TORONTO – The visitors clubhouse at Fenway Park is a difficult place to hide. Brandon Myers Jersey . Its cozy confines create an awkward dynamic in which players navigate their way around pillars, couches and assembled media. Its also difficult for coaches and their protégés to find a place to chat away from the watchful eyes of onlookers. Such was the case last Wednesday when young outfielder Kevin Pillar was spotted sitting with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer at the latters cramped locker stall. The discussion lasted at least 20 minutes. It was underway when the media horde went into John Gibbons office for the daily pregame briefing and hadnt finished by the time the manager had concluded his daily séance. At the time, Pillar was hitting .143 since his recall from Triple-A Buffalo. He was jumpy in the batters box and routinely going after bad pitches out of the strike zone. "I got in the cage with him, I wanted to talk to him," Pillar told TSN.ca. "I think I had two at-bats against (Felix) Doubront, someone I felt comfortable against, struck out, grounded out and those were my only two at-bats of the game and I was pretty upset that night. I knew I wanted to talk to him." Seitzer approached Pillar in the batting cage and asked him how things were going. Pillar answered truthfully and Seitzer told the 25-year-old to find him later that afternoon. Pillar went to his locker and jotted down a series of notes he wanted to pass on to his coach. "Mostly about how maybe my struggles last year carried over here a little bit," said Pillar. "When I got called up this time I felt super comfortable. I was hitting real well in Triple-A. It was that I was hitting well. I just felt comfortable; I was confident and I knew I was ready to come up here this time. I felt like I was starting that downward spiral again of being up here and feeling bad for myself and not understanding why Im not performing and why Im changing things I did down there just because Im in the big leagues." The discussion that ensued revolved around Pillars approach. He needed to get back to being aggressive early in the count. If he got the pitch he was looking for, give it a rip. Seitzer still holds the piece of paper Pillar gave him. "He told me at some point down the road were going to go back and look at it and well be able to tear it up," said Pillar. "Its been about a week since then. Hopefully its in the past." On the day after the sit down Pillar started as the Jays beat Red Sox ace Jon Lester by a score of 7-2. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Including that game, hes 7-for-13 (.538) with two doubles in five games. "When Im ready to hit from pitch one then I start getting my timing down, I start seeing the fastball, I start recognizing the breaking balls that are up in the zone, the good ones to hit," said Pillar. "When Im passive up there is when I start second-guessing, Im not really seeing the ball, Im swinging before I recognize what pitch it is." Pillar has been the right-handed half of an effective platoon with Anthony Gose. The two have provided offence and plus-defence in the absence of Colby Rasmus, whos been on the disabled list since May 13 with right hamstring tightness. NAVARRO PLAYING IN PAIN Dioner Navarro was back in the starting lineup less than 24 hours after suffering a bruised left index finger. He was hurt in the fifth inning of Tuesday nights win over the Rays when Jose Molinas bat smacked Navarros hand on a follow through. "I missed a few days with the quad thing and I cant be sitting here and watching the game," said Navarro. "I tested it this morning and I feel good enough and I let them know I was ready to play today." Navarro keeps a bat in his apartment and took some dry swings before coming to the ballpark. He wore a splint for the remainder of Tuesdays game, which forced him to swing the bat with the injured finger straightened out. "I just love to play, man," said Navarro. "I love to play. I kind of put myself in the situation where I want to be again, you know playing after being a back up the last three years and now Ive got this opportunity and its been such a wonderful experience being around these guys." SETBACK FOR SANTOS? Reliever Sergio Santos, on the disabled list since May 10 with a right forearm strain, wont throw from flat ground again until possibly Sunday after experiencing a problem during his Tuesday session. Santos and his skipper describe the issue differently. "It got a little tender," said manager John Gibbons. "So we backed him off a bit. Thats a little bit of a setback." "I wouldnt call it a big, big setback," said Santos. "When I got out to 110 (feet) just stepping on it a little bit, didnt hurt, wasnt painful, just backing off for a day, resting it and then throwing again." JANSSEN GETS NIGHT OFF Closer Casey Janssen has appeared in nine games in 17 days since his return from a strained oblique. He missed most of spring training with stiffness in the back of his pitching shoulder and then injured his oblique on March 28 in Montreal. With the Blue Jays winning almost everyday, hes been called upon more than expected and was feeling sore on Wednesday morning. He wasnt available for Wednesday nights game. "Just sore, general soreness," said Janssen. "Got back and ran the gauntlet a little bit here. Just