NEW YORK – Marcus Stroman wasnt in the Blue Jays dugout for Sundays series finale at Yankee Stadium. He was serving the first of what became a five-game suspension for his pitching indiscretion last week in Baltimore. Stroman appealed the six games he was given for throwing a fastball over the head of the Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph, an incident which took place one inning after Joseph spiked Jose Reyes during a play at home plate. The suspension was reduced by one game. It is a paid suspension. There was no in-person hearing. In fact, according to the ballclub, neither Stroman nor the team played a role in the process. The Major League Baseball Players Association negotiated down the original ruling. The net effect of the process results in Stromans final start of the season being pushed back one day. He was scheduled to start against Seattle on Thursday but, instead, could pitch on Friday against, you guessed it, Baltimore. Manager John Gibbons has said he would go with a bullpen-by-committee on Thursday in the event Stroman was ineligible to pitch. Todd Redmond may be the first to appear because, according to Gibbons, he could log the most innings. It has been an impressive rookie campaign for the 23-year-old Duke University alumnus. Stroman has won 10 games as a starter, posting a 3.29 ERA and 1.147 WHIP. JOHNSON DRAWS IN Dan Johnson arrived at Yankee Stadium on Sunday morning and found himself in the starting lineup. It marked his first start since July 30 in Boston, after which he went on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. Johnson came off the disabled list on Sept. 2 after completing a minor league rehabilitation assignment and has had only one at-bat since, a pinch-hit appearance in the Sept. 14 game versus Tampa Bay. Circumstances seem to have conspired against Johnson making more appearances down the stretch. “There have been numerous times from just about the fifth inning on, situations that arise and say if this happens, this happens, youre hitting and each time it seems its gone the other way,” said Johnson. Johnson couldnt predict what effect the layoff would have on his timing at the plate. “Sometimes its okay and sometimes its not,” said Johnson. “All you can do is just prepare and go out there and give everything Ive got. Its like one of those things where Ive got to try to work some at-bats, see some pitches and try to get my timing back as soon as possible.” Johnson went 0-for-3 with a walk on Sunday afternoon. STREAK SNAPPED The Blue Jays streak of starting pitchers going at least six innings came to an end at 26 games on Sunday. Drew Hutchison threw four-plus, allowing a home run to Brett Gardner and a single to Derek Jeter in the fifth inning before manager John Gibbons gave him the hook. ONE LAST STAND The Blue Jays return home for seven games to finish the regular season. Theyll play the Seattle Mariners for four, starting Monday. The American League East champion Baltimore Orioles will come in for three beginning on Friday. With Sundays 5-2 loss to the Yankees, Toronto concluded its 81-game road schedule with a record of 37-44. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Jersey . -- Max Domi scored twice and set up two more as the London Knights toppled the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 6-4 on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action. Lazar Markovic Liverpool Jersey .Y. - Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby captured his second career Art Ross trophy on Sunday after leading the NHL in scoring this season. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Ro...verpool-Jersey/. Cain departed in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. X-rays on Cains bruised forearm were negative. He was hit when Sanchez led off the fourth with a groundout. Nathaniel Clyne Liverpool Jersey . His apology came before a pregame ceremony in which the team honoured its 2004 team that won Bostons first World Series championship since 1918. "I realize that I behaved bad in Boston," Ramirez said. Sheyi Ojo Liverpool Jersey . Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.The scoreline was a familiar one. Tottenham Hotspur 1, Manchester City 5. Two seasons ago on the final Sunday in August of 2011, Roberto Mancinis Manchester City won by the same scoreline at White Hart Lane. Those who watched closely that day were blown away by the utter arrogance in attack a new-look City showed with the ball. Those who werent there paid no attention because, on the same afternoon, Manchester United thumped Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford and that was all anyone talked about the next day. Hiding in the shadows of the Old Trafford storylines was arguably the finest performance Manchester City had produced in decades. Sure, a 6-1 win at United would follow, as would a title, but, under Mancini, City never again played as well as they did at Tottenham that day. Since that afternoon at White Hart Lane, City have undergone some dramatic changes off the field, but you had to look hard for them on the field on Wednesday night. Their latest victory came with eight of the same starting XI from that win over two years ago. In goal, Joe Hart remains and Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and, to a lesser extent, Gael Clichy remain regulars in defence. David Silva and Yaya Toure, arguably two of the finest midfielders in the league, are just as important now as they were back then, joined by even better talent in Fernandinho and Jesus Navas. Samir Nasri, who played back in 2011 at Tottenham, is currently injured, but has played his best football