The Blue Jays offence has been positively dazzling, especially in the first eight days of May. You might as well change the franchise name from the Blue Jays to the "Thunder Birds." The Jays have scored 56 runs in putting together a 6-2 record, good for an average of seven runs per game. Over the last couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about the firepower of the Colorado Rockies and rightly so, but the Rockies have scored 58 runs over the same span in May and have an identical 6-2 mark. Granted, the Rockies dont play with a DH for the bulk of their games, so their totals are slightly more impressiveThe Jays pitching numbers have improved this month, as well. They have given up just 31 runs or just fewer than four per game. Colorado has surrendered exactly 32 or four runs per game right on the button. On the season, the Jays have scored 178 runs and given up 158. That 178 total is second in the American League to the Chicago White Sox who have racked up 184, which is, coincidentally, the same number they have allowed. The 178 the Jays have scored is the best in the AL East, but the 158 against is fourth-worst in the American League, ahead of only the Texas Rangers (174), Houston Astros (181) and the White Sox. The Jays though have improved by leaps and bounds over a year ago when they were 13-23 out of the gate. At this point last season, the Jays had only scored 139 runs and had given up 190. The -51 run differential was second-worst in the American League to Houston at -73. The really interesting comparison takes us back to 1993, the last time the Blue Jays won the World Series. The season started a week later so it took the 93 Jays until May 14 to play their 35th game, but guess what - their record then was exactly the same as this years edition at 18-17. On that date the 93 Jays had scored, you guessed it, 178 runs, the same as this years team. The 93 bunch though had allowed a dreadful 193 runs through May 14 for a -15 run differential. Im not saying the 2014 Blue Jays are as good a team as the 93 Jays, because at this point that would be ludicrous. Remember that the 93 Jays added Tony Fernandez and Rickey Henderson to the mix with in-season deals and became even stronger and the 1993 edition also had a lights-out closer in Duane Ward. Still, the numbers of the current team are intriguing and give cause for some hope. Another point - the Blue Jays have won a season high five-straight, which, while impressive, can only be considered a starting point. The 93 Jays had three outstanding runs in-season, From May 20 through June 5, they won 13 of 16 games. Then, from June 15 through the 29, they took 12 of 14 to push their record to 48-30. After losing 10 of 11 from June 30 to July 11 to fall to 49-40, they rebounded to take nine of 10 from July 24 through August 3. Next came a nine-game win streak from September 10 through 21 and then they finished the season by winning five of their final seven. The Jays finished the 1993 regular season with a 95-67 record, one victory fewer than the previous years team. They scored 847 runs, second-best in the American League and gave up 742, which was fifth in the American League. Their run differential was +105. On last May 9, the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox were in a virtual tie for first in the AL East. Tampa Bay was 16-18, four-and-a-half games out. The Blue Jays were dead last at 13-23, eight-and-a-half games out. On May 9, this time around, the Jays are alone in third place in the East, one game back of the Yankees and one-and-a-half behind first-place Baltimore. Its still a very long, difficult haul, but this summer may not be as long as many of us thought it would be. - We dont get to see enough of Colorado to truly appreciate the talents of their young third baseman Nolan Arenado. On Thursday, he broke Michael Cuddyers club record 27-game hit streak that was set only last season. At 28 games, Arenado is exactly halfway to Joe DiMaggios iconic 56-game streak set in 1941. If Arenado stays healthy and can put together one of those streaks for the ages, he would be in position to equal and then surpass DiMaggios streak June 10 and 11 at home against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field. Realistically, though, in this day and age, its hard to see anyone coming close to that milestone. - The Blue Jays lost outfielder Moises Sierra on a waiver claim to the White Sox last weekend. He was added to Chicagos roster last Sunday and made late-inning appearances in that game against the Cleveland Indians and in Mondays cross-city rivalry game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, going hitless in one at-bat for the two games. On Tuesday, though, Adam Dunn was a late scratch and skipper Robin Ventura stuck Sierra in the line-up in right field. He went four-for-four and scored a run in the White