with 64 per cent of his efforts finding the target to Sauls 55 per cent, as well as a higher rate of take-on success.But Sauls skills begin to show their merit when analysing his creativity. He has created 32 chances for team-mates compared with Walcotts 29, and has laid on five assists -- one more than the Englishman. Walcott has scored five more goals than Saul over the past three seasons And the fact Sauls attacking stats are even comparable to Walcotts is made all the more impressive when considering his time spent playing in defence, where his offensive influence would have been greatly diminished.Oxlade-ChamberlainLike Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain has also featured in fewer first-team minutes than Saul over the last three seasons, with 2686. Even so, the Oxs attacking productivity has left a lot to be desired, with just three goals - five fewer than Saul - and only a single assist.His shot accuracy is also below the standard of the man he may find himself competing for places with, as only 36 per cent of Oxlade-Chamberlains strikes have worked the opposition goalkeeper.Where the 23-year-old shines, though, is through his dribbling ability. An impressive 64 per cent of Oxlade-Chamberlains take-ons have seen him getting the better of his opponent - a figure which puts him ahead of both Saul and Walcott. Oxlade-Chamberlains 79 per cent pass-completion rate surpasses Sauls Surprisingly, the 24-cap England international also has a higher pass-completion rate than Saul, with 79 per cent - while Walcott betters both men with an 82 per cent pass accuracy.Saul plays the wide midfield role in a vastly different way to either Walcott or Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Atleti star is not blessed with the kind of pace that the England pair can call upon.But what he lacks in raw speed he makes up for with tactical responsibility, creativity, and the intangible attribute of big-game temperament, having consistently performed to a high standard in Madrid derbies, clashes with Barcelona and in the latter rounds of the Champions League. Arsenal forward Theo Walcott says he will be more selfish on the football pitch His ability to play anywhere across the midfield will also be an asset that has caught Wengers eye, as well as his physicality, standing a hair over six foot.If Arsenal do decide to make a move for Saul, he will not come cheap. In May, he penned a new contract at the Vicente Calderon, committing his future to Atletico until 2021 and bumping his buyout clause up to €80m (£70.3m).You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Arsenal video Arsenal fixtures Arsenal stats Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '