TORONTO – The Blue Jays put an end to an ugly four-game losing skid and afterward the manager was happy to state the obvious. “It was a much needed win, I will definitely say,” said John Gibbons after his club beat Boston 7-1. Baseballs a strange game. It was an ugly homestand, the Blue Jays lost four of six to divisional rivals the Orioles and Red Sox, yet are sandwiched in-between the two teams with Baltimore a half-game ahead and Boston a half-game behind. In five of the six games, Toronto at some point held a lead of three runs or more. The Jays won only two of those five games, Sunday afternoon being one of them. Yet a crisp, efficient win which combined strong starting pitching, clutch relief work, good defence and potent offence buoyed the mood of the club as it heads out on an eight-game road trip through Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. “It was a complete joint effort,” said R.A. Dickey, who tossed 6 1/3 innings of one run ball. “I felt like we all had a hand in todays game. It was a game that I felt really good.” Dickey, who didnt walk a hitter for the first time in his Toronto tenure, left with one out in the seventh. The Red Sox had runners at second and third following a hit batsman and a double. Steve Delabar came in and got Jackie Bradley Jr. to pop up to third baseman Brett Lawrie and David Ross to fly out to centerfielder Jose Bautista. Inning over, the 2-1 lead preserved and the Jays would tack on two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to issue a final score that doesnt reflect how close the game was played for most of the afternoon. Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and two RBI, hitting four line drives in his four at-bats. Combined with the final out he made in Saturdays loss, a line drive to centerfield, Gibbons is seeing signs his slugging first baseman is beginning to emerge from a near-dormant first month of the season. “Today I thought he was really using his hands well,” said Gibbons. “Hes like anybody else. Confidence can waver a little bit. I dont care how good you are, how long youve been around or how productive youve been the last couple of seasons. This games all confidence.” Brett Lawrie hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot off Jon Lester in the second inning. The timing was important; the Red Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning. “Definitely,” said Lawrie of the quick response. “This is one of those games you want to win, especially with an off day (Monday) and us going on the road and leaving a sour taste in 40-thousand peoples mouths when we go on the road (with a loss.) We want positivity going on the road.” The Blue Jays open a three-game set in Kansas City on Tuesday night. Right-hander Dustin McGowan will get the start against Royals left-hander Jason Vargas. MORROW UNFAMILIAR WITH McGOWANS DIABETES-RELATED FATIGUE As Dustin McGowan considers a change to his in-game regimen in an attempt to combat fatigue, fellow type 1 diabetic Brandon Morrow is in a comfortable routine and hasnt experienced anything similar to what McGowans going through. “Ive never felt physically fatigued during a game,” said Morrow. “I have nothing to compare it to. What would somebody without diabetes be feeling at the same point? I feel like I recover, physically, as well as anybody else with regulated blood sugar. I think its almost, not an advantage but you really learn your body well.” McGowan deals with wild swings to his blood sugar levels during games in which hes pitching. In Wednesdays outing against Baltimore, he took a reading of more than 300 milligrams per deciliter. To put that in perspective, the average blood sugar level for a resting, non-diabetic is between 100 and 120 milligrams per deciliter. He will wear his insulin pump in Tuesday nights game at Kansas City in the hopes of regulating his blood sugar level. Morrow, on the other hand, has a strict program he follows that begins about four hours before each start. There are six to eight checkpoints, as he calls them, during that time span. Morrows food and drink schedule is meticulous; his exercise and warm up routine equally so; he checks his blood sugar level about an hour and a half before first pitch. Shortly before game time, hes paying close attention. “If I ever go low its in the bullpen,” said Morrow. “Thats a two, three minute adjustment. During the anthem, the anthems always a time I check my blood sugar and if I need a juice or whatever we have something ready to go.” When the Blue Jays are on offence, Morrow will check his blood sugar level two or three times in the early innings of his starts. “My blood sugars crept up a little bit during games sometimes but Ive never felt like Ive just lost energy, like saying getting into the sixth inning and my body just shuts down,” he said. “Ive never felt that way.” High blood sugar levels can sap a diabetic of energy and can cause vision problems, particularly blurriness. Morrow says its never gotten to the point where he blames the condition for an inability to command his pitches. Low blood sugar levels can have an effect similar to drunkenness. There have been times when Morrows been awakened in the middle of the night. Hes in a cold sweat and his hands are shaking. He quickly drinks a glass of juice or eats a small portion and then waits the 15 minutes or so it takes for his body to regulate. WALKER DISCUSSES EJECTION Pitching coach Pete Walker wasnt pleased with home plate umpire Jeff Kelloggs strike zone in Saturdays 7-6 loss to the Red Sox. He was ejected in the third inning. Walker and Kellogg exchanged words following a mound visit. Perhaps the fact his pitching staff has walked 99 hitters so far this season is grating on Walkers nerves?“Maybe its been building, I dont know,” said Walker. “Its frustrating to watch the staff that we have walk guys because they are guys that know how to throw strikes, know how to attack the strike zone. Their philosophy and our philosophy is to attack early and expand late. It seems like were getting behind and making poor pitches behind in the count.” Heres another frustrating fact: entering Sundays play, the Blue Jays have had leads of at least three runs in four of the first five games of this home stand. The record in those four games: 1-3. The pitching isnt holding up. One day its the starter and the next its the bullpen. “Its really slight, slight mechanical adjustments for a couple of guys but for the most part its their mentality of attacking the zone and trusting their stuff and not buying into the fact that something like this can become contagious,” said Walker. “You walk a few guys, you start thinking about it. The sooner they can get out of their own heads and just get back to pitching and making pitches and trusting their stuff, the sooner we get over this hump.” Tyler Ennis Rockets Jersey . But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an . Austin Rivers Jersey . 