TORONTO -- By lifting his arm a little, James Paxton got a big lift from his curveball.Paxton pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in three starts, Seth Smith doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Blue Jays 2-1 on Friday night, snapping Torontos winning streak at three.I know he and (pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.) have been working on a couple of things and it certainly was evident tonight with his ability to spin it, manager Scott Servais said of Paxton. That was the best curveball hes had all year.Paxton (3-4) allowed one run and three hits. He walked one and struck out nine, one shy of his season-high.Before these starts I was creeping down a little bit and getting too sidearm, getting on the side of the ball, Paxton said. It wasnt allowing me to get on top of the curveball. Bringing my arm up a little bit more has allowed me to get on top of that curveball.Paxtons altered delivery made things easy on Mariners catcher Mike Zunino.I dont think you could put down a wrong sign when a guy is going like that, Zunino said.Seattle won consecutive games for the first time since a four-game run from June 30 to July 3.The Mariners have won five straight and 14 of 20 against AL East opponents this season.Edwin Diaz worked the eighth and Steve Cishek finished for his 23rd save.Edwin Encarnacion drew a two-out walk in the ninth and Troy Tulowitzki singled but Cishek ended it by striking out All-Star Michael Saunders.Paxton retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced. The only blemish in that span was a one-out solo homer by Saunders in the second.Hes always had a really good arm, Saunders said of Paxton. Tonight he was hitting his spots, keeping us off balance.Back in the lineup after missing Wednesdays game at Arizona because of a personal matter, Saunders connected in his first career at-bat against the team that drafted him in 2004 and traded him to Toronto before the 2015 season.After Saunders homered, Paxton set down the next 12 batters before Josh Tholes one-out walk in the seventh. Josh Donaldson advanced Thole to third with a two-out double but Paxton escaped by striking out Encarnacion.That was huge, Servais said. He made huge pitches there.Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada (back) was activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game. The right-hander was placed on the DL on July 6, one day after being named an All-Star for the first time.Estrada (5-4) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. Estrada, who is winless in four starts, had surrendered five hits or fewer in his previous 13 outings.BLACK AND BLUEFirst base umpire Jordan Baker was struck on the left elbow by Nelson Cruzs foul line drive in the seventh. The impact quickly left a large red mark on Bakers arm. He put on a wrap between innings and stayed in the game.ROSTER SHUFFLEToronto activated LHP Franklin Morales (shoulder) off the 60-day DL and optioned LHP Aaron Loup and INF Andy Burns to Triple-A Buffalo. To make room for Morales, Toronto designated RHP Dustin Antolin for assignment.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: SS Ketel Marte has been diagnosed with mononucleosis and is expected to go on the 15-day DL on Saturday. Seattle recalled INF Luis Sardinas from Triple-A Tacoma to replace LHP Mike Montgomery, who was traded Wednesday to the Chicago Cubs. The Mariners are expected to recall a pitcher from Tacoma on Saturday.Blue Jays: C Russell Martin is expected to miss at least two games after he slipped and fell in the shower Thursday. Martin passed out after spending too much time in the sauna and overheating. An MRI showed no structural damage to his knee. ... OF Jose Bautista (left big toe) started and played seven innings in RF in his first rehab game at Triple-A Buffalo on Friday. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout.UP NEXTMariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (10-6, 4.01) is 4-0 with a 2.39 ERA in his past four outings and has won nine of his last 11 starts.Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (7-10, 4.11) allowed three home runs at Oakland on July 16, losing for the first time in three outings. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Taylor-Decker-Draft-Jersey/ . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Da-Shawn-Hand-Draft-Jersey/ . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Marvin-Jones-Jr-Draft-Jersey/ . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Golden-Tate-Iii-Draft-Jersey/ . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Kerry-Hyder-Draft-Jersey/ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Is that number ten? Thats good.A few hours before we chat, Kieron Pollard has just been signed by Karachi Kings. It will be (including Stanford Superstars) the tenth non-international T20 side that he has represented. While that falls short of Chris Gayles 16, the number of teams Pollard has played for is testament to his appeal to T20 franchises around the world. Yet, though he is only 29, there is a possibility that Pollard will never represent West Indies again.Your tenth T20 team - is it quite tough playing for so many different teams and just kind of popping up for a month and then playing for a different team? I find it very interesting. You go, you get a job done, you impart your knowledge and then you move on. I think its about being professional in everything that you do. Since Ive been going around different teams for a while, I tend to be comfortable wherever.Is it a challenge, in between playing, to maintain your fitness when youve got no one to tell you to do it, because you dont have a full-time contract anywhere? No, its not. If you pride yourself on professional work, you dont need anyone to tell you that you need to stay fit. I think that comes naturally, and if you neglect fitness thats when your performances will drop. Ive seen it. Over the last two years, Ive just seen a little dip in performance because I wasnt able to train hard. But now, coming out of that, and being able to train a lot harder and have that fitness regime, you see the results as well.How much do the teams you play for differ in their approach, like strategy and things like that? They differ a lot. Obviously, different cultures, different ways of playing cricket, but what remains is that it is the same sort of targets and the way you go about it. The cricket itself doesnt change, but the approach changes. Whereas in some leagues they just preach aggressive, aggressive, aggressive, in others theres a more conservative approach: go hard at the top, consolidate in the middle, go hard again at the end.What would be an extreme? A couple of the years that I played in the English T20 league. Wed go hard and try to consolidate and then go hard again.How much does your personal role change? The more you have played and the more experience you get, obviously your role changes. When youre a young player you go out there, you dominate attacks, you just go, go, go. You get more senior, theres more responsibility on your shoulders. Sometimes the risk-taking is not as much, whereas in some other situations you have no choice but to go out and take risks.So, you know, it changes for me, and the roles in different teams. If Im batting high up the order theres a certain responsibility. If Im batting six and seven, theres a certain responsibility to be there at the end to finish off games.Wheres your favourite place to bat? Now in T20 cricket, I dont mind batting No. 4 or No. 5. I think it gives you flexibility. You lose two quick wickets or three quick wickets, or you come in when the team just needs you to accelerate it in the middle or accelerate at the end. I think thats now my ideal position.In T20 leagues, should there be more drug-testing? I think theres a sufficient amount of drug-testing. Ive had numerous, numerous drug tests all over the world. I dont think you find many cricketers taking drugs and stuff like that. If the people in authority think that they need to have more drug-testing, then so be it. But I havent seen many cricketers getting banned for drugs. Theres a few, but in everything that you do, theres always a few bad apples.In the T20 teams you play for, can you talk about the use of data? Stats and data - its there, but I think its there for more of a baseline. I think if you try to go into too much thinking about stats and the average score on a ground, you sometimes tend to miss a trick. Cricketers should actually play and the stats are just a baseline to see where people are progressing, where you can take advantage of a team, their weaknesses and stuff like that. But if you use too many stats in T20 cricket and start to complicate it, thats when youre in trouble. Stats are good, data is good, but you need to use it sparingly.Its there, but I dont much it up, as we will say in the Caribbean. Some people will think a stat is this and a guys not good at this particular time or whatever. Give him the opportunity. Lets see.Can you talk about your boundary catching? It comes naturally. Its just about what you can do, concentration, getting your hand in the right position, and getting some to stick. You can say luck is on your side as well, but if you do it time and time again, it cant be luck.For me, its all about pride. When I started out, I think I was known as one of the best fielders, but then you always have competition and thats how you get better. As Jonty Rhodes said, if you dont go, you never know. So if I dont jump and attempt to take that catch, I never know if Ill be able to.What I try to do is give myself the opportunity to take that catch. And it has worked out in me getting some different catches and people all around the world talking about it. So thats good.How do you feel about being dropped from the ODI team? Im not surprised that it actually happened. I knew from the time I had a couple bad games or bad series thats whats going to happen and that is what theyre going to use against me, because of all that happened between 2014 till now. I had one good series coming back - a very good series as well - and then next time a bad one and then youre out.I just accept it and move on. I have the opportunity still to play around the world. If they feel justified in what they did and thats want they want to do, Im fine with that as well.Do you think theres a chance you might never play for West Indies again? Thats a question the selection panel will have to answer. Ill be playing cricket around the world and still trying to do the best I can. Will I play for West Indies again? I dont know. You want to use your knowledge and the experience of these guys in order to better West Indies cricket, but I guess the upper heads, as they call it, and the management at the top have different ideas.Would you want a white-ball contract from the West Indies Cricket Board? Thats one of the things we have been advocating for a long time. So hopefully. But saying you want it or you need it is two different things. Even now, only Test players get retainer contracts.But when you look at it in reality, guys who have served West Indies cricket for a long time, or more senior guys, are getting the same remunerations as guys who have just played one Test match. So Im not sure if the process in which they go about it is right. I dont know if they will think about white-ball contracts. At the moment they alone know what they want to achieve, and we can just hope that good sense prevails in the end. I cant say if I want one. I want a lot of things in life.How hard is it to just rock up and play for West Indies, like in the last ODI series, when youve been playing other forms before? Its the least of the problems. I think the most important thing is being paid properly for your services. I can rock up and play, but I think theres more to rocking up and playing for West Indies than that. Its about pride, its about passion, its about representing. At the end of it all, its your job. If youre lucky enough to play ten, 15, 20 years at the top, then you would have a substantial career. At the end of the day youve got to live, youll have kids, get married, and theres a lot more to it than jusst rocking up and playing.ddddddddddddAre some West Indies players - the younger guys - afraid to speak out against the WICB? They wont say it, but they are. Because what you have seen, theres a trend, right? Darren Sammy was regarded as one of the best leaders we have in the Caribbean. Sammy, for the first time, came out and spoke against the board. Sammy was sacked. Phil Simmons wanted different mechanisms to get his job done better. He spoke out against the board, got himself sacked. Dwayne Bravo has been in trouble with the board. Pollard has been in trouble with the board. Chris Gayle has been in trouble with the board for speaking out. So if the younger players have seen that trend, theyd rather just stay quiet. They are learning what not to say because of what the outcome is going to be.How would you fix cricket in the West Indies? We have to fix it from the top. We have to change the whole system, we have to change the whole culture, we have to change the whole structure. And if you start somewhere, you start at the top, then it filters down.We tried different models. Ive seen all