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TORONTO – While assessing Brett Lawries season up to this point, its important to consider that the 24-year-old is doing something for his team that few other players, if any, could. One day, hes providing the Blue Jays with Gold Glove-calibre defence at third base. The next, hes more than holding his own at second base. All the while, Lawries posting respectable offensive numbers overall and is providing an elite bat in clutch situations. It would be ignorant to look at Lawries slash line of .224/.275/.412 entering Sundays action and conclude hes having a down year. Consider that Lawrie already has eight home runs, going deep in 4.8 per cent of his at-bats. Thats a marked uptick from last year (2.7 per cent) and 2012 (2.2 per cent). Lawrie also has 26 RBI, which ranks him third on the club behind Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. His best work has been done with runners in scoring position (RISP). With runners on second, third or both, Lawrie is hitting .366/.400/.732 (1.132 OPS) with four home runs and 21 RBI. All of it, as a reminder, while playing a third base/second base hybrid. Not even Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays does that anymore. When Zobrist hasnt been hurt this season, hes predominantly been a second baseman. “I dont see any player in the league doing it, unless youre a utility player, which hes not,” infield coach Luis Rivera told TSN.ca. “Its tough because hes very good at third base. Hes one of the best third baseman and then you have to move to second base. He was at second base before, hes learning the position again and there are a few things he needs to continue to work on and he can be better than what he is right now.” Lawrie goes about his business, taking ground balls during batting practice at the position hes scheduled to play that day. That, in and of itself, would be overwhelming for some players. Yet it isnt for a player, still young, who earned himself a reputation for being hot-headed and immature, two labels which should be dissipating by the day. “Its tough knowing one day youre here, the next day youre there,” said Rivera. “Mentally, you have to prepare. You have to be mentally strong.” The terms “Lawrie” and “mentally strong” didnt used to be used in the same sentence, thanks in large part to incidents like the infamous helmet-throwing incident in May, 2012 and his stare down of Rivera and Adam Lind when Lind didnt score on a Lawrie fly ball 52 Sundays ago. Considering what hes being asked to do and considering the success with which hes accomplishing the request, maybe its time to give Lawrie some credit. “Theres a lot going on, man,” said Lawrie. “Theres always a lot going on, especially now just from having to play all over the park and just Ive got a lot of stuff going on, but for the most part Im just trying not to think about it too much even though there is a lot going on.” Hes a third baseman, hell tell you that repeatedly and Lawries proud hes made himself an elite third bagger at the big league level, which is a testament to his athleticism. Hes all-in on the move because it makes the platoon splits work for manager John Gibbons. Lawrie is at third and Steve Tolleson at second when Toronto faces a left-handed pitcher; Lawries at second and Juan Francisco at third base when the Blue Jays take on a right-hander. “Its just something that I have to do for the team and its what makes the team a little bit better, so for myself, its just what I have to do in order to make this ball club better and to, obviously, win ballgames,” said Lawrie. “The most important thing is that he wanted to do it,” said Rivera. “So if hes willing to do it, hes going to be fine, but when you fight yourself not to go one place and then play another position, play third base, ‘I dont want to play second base, thats going to make it real hard on him, on the coaches and on the team. Right now, hes willing to do both, so thats the easy part.” After Sundays series-sweeping 3-1 win over Oakland, the Jays sixth in a row, 11th in 13 games and 16th out of 21, getting a buy-in from Lawrie is a much easier task. “Its just fun,” said Lawrie. “Its just good to be competing. Thats the biggest thing is just being able to go out everyday and compete and, obviously, have a chance to win a ballgame every single day. Thats the biggest thing, but just competing on an everyday basis as a group is obviously a lot of fun.” Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome. Discount Nike Air Max Wholesale . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/.James scored 29 points, including 16 in the first quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke a four-game losing streak with a 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Cheap Air Max 270 . - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series. Nike Air Max Sale . Numbers Game looks into the Wild getting Matt Moulson from Buffalo. The Wild Get: LW Matt Moulson and LW Cody McCormick. WASHINGTON -- The Charlotte Bobcats have leapfrogged another team, increasing the odds that their return to the playoffs wont be a token appearance. The Washington Wizards have dropped a spot and are having issues. Or, as centre Marcin Gortat put it: "The way we play right now, we aint going to beat anybody, including Milwaukee." The Bobcats blew a 20-point, first-half lead to the Wizards on Wednesday night before winning 94-88 in overtime, moving Charlotte into position for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. "To go from basically the worst team going to the six seed, I mean, it shows a lot," said guard Kemba Walker, who scored the only field goal in overtime for either team. The win left both teams at 40-38 with four games remaining, but Charlotte won the season series 3-1 and therefore holds the tiebreaker. Both teams want to stay out of seventh or eighth to avoid a first-round series against the two conference powerhouses, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. The Bobcats have been in the playoffs only once before, when they were swept in the first round in 2010. "We getting better as a team, we two games above .500," said Al Jefferson, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds. "But does it really matter where were at for seeding-wise? No, we just happy to be in the mix." Walker made a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the extra session, and Jefferson added two free throws to account for all of the Bobcats scoring. Charlotte went 1 for 7 from the field in overtime, while Washington was 0 for 8 and got its only point from a free throw by John Wall with 34 seconds remaining. Walker finished with 17 points and 12 assists for the Bobcats, who have their longest winning streak since March 2010. "Hes got courage," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "He wants the ball late and hes not afraid to take the big shot." Wall had a candidate for most underwhelming triple-double of the season -- 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists -- and Gortat finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards, who were nearly run out of their own building in the first half for the second straight game and are limping toward the finishh line of their first playoff season since 2008.dddddddddddd Among Washington coach Randy Wittmans reviews: "To have no more energy or drive or enthusiasm than we showed in that first half, its disappointing. ... I was just not expecting to come out and go through the motions. ... When you dont put effort in, youre not going to have (a) good showing." Added veteran Gortat: "I guess were immature and just not experienced enough and I guess everything starts in the practice. The first few minutes were walking and just fooling around and this is how you start a game." Such comments put the focus on young All-Star Wall, who went 6 for 18 from the field and committed five turnovers. Wall disagreed with his coachs "go through the motions" assessment. "I dont feel that way," Wall said. "I feel like we competed. ... The last couple of games we havent been able to knock down shots." Wall had called this game the most important of the year, but he also made a whirlwind overnight trip to Texas on Monday to watch Kentucky lose the NCAA championship game. He said that had "nothing to do" with his performance. "I practiced yesterday and had a good day," Wall said. "Came here and had a game today. Its not like I went the night before." Trevor Ariza, who has been battling the flu, went 0 for 6 from the field for the Wizards. Washington was 1 for 15 from 3-point range. The Wizards again made defence optional in the early going, echoing their beatdown by the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. But Washington hit its stride in the third quarter and took its first lead of the game on Bradley Beals 15-foot jumper with 5:28 to play. Jefferson forced overtime with a layup that tied the game with 3.2 seconds remaining. Wall didnt get a shot off as time expired in regulation. Notes: Wizards F Nene, back after missing six-plus weeks with a sprained left knee, was understandably rusty. He missed all four of his free throws and finished with 10 points in 17 minutes. ... It was Walls third career triple-double and second this season. ... Bobcats F Josh McRoberts returned after missing three games with a sprained left ankle. ' ' '