Sox 5-1 victory over the Cubbies. It will be interesting to see how his career unfolds with this fresh start. - Two of this years early season hard-luck pitchers faced each other earlier this week at Wrigley. Jose Quintana of the White Sox pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, giving up just one run, while racking up his fourth no-decision in starts. This coming from the guy who set an American League record a year ago with 17 no-decisions. Quintana is 1-2 on the campaign with a 3.56 ERA. On the flip side, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija, whos in his contract year, fired nine innings of three-hit, one-run ball before being taken out. Again, a no decision. Samardizija, whos pitched like an All-Star and has been the subject of many a trade rumour is 0-3 with an incredible 1.62 earned run average. Ultimately, he probably will be traded to a contender, maybe even the Jays, but not until a lot closer to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. And, yes, the White Sox did win that game at Wrigley 3-1 over the Cubs in 12 innings. Wholesale Shoes . He says he will have the operation Wednesday and be ready in time for training camp in September. Bernier missed five games in March due to the injury. Air Jordan 1 Sale . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/air-max-270-sale/. The motion to expand the stadiums capacity passed through by a count of 39-3, with Toronto mayor Rob Ford being among those in opposition. NMD Sale .Fucale will not only be one of the local boys, he is also a Montreal Canadiens draft pick and will have a huge cheering section when Canada opens the tournament Dec. Wholesale Shoes For Sale . Mladenovics quick hands at the net made the difference while Bencics inexperience in doubles showed. "We took a lot of pleasure," Mladenovic told Sport Plus television. "Its extremely difficult to play in such conditions, but our doubles team showed a lot of quality.The Buffalo Sabres added Bryan Trottier, Danny Flynn, Tom Coolen and Arturs Irbe to head coach Ted Nolans coaching staff on Monday. Trottier, Flynn and Coolen will serve as assistants and Irbe will serve as goaltending coach. "Im very happy with the group of talented hockey minds we were able to assemble for our coaching staff," Nolan said. "Each one of these coaches brings an extensive and different background from the hockey world and Im confident they will help get our team to where it needs to go this season." Trottier, a 1997 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and seven-time Stanley Cup champion, brings with him nine years of NHL coaching experience. He served as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins for four seasons (1993-94 to 1996-97) and then with the Colorado Avalanche (1998-99 to 2001-02), where he won the Stanley Cup in 2001. He also served as head coach of the New York Rangers in 2002-03 and compiled a 21-26-7 overall record. Flynn, embarking on his second stint coaching alongside Nolan, previously worked as Nolans assistant coach in 2006-07 with the New York Islanders. He joins the Sabres after serving as head coach of the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) for six seasons, from 2007-2013. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native ended his Moncton tenure with a record of 222-141-47 and also guided the club to a QMJHL Presidents Cup championship win in 2010. Flynn was the rrecipient of the Ron Lapointe Trophy as QMJHL Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 season.dddddddddddd. Coolen comes to Buffalo from the Latvian national team, where he served as an assistant coach on Ted Nolans staff over the past two seasons (2012-2014) including the Olympic Games in Sochi. He spent eight years of his 20-year coaching career at Acadia University (1987-1995), a period that included winning the programs first national championship in 1993. Coolen is also a former head coach of the University of New Brunswick (1998-2000) and the QMJHLs Moncton Wildcats (2000-2002). He has coaching experience around the world, including the Elite leagues of Germany, Switzerland, and Finland. Irbe enjoyed a 13-year, 568-game NHL career as a goaltender for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. Selected to two NHL All-Star Games (1994 and 1999), Irbe helped lead the Hurricanes to a berth in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final and represented Latvia at two Winter Olympic Games (2002 and 2006). Following his playing career, the Riga, Latvia native served as the goaltending coach for his hometown Dinamo Riga during the 2008-09 season, before joining the Washington Capitals organization to serve in the same capacity from 2009-11. Most recently, Irbe worked alongside Nolan as an assistant coach for Team Latvia at the 2013 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. ' ' '