for the club this season. And up top, the deadly strike pairing of Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko, who got the five goals between them in 2011, had an opportunity to start together with the in-form Alvaro Negredo not fully fit. But that is where the similarities end. The first 5-1 win gave us a rare glimpse of what City could become. The latest 5-1 win confirms they are finally what they hoped they could become back in 2011. Nine months after their first 5-1 win at Tottenham, Manchester City were Premier League champions, however, this was not achieved the way many imagined after watching their clinical victories at Spurs and Manchester United. Far from it. After blistering out of the blocks, like a 1500-metre runner in a marathon, City hit a wall hard midseason and struggled to get any offensive spark into their game. In 10 away games, from the end of November to the middle of April, City scored just five goals (only two from open play,) won two, drew three and lost five. Mancinis men had been worked out, as teams sat deeper, and City couldnt find the code to unlock them. While City struggled, Mancini moaned, Mario Balotelli caused trouble on and off the field and Carlos Tevez played golf and sang karaoke after being sent home to Argentina after a bust-up with his manager. A team that had gone from the threat of bankruptcy, in the wake of the Thaksin Shinawatra fiasco, to the top of the table in less than four years had no identity and gave neutrals many reasons to dislike them. Fast forward to 2014 and Manchester City are back at the top of the Premier League. This time, however, there is no circus at the Etihad. Gone are the distractions and gone is their rigid, narrow and predictable attack. Large amounts of money continues to be spent on quality players but, despite that, gone also is the disdain towards them. Football fans fueled by jealousy are taught to dislike the best and that came easy when the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho led teams featuring world class, high-maintenance divas like Cristiano Ronaldo, John Terry and Wayne Rooney to glory, but this current Manchester City presents a whole new set of challenges for haters.dddddddddddd This is a football club that is so easy to admire. It is true that the new Man City have yet to win anything, but it is also possible that they could sweep the domestic treble - Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup - come May. Past teams in such pursuit would be tormented at every ground of chants suggesting they would win nothing, but thats not happening with this City team. The way fans of English football have stared at the revolutions taking place at Barcelona and Bayern Munich is the way they currently look at the class and guile being produced by Manuel Pellegrinis men. While they should be angry and jealous at the money and success that has come their way, they are romanced by a style of breathtaking football so often unseen on English shores. They watch and admire a true leader in Kompany, the guardian of a back line including a centre-half partner that everyone still feels is the clubs major weakness. For most clubs, whether it be Martin Demichilis or Matija Nastasic, it would be their strength. Theyll watch in awe of Yaya Toure, a player no one in the sport is like, dominating the crucial midfield, where games are so often won and lost, with a ferocious combination of power, strength and football intelligence. Theyll watch "Space Invader" David Silva drift away from defenders better than anyone else in the league, moving in from the flanks and producing delicious passes to hungry strikers and rampaging full backs, who have added more gears under "the engineer" And theyll watch the brilliance of Sergio Aguero, arguably the most talented player in the league, who can hold a ball up better than anyone and finish with both feet in such a deadly fashion. It is a spine that cannot be challenged, in terms of talent through the middle, in the Premier League. Navas, Negredo, Fernandinho, Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov are all having wonderful seasons and are more than just extras in this plot, drawn up by the brains of Chief Executive Officer, Ferran Soriano, and Director of Football Txiki Begiristain, formerly of Barcelona. The Spanish duo knew when they took over that the clubs identity had to be dictated by what they did on the field and not by what big personalities did with fireworks or golf clubs.Removing the likes of Tevez, Balotelli and Mancini was part one of the project. Hiring a gentleman in Pellegrini, who wouldnt make himself bigger than the club, was part two of the project. Getting their team to express themselves and play at a high level each week was part three. One hundred-and-fifteen goals in all competitions by the end of January suggests that this part has already been completed. An astonishing 85 goals in their last 23 matches in all competitions shows that even the most adventurous plans, drawn up by the Spaniards, can be matched. The final part of the plan is the need to fill the space created in the clubs trophy cabinet. On Monday, they meet Chelsea (You can catch action live on TSN2 at 3pm et/12pm pt) and start a 28-day journey where they will play Mourinhos men twice, Barcelona twice in the Champions League and travel to Wembley to play Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final. By the end of it we will have a more clearer idea of what City can accomplish this season. Already, however, we have a clearer idea of what City has become - a Premier League powerhouse gaining more and more admirers every week. ' ' '