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These are the games you really get up for. If you cant get up for these then you cant get up for any.Vancouver and Dallas split three spirited games during Major League Soccers regular season. Each team won at home with the other match ending in a 2-2 draw at B.C. Place Stadium.The encounters were chock-full of emotion, with plenty of extra-curricular activities, on and off the field.Both teams want to win. Both teams are working really hard, said Ousted. Last time was a scrappy game and I think its going to be a scrappy game again. Its going to be a little bit of a brawl and its just the intensity of wanting to win games.Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja and Vancouver assistant Martyn Pert were fined for their involvement in a post-match confrontation in the Whitecaps 2-0 home win Oct. 4. The altercation came less than a month after Pert and Dallas assistant Josema Bazan were sent off during a 2-1 Dallas victory Sept. 13 in Frisco, Texas.Were very competitive, no one likes to lose and you can see the rivalry on the field in all three games, Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa told the clubs official website. Thats just the intensity that we bring.Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson was asked why the teams dont get along and provided what he called a politically correct answer to reporters.Weve both got a lot of respect for each other and we both want to win the game. Each team will be giving 100 per cent, said the Welshman. Its players wanting to win, managers wanting to win.While they remain focused on the No. 4 versus No. 5 game at Toyota Stadium, a win Wednesday would move the Whitecaps into a two-legged Western Conference semifinal against the Seattle Sounders.Weve got a fantastic opportunity to make a little bit of history for this club, but its going to take a lot of hard work, Robinson said. Getting in the playoffs is good, but we dont stop there. We go ahead now and if we can get over this hurdle, and its a very tough hurdle, what a battle weve got — a game against our rivals.Vancouver pushed hard to make the post-season, going 4-0-1 over its last five games to just get over the line ahead of the Portland Timbers by a point thanks to a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Dallas, meanwhile, had a chance to avoid the extra playoff game but dropped a 2-0 decision at home to Portland in its finale, something Teibert said could benefit the Whitecaps.I think you could call it an edge, said the Canadian international. I think they were trying to play their way out of this situation whereas we were trying to play our way into this situation. Were up for it.Thee Whitecaps have had a successful campaign regardless of Wednesdays result — winning the regional Cascadia Cup tournament and qualifying for the 2015 CONCACAF Championship League — but are far from satisfied.ddddddddddddWe have everything to play for, said Teibert, whose team finished four points behind Dallas. The possibilities are endless for us this season.Weve been underdogs all season long and weve been proving people wrong all season long. So why not keep proving people wrong?For all the good feeling, Vancouver has had trouble scoring in 2014 — going the equivalent of five games without a goal at one point. But Robinson expects his forward-thinking players to get their chances in the winner-take-all matchup.Well be organized defensively as we have been the last five, six games and well make sure that when we get into attacking areas we can try and exploit their weaknesses, he said. They leave holes. If we can get our attacking players in those pockets of space then it will be down to whether we can finish.The Whitecaps are the only Canadian team in the MLS playoffs and are making a second post-season appearance in three years. Vancouver lost on the road to the Los Angeles Galaxy at the same stage in 2012, but defender Andy OBrien said the mood is different this time around.I think were a lot more confident going into the game, he said. With the pressure games that weve had, I think that will stand us in good stead. I think our decision making as to when to press as a team and when to sit back is certainly better than it was two years ago.I think thats demonstrated in the fact that were a difficult team to play against.The Whitecaps have recorded four straight shutouts thanks in large part to the play of OBrien and fellow centre back Kendall Waston. Theyll have to be especially wary of Dallas striker Blas Perez, who has three goals in three games against Vancouver this season.From a defensive perspective we know what to expect. Its going to be physical, said OBrien. With Perez up front its important not to react to some of things that go on.Added Waston: We know how (Perez) works and we know what weve got to do to beat that.The Whitecaps know that keeping their heads against Dallas will be key but Robinson was a tough customer during his playing days and the rookie coach has no problem with things getting a bit nasty on the pitch.Id prefer to have that than just be matey matey and friends all the time and on the field (when) the players pick each other up when theres physical contact because the games not about that, he said, before adding with a smile: I watch hockey. Its brilliant, so maybe I can turn my team into that a little bit without the fighting.Note: Whitecaps defender Steven Beitashour limped off with a hamstring injury against Colorado and will miss out Wednesday. Robinson could go with 19-year-old Sam Adekugbe — who was subbed on in the first half against the Rapids — or 20-year-old Ethen Sampson to fill the void.Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter ' ' '