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HOUSTON - Their hopes of playoff contention a distant memory, the Blue Jays show up to the park each day with a game to play – and to win – knowing the result is irrelevant to the standings. "Its awful, its no fun, its frustrating, I mean I could probably keep going," closer Casey Janssen told TSN.ca prior to Saturdays game. Janssen kept going. "I never would have thought we would be in this situation," he said. "Were not playing good baseball." Following Saturdays second straight embarrassing loss to the pathetic Astros, the Blue Jays are mired in a seven-game losing skid. The latest calamity, by an 8-5 score, was a clumsy effort which saw the Jays down 7-0 by the fourth inning thanks to lousy starting pitching and shoddy defence. In other words, a familiar script. Still, guys have to find a reason, or reasons, to continue to grind to the end of a lost season. "Springboard for next season," veteran Mark DeRosa told TSN.ca in a conversation in New York last week. "A chance for guys to finish strong. A chance for young guys to earn some playing time and see if they can maybe make the 2014 roster or maybe open up some eyes to the point where theyre given serious consideration. A guy like Rajai Davis getting a chance to play every day. Hes going to be a free agent at the end of the year, those at bats matter to him." "Pride, you know youre getting paid to play and do a job," said Janssen. "There are always people watching you. If its the fans, your family, theres still a lot to play for as far as that and to finish with as good a year as you can have. Maybe more from a mental standpoint of keeping mentally strong about not giving in." Sounds like the right approach. Does Janssen believe everyones buying in? "I dont know," said Janssen. "That would have to be a question for each individual person if they were to look in the mirror and say, hey, I did everything I possibly could this season and it worked out or it didnt work out. Then they would have to maybe evaluate either their preparation in their in-season or off-season program to make it better." "You can never take anything for granted at this level," said manager John Gibbons. "You can have a great career in this business and youre a young man when youre finished anyway. One thing about the great players, I mean day in, day out, it doesnt matter the circumstances, how the teams doing or how theyre doing at the time; they compete. You know they dont give any at bats away if youre a hitter. Pitchers, regardless of how the game is going, you know they dont give in to it." Recent call-ups Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, Ryan Goins and Moises Sierra are dotting the field and with more to come when rosters expand on September 1, the Blue Jays front office is getting a glimpse of the future. Perform well and there could be a 2014 roster spot available. Opinions are varied, somewhat, about whether the 2013 Blue Jays, given the benefit of a new start, could perform better. "I would think that there would need to be some changes," said Janssen. "I would also say that the snowball is so big that right now its tough to say because a fresh start would do a little bit of good. There are definitely some holes that got exposed. I would say, just from my evaluation, if we came back with the same team, although I think it would be different, it might not be a championship team." "I do but certainly some things have to be addressed," said DeRosa. "I come from an old school way of baseball where things were done a little bit differently. Its become a super young mans game. When I broke in 30 was considered youre in your prime. Thirty-two, 34, these guys were playing and I know people are going to say a lot had to do with what guys were doing off the field and I understand that but there are so many young guys in the game now and productive young guys that you either adapt or die and go home. I would like to see a little bit more reversal back to an old school mentality. How you do that I dont know but I think if Im back next year, if Im fortunate enough to be back in this uniform next year, Id definitely feel with a year under my belt, Ive never lacked for speaking my mind but I definitely think Id speak it a little bit more." The record is awful at 57-73 and it appears there will be more losses than wins the rest of the way, making for a long final five weeks. "Weve had our team meetings," said Janssen. "Weve been loose, weve been tight, weve been anywhere in between from there and for the most part it seems to still come out with the same type of outcome." JANSSEN DISCUSSES HIS HEALTH Casey Janssen hasnt had a save opportunity since August 15 when he converted his 22nd of the season (in 24 chances) against the Red Sox. In fact his mop up appearance on Friday, the eighth inning of a 12-4 loss to the Astros, was his first game action since. As well as Janssens pitched all season, its been a battle through near-constant shoulder pain following a surgery last offseason. "Cant wait for the offseason to really heal this thing and get it right," said Janssen. "Not that Im looking ahead but Im excited for next year and hopefully the little everyday aches and pains subside completely and I can just go about my whole program the way that I would normally do it 100-percent healthy." Is Janssen a better pitcher today because of the injury? "I feel like Ive learned a lot from not necessarily going out there with my best stuff every night and how important it is to pitch, changing speeds and hitting spots, and still being able to accomplish my task pretty much." IZTURIS SEASON OVER To accommodate Chien-Ming Wangs addition to the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays transferred Maicer Izturis to the 60-day disabled list, ending his season. Izturis sprained his left ankle in the fifth inning of Tuesday nights game against the Yankees. He remains with the ballclub and is wearing a walking boot on his left foot. Rudy Gobert Jersey . Wearing bib No. 1, Maze skied through the gates cleanly to defend her big first-run lead and finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria. Defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third, trailing 0. Jeff Hornacek Jersey . The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-dante-exum-jazz-jersey/ . made a diving catch in left field for the final out in a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins in a regular-season finale Sunday. Zimmermann (14-5) allowed only two baserunners, finishing with 10 strikeouts and one walk in the fifth no-hitter in the majors this year. Tony Bradley Jazz Jersey .com) - Carmelo Anthony tallied 31 points to help the New York Knicks continue their improved play of late with a 100-92 victory over a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder squad. Adrian Dantley Jersey . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play.TSN.cas NHL Play of the Year showdown continues today with an individual effort taking on a passing play that involves nearly an entire team. The ninth match-up of the Round of 32 sees Sidney Crosby finish off a pretty sequence of passes, while Kyle Turris breaks away. For all the skill and smarts Crosby possesses, this is one highlight where he simply finds himself in the right place at the right time. Looking to expose the Washington Capitals down low on a power play, the Penguins drop four of their players below the hash marks and begin to move the disc around. The tape-to-tape action starts with Evgeni Malkin, who finds Chris Kunitz. Kunitz taps it towards the goal line for James Neal, drawing the attention of all four Capitals defenders. Unfortunately, they forgot about Sid. Neaal goes cross-crease and nearly through the legs of John Carlson to find Sid wide open for the one-knee, one-time finish.dddddddddddd Turris, though, gets to the POY showdown by going it alone. He, too, victimizes the Caps but his moves move one way: straight to the net. He barrels over the blue line freezing Mike Green, who earns a delayed penalty. He then shakes off some harassment from John Erskine before reaching for some open net with a ridiculous drag that leaves Philipp Grubauer with no chance of stopping the puck. You can watch the highlights and make your decision here (http://poy.tsn.ca). Every vote counts, so watch all the plays and take part in the TSN.ca Play of the Year Showdown. Let us know who you voted for via Twitter by using the hashtag #tsnklondikepoy. ' ' '