Kiwi teams qualified for the playoffs this year and that such

TORONTO -- The Detroit Tigers had decent starts from Justin Verlander and Mike Pelfrey in the first two games against the Toronto Blue Jays and lost both of them.Now they go with Plan B for the final two games of the series that leads into the All-Star break.The Tigers recalled left-hander Matt Boyd from Triple-A Toledo to start Saturday and right-hander Anibal Sanchez will make his 14th start and 22nd outing of the season on Sunday.With injuries to Jordan Zimmermann and Daniel Norris, the Tigers left the spots for the final two starts open until after the 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday.Truthfully, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said, there werent a lot of options.Boyd, who was traded to the Tigers last July in the deal that made David Price a Blue Jay for the final two months of the season, will be making his second start of the season against his former team.The game Saturday will be a rematch of the June 7 game at Comerica Park when he faced right-hander Aaron Sanchez, who will again be his mound opponent.Matt Boyd has pitched well up here before, and Sanchie has been a big-league pitcher at the big-league level for decades. Ausmus said. We need them to pitch well and hope our offense kicks back into gear tomorrow.Boyd is 0-2 with a 6.44 ERA in six games, including five starts with the Tigers this season. He is 2-5 with a 2.25 ERA with Toledo.He pitched well against Toronto at Comerica Park and so did Sanchez, although neither factored in the decision in the game won 3-2 by the Tigers in 10 innings.The big thing for (Boyd) is hes attacking the strike zone, Tigers catcher James McCann said. When hes going good, hes getting early contact and hes getting weak contact. Hes utilizing all of his off-speed stuff -- slider, curveball and changeup. Not falling in love with one of them. And moving his fastball, really north and south. I think thats the kind of guy he needs to be.Sanchez, in his only career starts against the Tigers, struck out 12 in eight-plus innings in allowing three hits and two runs.Boyd allowed three hits, five walks and one run in 5 1/3 innings in that game. He struck out five.The Blue Jays are using an 11-game homestand to go into the All-Star break on a high note. They have won seven games in a row.The Tigers are 5-4 on their 11-game road trip leading to the break. They opened the trip with a four-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.Blue Jays infielder Darwin Barney, who has a seven-game hit streak, says the recent surge is because of the pitching. The starters have been strong for most of the season but now the bullpen is showing improvement.Its all attributable to our starting pitching and our bullpen coming into form, Barney said. You cant win a lot of ballgames without good pitching and weve had that the past week or two. Were giving ourselves opportunities, we left some runners in scoring position early in the game (Friday), but like Tulo (shortstop Troy Tulowitzki) said, we dont really worry about that, were eventually going to come through if we keep getting those chances in the game. Adidas Stan Smith Online Sale . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Adidas Stan Smith Authentic . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. http://www.cheapstansmith.net/ . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Cheap Adidas Stan Smith Shoes . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Adidas Stan Smith Wholesale . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. New Zealand will continue to oppose the wishes of Australia and South Africa and lobby to revamp the Super Rugby playoffs.However, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew agrees the under-fire competition must expand further to remain commercially viable.The release of the draw this week attracted widespread criticism that the 18-team Super Rugby structure has become bloated and unwieldy.A complex conference-based format has been retained, along with a finals system in which home advantage can be awarded to teams who earn less overall points than their opponents.That was the case for two New Zealand teams this year, prompting a push for change from Kiwi bosses, including Tew, at a meeting in Sydney last week.Their desire is for the playoffs to be based purely on the overall standings, with home advantage commensurate with final placings.It is disappointing that we couldnt get agreement from South Africa and Australia, he said.We havent completely given up. Well keep plugging away because we think it makes a lot more sense for there to be a straight top eight, it makes it a lot easier for the fans who can disregard the conferences.Tew says his Australian and South African counterparts believed it was aan aberration that four Kiwi teams qualified for the playoffs this year and that such a scenario is unlikely to repeat.ddddddddddddouve got to have agreement at SANZAAR. Thats the beauty of a joint venture, Tew said.There was, however, a consensus that the competition needs to further expand its boundaries.Having added teams from Argentina and Japan this year, there is a strong suggestion North America will be in SANZAARs sights when the current contract expires in 2020.Tew says offshore offers to top New Zealand players is out-stripping previous sums.South Africa is suffering particularly from a player drain while Australia and New Zealand are also coming under relentless pressure to fend off the lure of big-money European offers.We know if we sit still, well get taken over by whats going on in Europe and in particular in France, Tew said.Weve got to keep growing our commercial base and inevitably thats going to have to be outside the existing markets.Its not for expansions sake. Its because it continues to grow value for the now four members (including Argentina) of SANZAAR. ' ' '