BOSTON – Its not yet June and thanks to the advent of the two wild card spots in each league, only two of 30 teams can make the argument to their fans that theyre out of the playoff hunt. With apologies to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a club that made offseason moves with the intention of contending and will now give new hire Tony La Russa time to assess the damage of a disastrous start, the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs have dropped far enough in the standings to consider the postseason unachievable. The Cubs have a prized piece at the front of their starting rotation. He is 29-year-old Jeff Samardzija, the ace of a bad baseball team whos expected to top the wish list of teams looking to bolster their pitching staffs ahead of the important games of August and September. Dont let the numbers fool you. Samardzija is good. The Cubs are not good. He is winless in nine starts this season despite posting a big league-best 1.62 ERA. In fact, Samardzijas winless skid stretches to 16 if you go back to last year. Chicago, with its impotent offence, doesnt score him any runs. An even crueler fate: Samardzija pitched seven scoreless innings against the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, departing with a 2-0 lead, only to watch his closer and defence implode in the ninth. The Cubs lost in extra innings. Word around the Blue Jays is if the club is in contention approaching the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, ownership would be willing to loosen the purse strings to acquire additional help. Toronto needs help in its starting rotation with two spots in perpetual question. J.A. Happ is filling one at the moment. Somebody will fill the other come Saturday. Its expected to be Liam Hendriks, a former Minnesota Twin whos off to a strong start at Triple-A Buffalo. Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro was a Cub last year and caught Samardzija 10 times. "Hes really good," said Navarro. "I think hes one of those guys the numbers last year didnt show what hes capable of. Hes a horse. He wants the ball. He wants to win. Hes still got that football mentality. Hes that type of player." Samardzija features a sinking fastball, which he pumps up at 91 miles per hour at the low end, 97 at the high end. Hell spike a splitter; he throws a backdoor slider and a cut fastball. "Hes got everything, man," said Navarro. "Hes got it." Should Samardzija land in the American League East, a real possibility considering the interest hell likely draw not just from the Blue Jays but also the injury-riddled Yankees and maybe others, hell quickly find himself in a home run-friendly division with home run-friendly parks and lineups that stretch deep. Its not the National League Central. Navarro doesnt think he would have a problem adjusting. "I believe so," said Navarro. "I think hes a strikeout pitcher. Hes a swing and miss type of guy. I believe that hes got what it takes. I think the most important thing that hes got is hes a really competitive guy and he wants to win. Obviously hes going to have to make some adjustments coming from the NL Central to the American League East but I think hes going to be a huge asset if we get the opportunity to get him." The Cubs reported asking price for Samardzija in the offseason involved both top pitching prospects Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman. Needless to say that would be a steep price to pay. It may, however, be the going rate. With so many teams jumbled around the .500 mark and no sign of that changing in the foreseeable future, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer should have a number of intriguing offers to peruse. If Cliff Lees elbow problem is anything serious for the Phillies, another potential chip comes off the market and Samardzijas price goes up further. How about that? The perpetually weak Cubs will be dealing from a position of strength. CHECK OUT THE PODCAST Episode 5 of The Baseball Podcast, #TBP, is available online. TSN 1050 contributors Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star and Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com and I discuss Fenway Park, the Blue Jays red hot offence, the persistent issues with the back end of the starting rotation, Jose Reyes defence and whether the media is too easy on general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Click here to listen. Wholesale Louisville Jerseys . -- Byron Scott is taking over the Los Angeles Lakers with the vocal support of his fellow Showtime greats. Authentic Louisville Jerseys . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat. http://www.cheaplouisvillejerseys.com/?tag=louisville-donovan-mitchell-college-jersey. James scored 25 points against his former team, leading the energized Heat to a 114-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. Dwyane Wade added 24 points and Chris Bosh had 22 for the Heat, idle since a 90-84 loss Tuesday at Indiana. Stitched Louisville Jerseys . Terry came from Boston along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce but has appeared in just 35 games after a knee injury, averaging 4.5 points on 36 per cent shooting. Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games. Cheap Louisville Jerseys Free Shipping . - Jayden Hart scored once and set up two more as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Red Deer Rebels 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the final Western Hockey League playoff berth.INDIANAPOLIS -- Detroit beat Indiana at its own game Monday night. The Pistons were tougher inside, tougher on defence and tougher at fending off challenges. On a night the Eastern Conferences best team looked like anything but, Josh Smith scored 30 points and Greg Monroe had 13 points and 12 rebounds to help Detroit send Indiana to a 101-96 loss -- the Pacers first at home this season. "Its impressive the way we came in and competed with the way the Pacers have been playing," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We have a good basketball team." Detroit (12-14) proved it with a nearly perfect game. The Pistons dominated on the glass with a 55-40 overall advantage and a 20-9 edge on offensive rebounds. They matched the Pacers shooting percentage of 43.2 per cent, had one more 3-pointer and nearly an identical shooting percentage on 3s (35.3 to 35.0), outscored Indiana 44-38 in the paint and 22-14 on second-chance points. For a Pacers team that prides itself on defence and rebounding, it wasnt even close to their best. Detroit also finished with nearly as many blocks (seven) as turnovers (eight) and made five of six free throws during the final minute to hold off Indianas last charge. The most surprising element was that Indiana never tied the score in the second half and never took the lead on its home floor, where it had gone 11-0 before Monday night. The loss leaves the Pacers (20-4) with the second-best record in the league, percentage points behind Portland (21-4). The Pistons knew that to end their six-game losing streak in this series and their nine-game losing streak at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, they needed to execute the game plan flawlessly. They did. "Were forming an identity ourselves," said Smith, who went 13 of 29 from the field after meeting with Cheeks about getting more opportunities. "That has to be being a physical team, try to dominate the paint." Indianas uncharacteristic certainly helped the cause. Paul George was 4 of 14 from the field, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and four turnovers. Roy Hibbert had six points and four rebounds. Even the energetic Lance Stephenson couldnt get his flustered teammates righted. Stephenson scored a career best 23 points and Luis Scola added a season high 18 points. What went wrong for the usually unflappable Pacers? George said the offensive rebounds got Indiana out of sync. Others wondered if tthe Pacers may have been looking past Detroit, which has won just two of their last six games, and ahead to Wednesday nights rematch with Miami.dddddddddddd Indiana beat the two-time defending NBA champs on their home court 90-84 last week and have made no secret that theyre out to get the Eastern Conferences No. 1 seed. Indiana coach Frank Vogel quickly discounted that notion, calling Detroit a good team. "I dont think we were looking ahead at all," Vogel said. "Weve got to lick our wounds and see what we need to do better." Whatever the explanation, these Pacers didnt even resemble the team that set one franchise record with its perfect 9-0 start and another by opening the season 11-0 at home. Oklahoma City is the last unbeaten team at home this season. Detroit took charge quickly, using a 10-3 first quarter to take a 23-14 lead -- a lead it never relinquished. Even in the second half, when the Pacers typically dominate, the Pistons refused. Detroit scored the last eight points of the first half, turning a 49-49 tie into a 57-49 lead. Then Smith scored Detroits first eight points in the second half, and the surging Pistons took advantage of Indianas growing frustration by extending the lead to 72-61 on Brandon Jennings layup with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Jennings finished with 18 points and eight assists. Indiana rallied again, getting within 79-73 after three, but the Pistons answered with a 7-2 spurt that made it 89-79 with 7:01 to go. Scolas layup with 4:55 remaining ended an 8-0 run that got the Pacers as close as 89-87, but the Pistons ran off five straight points. Stephenson gave it one final push, hitting a 3 with 1:17 to go to cut Detroits lead to 96-94, but the Pistons closed it out at the free-throw line. "We had a lot of confidence coming in here tonight. We played Portland (Sunday) night in a game we should have won," Jennings said. "Tonight we knew were playing the best team in the Eastern Conference and we were able to give them their first home loss." NOTES: Indiana is the NBAs only team that has not been in a game decided by fewer than five points. ... Guard Chauncey Billups was inactive for the Pistons. ... Vogel said swingman Danny Granger is on track to return to the lineup Friday night against Houston. He has not played this season because of a strained left calf. ... Indiana fell to 10-3 when trailing at halftime. 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