TORONTO -- If the eye-catching smile doesnt get you, the electric play on the basepaths will. Jakob Poeltl Jersey . Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes gets peoples attention with his unique brand of baseball. Hes a dynamo with great range in the field and track star speed. And over the last week or two, he finally looks like the Reyes of old. The three-time all-star, one of the key pieces in a November 2012 blockbuster trade with Miami, was hampered by injury problems in his first season in Toronto. It was more of the same earlier this year as a tight hamstring kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks. Once he returned, it took some time for Reyes to find his rhythm. The leadoff hitter has found it now and his play is a big reason why the Blue Jays have moved to the top of the American League East division standings. "He makes us that much better," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Hes really the catalyst because hes up at the top of the lineup." A revitalized starting rotation and homer-happy lineup are two big reasons why the Blue Jays are flying high. But Reyes has provided the powerful Toronto offence with a real edge since his return. With impressive bat skills and a constant threat to run, Reyes offers a nice contrast to the big swingers like Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista who usually follow him in the order. Pitchers have a hard time concentrating on the plate with a speedster like Reyes on base. "Hes so capable of stirring things up," said Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. "Hes one of those catalysts. Theres a few real catalytic players in the game and hes one of them." Reyes, who had three hits in Wednesdays 3-2 win over the Rays, had an 11-game hitting streak end a night later. He had his first three-steal game as a Blue Jay last weekend and wowed the Rogers Centre crowd by scoring from second base on a groundout. "Hes one of those guys thats hard to take your eye off of when youre watching a baseball game," said Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson. "Hes able to do so many things offensively and defensively. Defensively hes able to play a little bit deeper than most shortstops because he has a tremendous arm and he has the speed to close in on balls that he needs to. "Hes in an elite group when it comes to that. Hes been a lot of fun to watch." However, Reyes isnt immune to the occasional hiccup in the field. He made a throwing error on a potential game-ending ground ball Thursday night and the Royals came back to win 8-6 in 10 innings. He took full ownership for the miscue after the game. "This is baseball, sometimes mistakes are going to happen," Reyes said. "I just have to learn from it." Despite the occasional negative, the native of Santiago, Dominican Republic brings plenty of positives to the diamond. In a game earlier this week, Reyes dropped a soft bunt down in his first at-bat. He accelerated like a shot and seemed to be halfway down the first-base line by the time the pitcher left the mound to retrieve the ball before conceding the single. When the next batter belted one off the wall, Reyes was quickly in full flight and scored with a head-first slide. Its the kind of get-your-jersey-dirty, fast-paced style that fans and teammates love. "The last few weeks my leg feels good," Reyes said. "Its good to play pain-free. I dont have to worry about anything. Before, four or five weeks ago, I still had a little concern with my hamstring being 100 per cent. "But right now its 110 per cent." Reyes, 30, who won a batting title with the New York Mets in 2011, has seen his average rise as his comfort level returned. Entering the game against the Royals, he has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games. The three-time National League stolen base leader (2005-07) has also swiped 11 bags over the last 25 games entering Thursdays matchup. His well-rounded game is a big reason why Torontos offence is so feared. "When they made the trade and brought him in last year, I think thats what everybody kind of envisioned," Gibbons said. "Hes been banged up a little bit since hes been here but now hes healthy. "What hes doing now is really what hes done his whole career and so I think people are just really getting a look at it." Reyes also brings an infectious personality to the ballpark and is usually the first one out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates. More than anything, he has the ability to put the Blue Jays in a position to manufacture runs. Whether through stolen bases, sacrifices or just aggressive base-running, Reyes can often secure that extra base and create more scoring opportunities. "Im capable of doing a lot of stuff," Reyes said. "People (have) seen (over) the last few weeks what Im able to do on the field." Alvin Robertson Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. Spurs Jerseys 2020 . Picard had a goal and two assists to help Canada improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Seven different players scored for the two-time defending champions. "Today all four lines played excellent," said head coach Laura Schuler. https://www.cheapspurs.com/226j-tim-duncan-jersey-spurs.html . Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (2), 6-4. Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.SAN JOSE, Calif. - Captain Joe Thornton set the tone by dishing out hits almost every chance he got. The rest of his San Jose teammates followed his lead as the Sharks wanted to send a message to the Los Angeles Kings in case these California rivals meet again with much more on the line in a few weeks. Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored second-period goals and the Sharks clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs by beating the Kings 2-1 on Thursday night in a possible playoff preview. "I wanted to hit something tonight, thats all. That was the game plan," Thornton said. "Were starting to ramp up our game a little bit. That was just the case tonight. We might see these guys in 12 days or so, so just play hard and see what happens." Thornton matched his career-high with six hits and also nearly got into a fight with Slava Voynov in the second period as part of a physical game between two teams that have serious animosity toward each other. San Jose had a franchise-record 52 hits in all, including 10 by Tommy Wingels, as the Sharks didnt back down a bit against the powerful Kings. "I liked fact that we stood our ground and battled hard," coach Todd McLellan said. "The physical battles, theyre known to win a lot of those. We were in them for the most part." Antti Niemi made 26 saves and the Sharks overcame a first-period deficit to move within a point of Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks still have two games in hand and the inside track on the top spot. Jordan Nolan scored the lone goal for the Kings, who had their eight-game road losing streak snapped by their first loss away from home since Jan. 28 in Phoenix. Martin Jones made 19 saves as starter Jonathan Quick got rest a night after shutting out the Coyotes to clinch a playoff berth. The Kings are locked into third place in the division after the loss and will play the Sharks in the first round unless San Jose passes Anaheim in the standings. "We play similar styles, its in-your-face hockey and if we do play them in playoffs it would be fun to watch," Nolan said. Of more immediate concern was an upper-body injury that knocked star defencemann Drew Doughty out midway through the first period. Vinny Del Negro Jersey. Doughty appeared to hurt his left shoulder while checking Tyler Kennedy. There was no word on the extent of Doughtys injury. "Anytime you lose a D-man especially one of his calibre its a big hole," defenceman Jake Muzzin said. "I thought we did well trying to replace him." These teams have met in two of the past three postseasons with San Jose winning a first-round series in six games in 2011 and Los Angeles winning a seven-game, second-round series last spring. The home team has won 16 of the past 17 games in this series, including all seven in last years playoffs. The Kings were the only road team to break through in that stretch with a 1-0 win on Jan. 27. The Sharks took over the play in the second period, scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead. The first goal came just 4 seconds after Kings forward Dustin Brown was sent off for roughing Andrew Desjardins. Thornton won the ensuing faceoff from Jarret Stoll and the puck got back to the point to Brent Burns, whose shot deflected off Pavelski to tie the game. San Jose went ahead a few minutes later when Jones couldnt control a shot by Tommy Wingels and Couture scored his 21st goal on a wraparound. "Thats probably the best weve played in a while, the most physical weve played in a while," Couture said. "Theyre a good team over there, but I felt tonight we were more physical. We played pretty well." The Kings threatened but couldnt tie it in the third as Niemi stopped Anze Kopitar in the final minute to seal it. The Kings got on top early on a double deflection as Alec Martinezs point shot deflected off Jaret Stoll and then Nolan before it beat Niemi less than 4 minutes into the game. The Sharks didnt test Jones much early as most of the opening period was played in San Joses end. Their best chance came when Marty Havlat shot wide on a breakaway. NOTES: Martinez has 15 points in his past 17 games. ... Kings F Dwight King was sideline by an undisclosed injury and D Matt Greene played his 500th game as Willie Mitchell got the night off. ... The Sharks dressed D Scott Hannan in place of Matt Irwin. ' ' '