BALTIMORE – Hours before his Blue Jays dropped an 8-2 decision to the now-American League East champion Orioles, general manager Alex Anthopoulos was asked to clarify whether John Gibbons would return as manager in 2015. Zapatillas Nike Air Max Baratas Online . Gibbons indicated on Monday he wasnt certain of his future. "Hes under contract," said Anthopoulos. "Hes always under contract pretty much. I dont think theres anything to take care of. I think hes done a good job." The Jays have lost three in a row and sit five games back of Kansas City for the second wild card spot. With 12 games remaining, the Jays tragic number (the number of combined Toronto losses with Kansas City victories to produce mathematical elimination) is eight. The Jays must first surpass Cleveland and then Seattle before the Royals would be directly in their crosshairs. The task, needless to say, is a tall one. Realists would suggest the postseason dream is dead, that a comeback is impossible. Theyre probably correct. Oh, the use of "probably" is only a hedge until the math officially eliminates them. When the dust settles and the Blue Jays find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture for a second-straight season following high profile trades for the likes of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, the club will have plenty of questions to answer. This is a team that is ready to build around a young pitching nucleus of Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman and Drew Hutchison, with Daniel Norris waiting in the wings. There must be a focus on improving the middle of the diamond. Second base, which was handed to Ryan Goins at the start of the year and then was played by Brett Lawrie, Munenori Kawasaki and Steve Tolleson, must be addressed. The matter of second base is further complicated by the poor defensive season Jose Reyes had at shortstop. Perhaps he should be asked, or for $22-million per season, told, to move to second. Then, Anthopoulos could explore shortstop options. Theres also that matter of third base, which is Lawries if hes healthy. Given Lawries extensive injury history, its not safe to assume hell come close to 162 games next year. A contingency plan must be in place. All of that and we havent gotten to the outfield, where Anthony Gose appears poised to take over for Colby Rasmus in centre. Melky Cabrera should be retained but as an impending free agent, that matter is as much up to him as it is the team. If he goes, theres a hole in leftfield. Rightfield is the lone spot of stability out there unless Jose Bautista is dealt. These decisions certainly would involve Gibbons who, at least, would be asked to provide feedback. When asked whether he could assure that Gibbons would be managing the Blue Jays when players report to Dunedin next February, Anthopoulos didnt say "no." He also didnt say "yes." "Hes under contract," said Anthopoulos. "I mean, again, Ive said this before too, Im a big believer that no matter what position it is in the organization, grounds crew, administrative assistant, manager, coach, you support them until you dont support them. Until theyre no longer in those positions, you support them. I mean, that positions going to be that way whether were 100 games over .500 or were struggling. You know, we always support our staff." Gibbons is under contract, true. But Anthopoulos statement doesnt give us any sense into which way hes leaning because Gibbons will remain under contract until well beyond termination. The way the skippers deal works, if Gibbons is managing the Blue Jays on January 1st of a given year (say, 2015), his option for the following season (say, 2016) automatically vests. "I wouldnt make anything more of this," said Anthopoulos. Fair enough. But a firm Yes, hell be our manager would have gone a long way toward keeping the sniffing dogs at bay. Nike Air Max Baratas Online . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. Air Max Baratas Outlet . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3.After losing their last two series, the Toronto Blue Jays will try to claim their weekend set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday afternoon. Drew Hutchinson will take the mound for the visitors in the second contest of the three-game series. He has been solid for the Blue Jays this season, boasting a 3.86 ERA with 93 strikeouts to just 33 walks, but he has just a 6-7 record to show for it. Hutchinson has lost three of his last four starts, including on July 6 when he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work against the Athletics. Despite allowing 10 hits, seven walks and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against Tampa Bay this season, Hutchinson is 2-0 against the AL East rivals. With David Price battling illness, Jake Odorizzi will move up a day to start against the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay is hoping Price will be well enough to pitch Sundays finale. The right-handed Odorizzi had a two-decision winning streak halted on Monday with a 6-0 loss to Kansas City. He yielded only two runs over six innings however, striking out eight batters while falling to 4-8 with a 4.10 ERA on the season. Odorizzi will make just the second start of his career versus the Blue Jays, getting a no-decision against them prior after allowing three runs over five innings. The Blue Jays captured a victory in thrilling fashion on Friday night. With the game tied at 5-5 in the ninth, Steve Tolleson, a late replacement forr the injured Munenori Kawasaki, put Toronto up with a two-run single. Air Max Venta Online. Jose Bautista added an RBI single of his own, and Casey Janssen closed the door in the ninth for his 14th save to lift the road team to an 8-5 win. "We needed that one," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "The way things have been going then to blow a comfortable lead, (losing) would have been tough." Jose Reyes collected three hits out of the leadoff spot to go with two runs scored and two RBI. Bautista had two RBI to give him 54 on the season. Aaron Loup (3-2) earned the win in relief after starter Mark Buehrle went five innings allowing nine hits and two earned runs. "Im frustrated with myself," said Buehrle, an AL All Star. "To go five innings, thats not really called for. I need to go deeper into games to give us a chance to win." Chris Archer was bailed out of a poor start for Tampa Bay, leaving after five innings with a no-decision after surrendering six hits, three walks and five runs. Grant Balfour (0-3) yielded five base runners in just a third of an inning in the loss. Sean Rodriguez belted a three-run homer, his ninth of the year, to tie the game in the seventh inning. Ben Zobrist, Logan Forsythe and Brandon Guyer all added two hits in the losing effort. 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