sorts of different reports and stuff like that. We look at the Australian structure or the English structure and take out two pages that suit us and say, okay, were going put this in place, and thats it. No. Its a whole structure. Thats why a book starts from the front and it ends in the back.We are just trying for shortcuts all the time. So, for me, everything from the top needs to change first before it gets down to the bottom. But unfortunately what all the fans sadly see is the finished product, which is the players out there, and we get judged. You get judged and you get the majority of the blame, but things are not really in place for you to perform at your optimal.I wouldnt just change the president for arguments sake. No. I would say the whole structure needs to change - everything. The infrastructure, the stadiums and the things that are sub-standard to produce international cricket. Now, international cricketers come on the scene after one good year of domestic cricket and sometimes we can see the results on the field. Then we blame the players. So there are a lot of things, not just the president.Why are West Indies ninth in ODIs when they are so good at T20? T20 cricket comes naturally. There are just 20 overs, you go out there and play your natural game for an hour and a half and thats it. Its about concentration, its about mentality. Its about the wickets you have played on in the West Indies, and then having to go, for instance, to Australia, and try to dominate. When you go overseas, its difficult to adjust.But us as cricketers are not blaming anybody, because at some point we need to take responsibility for that.So the players do have to take some of the blame for how West Indies cricket is? Yeah, of course. But look at what happened in 2014 on the India tour. They did an investigation and said the board, the players association, and the players are culpable for what happened. But what happened after that? The players were the ones sanctioned alone, right? And okay, if youre responsible, you take responsibility for it. You accept it and you try to move forward. But again, we are responsible for everything in West Indies cricket now. Thats the way. What are the changes you have seen in the top hierarchy of the WICB? None. But you see the players changing day in, day out.A holistic sort of redevelopment has to take place in order for West Indies to go forward, and those are just some of the reasons why we are No. 9 in the world in ODIs.Now you have fired one coach who said he wasnt getting along with the players. And then we brought another coach who was getting along with the players, the results started to look okay - World T20 win, we got to the final of the tri-series, won a Test match, and you have seen that the players are comfortable. Again, the coach goes. So we go right back to square one.They get rid of most of the senior players to go young. The end result of it? Most of the senior players are back. So youre just going around and around and around and not actually finding the root of the problem. Thats the reason why were No. 9. Well get to No. 8, well get to No. 7, okay. Then where do we go from there? Are you sad that youve never played a Test match? At the start, I was. Now I can cope with disappointment. Because of how West Indies cricket is and has been run, sometimes you just get labelled. And when you dont get an opportunity then people will say you cant do it. How would you know if someone cant do something if you dont get an opportunity? Ive never got the opportunity to play, but the consensus is that I cant play [Test cricket].Im not sorry for myself. I have accepted what it is and I have moved on from harping about playing Test cricket. It is what it is. If I wasnt destined to play a Test match, then I wasnt destined to. If I was destined to play 50 Test matches, I will. So just lets see. But Im not disappointed. Sometimes dreams dont come true.Will young players follow your path and specialise in T20 cricket while West Indies Test cricket actually gets worse and worse? I can see players just wanting to play the short format of the game. But what I will always say, as we were taught growing up, is that Test cricket is the pinnacle. Yes, you want to play the shorter format, but sometimes you still want to test yourself in a longer format. I started playing cricket because I wanted to play West Indies Test matches and 50-over cricket. It just happened that T20 came around and thats what took precedence. When I scored runs in the first-class arena, I was still branded a one-day cricketer, because I was hitting sixes in first-class games. Now, in Test matches youre seeing a lot of sixes as well. So I see it happening, but I still urge them to test themselves in the longer format of the game.Are you worried that in the future West Indies might collapse completely? Honestly, I cant see it happening. West Indies have a rich culture, a rich legacy, and I dont think we will let it happen. We have been going through a bad time for the last 20 years or so, but theres always some light at the end of the tunnel. So I dont think its going to collapse and youre going to see regions go on their own. We just need to get our acts together so West Indies cricket can recover, because we all pride ourselves on that. You can be from Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, or wherever - youll be considered a West Indian.Whats the secret of West Indians in T20? I think it comes naturally to us. Were strong, were able to hit the balls out of the ground. Where teams run between the wickets and get twos, we get fours and sixes. It works to our advantage. We stick to our strength. Around the world, West Indies go out and try and dominate in the leagues as well. It shows how strong we are. And it was very disappointing to see that we lost 3-0 to Pakistan, because we were so good at it.Do you think this West Indies team can dominate T20s in the same way as in the 1980s they dominated Test cricket? When you say this West Indies team, you have to be specific about which players we are talking about. If we are talking about that World Cup team and a couple of other young players, I definitely think so.But if not, and youre just going to change your whole structure and get rid of all the seniors, then I dont know how long our domination is going to be for. Camo China NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys 2019 Cheap Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap NFL T-shirts Disocunt Football Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Jerseys From China Disocunt Football Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys ' ' '