going to try to steal a day here; hopefully they dont need it and anyway the guys down there can do my job anyway." This isnt the first time Janssen has been unavailable since his return. He appeared in back to back games on May 20-21 and wouldnt have pitched under any circumstance on May 22. He then appeared in the game on May 23 and wasnt available on May 24. Janssen is converted each of the eight save opportunities hes had this season. Dashon Goldson Womens Jersey . Though the Jets have not confirmed any updates to Scheifeles status, TSN Hockey Analyst Aaron Ward says early reports indicate he suffered an MCL injury and will likely out 6-8 weeks. Gerald McCoy Womens Jersey . The Jets are 1-2-1 against Nashville this year despite outscoring the Predators 11-10. Blake Wheeler and Olli Jokinen lead Winnipeg with four points, while Craig Smith has four for the Predators. ORLANDO, Fla. -- At this point in the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to make one last run at the playoffs and the Orlando Magic are looking for luck in the NBA draft lottery. Both improved their chances of reaching those goals Wednesday night as the Cavaliers beat the Magic 119-98 behind 26 points from Dion Waiters and 20 each from Spencer Hawes and Tristan Thompson. The easy win moved the Cavaliers within two games of New York and Atlanta for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs play at Atlanta Friday night. "This was a big game for us, but every game is big because of the position weve put ourselves in," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "There is nothing tricky that we have to do. We just have to out and play hard and give ourselves a chance." Waiters shot 10 for 15 from the field, including 3 for 3 on 3-pointers. "Weve still got a chance, we just need to take full advantage of it," he said. "We came in knowing we should get a win, but every game is hard. We have no choice at this point. We control our own destiny. Everybody knows what is at stake. We just have to stay focused." It helped the Cavaliers that All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving returned with a thump in his step after missing the last eight games with a torn bicep muscle. Irving had 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a seemless transition from the bench to the court. "Kyrie came in and got right in step with us," Brown said. "He helped us get the ball up the floor quickly and get into our attack. He gave us another weapon with a very high skill level." The Magic had little to be satisfied with other than solidifying their lottery spot with the third-worst record in the NBA. The Magic gave up 70 points in the first half, the best half all season for Cleveland and the most points Orlando has allowed in a half this year. "There is going to be a game in the course of the year where you just dont have it and when its coupled with a team like the Cavs who had it ... it just wasnt a good mix," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Some days, its just not your day." The Magic placed only one starter, Maurice Harkless, in douuble figures and he had 10 points. Brandon Myers Authentic Jersey. Rookie Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 16 points, Doron Lamb had 14, Tobias Harris 11 and ETwaun Moore 10, all off the bench. "Terrible, terrible game," Harris said. "Its not how we wanted to play and that shows us that there is no effort." Every Cleveland player in uniform scored as the Cavs shot 60.5 per cent in the first half and 57.7 per cent for the game in rolling over a defenceless Magic team that lost its second straight. Cleveland was 9 for 18 from beyond the 3-point line, most of them wide-open looks as Orlando struggled with defensive rotations the entire game. Cleveland had four of the five starters already in double figures by halftime. Hawes was 6 for 8 in the first two periods, including 4 for 5 on 3-pointers on his way to 18 points. Thompson had 14, Irving 13 and Waiters 10 as the Cavaliers starters combined to hit 24 of 33 shots (72.7 per cent) in the first two quarters. Deng was the only starter not in double figures, but still shot 4 for 5. The Magic, by contrast, didnt have a player score more than six points in the first half. Orlando had 11 turnovers that Cleveland turned into 16 points. The Magic trailed 49-42 after Oladipos 3-pointer with 6:11 left in the second quarter, but got only one field goal the rest of the half and were outscored 21-6 as Cleveland rolled to a 70-47 halftime lead. The closest Orlando got in the second half was 17 when Arron Afflalos 3 with 4:11 left in the third quarter made it 82-65. Afflalo, the Magics leading scorer this season, finished with seven points. Cleveland responded with a 10-0 run that started with a floater in the lane by Jack and ended with two free throws by Thompson to make it 92-65. Cleveland led by as many 28 points and cruised through the fourth quarter with little effort. NOTES: Cavs C Anderson Varajeo sat out the game with a sore shoulder. ... Magic C Nikola Vucevic, who had three straight games scoring 20-plus points for the first time all season coming into the game, scored only seven. ... Cleveland has beaten Orlando seven straight times. ... The Magic are 1-18 this season when teams shoot over 50 per cent. Cleveland shot 57.7 per cent in the game. ' ' '
