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Last Wednesday in St. Petersburg, R.A Dickey tossed a two hit shutout as the Blue Jays blanked Tampa Bay 3-0 to savage the final game of the three-game set at Tropicana Field. It was the Blue Jays first shutout and first complete game of the season. That seemed unusual to me, even for a team that is sitting in the basement in the A.L. East at 40-41. Going back to last season - when the Jays starting rotation was devastated by injuries - they had five complete games for the entire season, and four shutouts. Brandon Morrow had three of each for a team that finished 73-89. Safe to say the Blue Jays are well on pace to have their worst totals in both categories ever. Complete games have been on the downswing for years and it is a rare year indeed when even one pitcher in all of baseball hits double figures in the category. James Shields of the Rays was the last to accomplish the feat in the American League when he hurled 11 in 2011. In fact, since the Blue Jays last World Series title in 1993 only four American League pitchers - including Shields - have had 10 or more complete games in a season. The other three were Angels lefty Chuck Finley, Scott Erickson of the Orioles and current Blue Jays bullpen coach Pat Hentgen. The last to do it in the National League was Randy Johnson in 1999. In 1970, 19.65 per cent of all American League games were complete games. As recently as 2007, that figure had dropped to 2.82 per cent in the American League and 1.85 per cent in the NL. Dave Stieb was the first Blue Jays pitcher to lead the league in complete games with 19 in 1982. Hentgen led with 10 in 1996. The following season, the Blue Jays had co-leaders in the American League, with Roger Clemens and Hentgen each having nine. The interesting thing about 1997 is that it was the final year of Cito Gastons first stint as Manager of the Jays. They had a horrible season, despite getting that kind of quality pitching from Clemens and Hentgen. Lefty David Wells led in complete games in both 1999 and 2000 with seven and nine, respectively. Then we get to the incredible run of one Roy Halladay. He tied for the American League lead in 2003 with nine complete games. Then he held the lead outright in 2005 (five), 2007 (seven), 2008 (nine) and 2009 (nine). In Philadelphia, "Doc" topped the National League the next two seasons with nine and eight in 2010 and ‘11 respectively. But - perhaps as a harbinger of things to come - he had no complete games last season. It marked the first year without one in a decade. He is sidelined right now, rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Halladay wont be back ‘til August at the earliest and there is a chance he wont pitch at all for the Phillies for the rest of the season. The game has changed so much over the past 20 years, with pitch counts, increased specialization and reliance on relievers and of course the designated hitter thats been around 40 years. Its hard to discern, what the decrease in complete games really means. In more cases than not, if youve got a pitcher who can take the ball from first out to last, youve got a leader and youve got an ace. A Blue Jays pitcher has led the league or tied for the league lead in complete games 10 times over their 36 year history. They also employed former league leaders in Jack Morris, Dave Stewart and Phil Niekro. Oddly enough, in the five years they won the American league East, pitchers from other teams led in complete games. The fewest number of complete games to lead a league in any individual year is five, a record shared by Halladay (2005) and Dickey (in his 2012 NL Cy Young season). For the record, Clevelands Justin Masterson is leading the American League so far this season with three complete games while Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals is leading the National League with four. Cleveland enters Monday tied for first in the A.L Central with Detroit, while the Cardinals are second in the NL Central, two games back of Pittsburgh. There is no question July is make-or-break for the Blue Jays. They play 26 games: 17 at home and nine away. Its by no means an easy schedule since they have three-game sets with Baltimore and Tampa Bay, a three-gamer with Oakland and their current four-game set with Detroit. Just the same, with the heavy load of home games this month, the Blue Jays must make up a lot of ground in the Wild Card race, if the games in August and September are going to mean anything. Jonas Jerebko Jersey .Y. -- The New York Islanders were seeking a positive finish to a frustrating season on home ice. Tony Bradley Jersey . - Wesley Matthews got a chance to practice his bow-and-arrow 3-point celebration on Sunday night. http://www.cheapjazzjerseys.info/Authentic-Karl-Malone-Jazz-Jersey/ .com) - Wayne Simmonds, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek each posted a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Saturday. Grayson Allen Jersey .Boston beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. Utah Jazz Jerseys . Blatter also told reporters Saturday after meeting with Qatars emir that the decision to award the tournament to the desert nation is "not reversible." There have been calls to move the tournament because of Qatars intense heat.London, England - Top seed Novak Djokovic needed all five sets to win his quarterfinal match, while seven-time champion Roger Federer advanced in four and defending titlist Andy Murray was sent packing by rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in straights Wednesday at Wimbledon. The former champion and 2013 runner-up Djokovic trailed two-sets-to-one against 26th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic before turning things around for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-2 decision on the No. 1 Court. The French Open runner-up Djokovic will meet Dimitrov in Fridays semifinals at the All England Club. It will mark the Serbian stars sixth final-four appearance at Wimbledon, where he titled in 2011 and lost to Murray in last years finale. Djokovic snuck past Cilic in 3 hours, 38 minutes with the help seven service breaks and six double faults by his Croatian counterpart. The Serb moved on despite striking 10 fewer winners (42-32) than Cilic, who had 16 more unforced errors (48-32) on Day 9. The 6-foot-6 Cilic played in his fourth career major quarterfinal (1-3) and his first one since the 2012 U.S. Open. The 27-year-old Djokovic is a six-time Grand Slam champion who has appeared in 11 of the last 15 major finals. He would replace Rafael Nadal atop the mens rankings with a title this weekend. Meanwhile, the 11th-seeded Dimitrov leveled the third-seeded Murray 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 and the fourth-seeded former No. 1 great Federer overcame Australian Open champ and fifth-seeded fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 on the famed Centre Court. Dimitrovs serve was just too tough to deal with on Day 9, as the Bulgarian popped 10 aces and was broken only once en route to a convincing victory over Murray. The gifted star used plenty of variety, with topspin, volleys and a beautiful one-handed backhand to advance. The 27-year-old two-time Grand Slam winner Murray succumbed in 1 hour, 40 minutes by tallying five double faults and striking 19 more unforced errors (37-18) than his Bulgarian counterpart. Murray had won his last 17 matches at the All Enngland Club, as he captured an Olympic gold medal here in 2012 and gave Britain its first male Wimbledon singles champion in 77 years last year.dddddddddddd He was also a Wimbledon runner-up in 2012. The 23-year-old Dimitrov, once nicknamed "Baby Fed," will now appear in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal. He was a quarterfinalist at this years Aussie Open. "Im excited and happy I went through in straight sets," Dimitrov told BBC television. "Its never easy to play Andy, especially in front of his home crowd. I was pretty fortunate today. "As soon as we started warming up, I sensed his game wasnt at his highest level and I was pretty confident and playing good tennis. The first set helped me get into a good rhythm. The second set tiebreak was a key moment for me. Coming into the third set, I knew I had a lot of things under control. "I was pretty steady during the whole match and came out the winner. I have two more matches to play hopefully. Im trying to stay on course and prepare for the next one." Dimitrov captured his first-ever grass-court title at Londons Queens Club three weeks ago and is an unblemished 9-0 on grass this year. Federer, meanwhile, improved to 14-2 lifetime against his good friend Wawrinka after dropping the first set on Wednesday. The mighty Federer righted the ship by winning the second-set tiebreak and would assume control from there. The Swiss icon moved on in 2 hours, 33 minutes with 10 aces and two breaks against Wawrinka, who settled for only one break against the all-time great. Wawrinka was playing in his first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal and slowed by some physical issues over the last three sets. The 17-time Grand Slam king Federer is now 72-8 at Wimbledon, which includes a 2008 runner-up finish in addition to his seven championships. Hell now appear in his ninth Wimbledon semifinal and 35th career major semi. The 32-year-old Federer now awaits a young gun in either Canadian Milos Raonic or Aussie Nick Kyrgios, who stunned Nadal on Tuesday. 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