TORONTO – Chad Jenkins is living the life of the 25th man. On his fourth recall this season, hes been on charter planes and stayed in five-star hotels. Hes ridden buses along freeways and turnpikes and stayed in not so five-star hotels, which is the routine of minor league life. Sometimes, most of the time in fact, hes been a reliever. During his last stint in Buffalo, with the Triple-A Bisons, he was a starter. There was that time, shortly into the season, his recall was announced and then retracted because he hadnt spent the first 10 days on option to the minor leagues. Its been a whirlwind, to say the least. "Its funny, I think after the second send down this year a teammate of mine in Buffalo goes, I dont know how you do it. Id be so mentally wrecked I wouldnt know which way I was going," Jenkins told TSN.ca. "Its funny. I laugh, you know, there are times when it really gets to me and I have like a rough day and Im down and out." There are other days, too, like when he was traveling with Buffalo in Louisville, Kentucky. His parents had come to visit from their Atlanta-area home. Jenkins was in a bad mood, moping and struggling to accept the up and down nature of his role. The Bisons had a game that night and not long before first pitch, something clicked. "At the end of the day I realized that I get to play a sport for a living and no matter where I am Im healthy, my familys healthy and thats all that really matters," said Jenkins. He feels a part of this team this time round. Jenkins is pitching. He threw a clean inning on June 4 in Detroit, using his patented sinkerball to induce three groundball outs. The next day he left an out from his first career big league save, hurling two-and-a-third scoreless innings in relief of J.A. Happ. Fast forward five days, to Tuesday night, when Jenkins put up another three-and-a-third scoreless frames in relief of Happ. The Jays lost but Jenkins, as is the demand of the long reliever, stopped the bleeding and gave his team a chance to win. Thanks to his three outings since the last recall, his ERA has dropped from 9.00 to 2.79. "Im not a big stat rat but I dont like seeing my ERA in the nines and I had to sit on that for two weeks," said Jenkins. "Every opportunity I get, in the end, is to the help the team win but at the same time its like, a little pride in myself. I dont like seeing such a high number beside my name." Jenkins had made four starts for Buffalo prior to rejoining the Jays. Thrust into the bullpen, he was forced to rearrange his routine. "Whats tough is when I start, I pitch, day off, side, two days off and pitch again," said Jenkins. "Your body gets into a routine. You run long distance. I lift heavy weights because thats just how I like to work out. I get back here, I switch my lifting. I lift every other day, every two days, just trying to get my body going. I stretch a lot more." Hes doing his best to "preserve bullets," as pitchers will say. Jenkins has incorporated a number of mobility exercises, including the use of the foam roller to loosen up his core muscles. He doesnt need to throw more. Hes been doing plenty of that. "Im getting hot it feels like every night," said Jenkins. "I know since the second day in Detroit Ive had one day when I havent thrown off a mound. Arms holding up great, I cant complain there and hopefully I can keep it going." Manager John Gibbons has been a vocal supporter of Jenkins. The 26-year-old former first round pick often is the odd man out because the Jays can send him to the minor leagues without first exposing him to irrevocable waivers. Jenkins doesnt have a hard fastball and isnt a strikeout pitcher. Despite being selected 20th overall in the 2009 draft, hes come to believe the cautionary tale he heard from a minor league teammate shortly after turning pro: its hard to make it to the big leagues; its even harder to remain in the big leagues. "I didnt really heed that warning," said Jenkins. "Now that Ive been racking up a lot of miles I know for a fact its hard to stay." Pillar optioned to Buffalo The Blue Jays sent down Kevin Pillar before Wednesday afternoons series finale with the Twins. The move seemed strange, although the purpose was two-fold. First, the club needs relief help with its two long men, Todd Redmond and Chad Jenkins, unavailable on Wednesday due to their recent workloads. Reliever Bobby Korecky fills the need and its likely only for one day. "The thinking was, weve been talking about it the last couple of days anyway, we havent faced many lefties lately and for this next, pretty much this whole road trip, even when we get back, we dont face a lefty starter," said manager John Gibbons. "Send him down and get him some at-bats instead of sitting out there rotting." Toronto embarks on a three-city, 10-game road trip, which starts in Baltimore on Thursday. The Orioles will throw four right-handers at the Jays. Based on the pitching matchups the Jays believe they will see, the Yankees and Reds will each throw three right-handers. When the Jays return home on June 23 to play New York, the Yankees will throw three right-handers. The Jays arent scheduled to see a left-hander until their home series against the White Sox, which begins on June 26. In the absence of Colby Rasmus, Pillar has been part of a platoon with Anthony Gose in centerfield. In 38 plate appearances this season, Pillar is hitting .243/.237/.324. Three of his nine hits have been doubles. Jays make hay Despite the Jays recent slide, four losses in five games, the club has wrapped up a stretch in which it played 16 of 19 games at home. Toronto went 13-6 in that span. The Jays have 29 games remaining before the All-Star Break, 20 of which will be played on the road. After the trip to Baltimore (four games), New York and Cincinnati (three each), the Jays will return home to play the Yankees (three games), the Chicago White Sox (four games) and the Milwaukee Brewers (two games). The pre-All-Star Break road trip will be a demanding one and will rack up the frequent flyer points. The Jays will go to Oakland for four games, to Anaheim for three games and then head east to play the Rays three times in Tampa Bay. Fake Vans Old Skool .S. military base for UFC: Fight for the Troops 3. This fight card, which takes place in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has had a number of changes, including headliner Lyoto Machida replaced by fellow Brazilian Rafael Natal. Fake Vans For Sale . Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced Thursday in a statement that he is resigning in order to "expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. http://www.fakevans.com/. Sopoaga hit the upright with his first shot at goal from 15 metres. He then kicked nine goals in succession -- two conversions and seven penalties -- before being replaced in the 62nd minute, three points short of the Highlanders record for most points in a match. Fake Vans Online . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. Fake Vans Store . McCutchen was cut before the series opener against Seattle on Monday night, when Lewis was set for his first start for Texas since July 18, 2012. Texas selected Lewis contract from Triple-A Round Rock.WASHINGTON -- General manager George McPhee and coach Adam Oates lost their jobs with the Washington Capitals on Saturday, about two weeks after the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007. "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes." McPhees contract was up and the team announced it will not give him a new one after his 17 years as the GM, which included drafting Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom in the first round. Oates was fired with one season left on his three-year deal. A former star player for the Capitals, he was in his first job as an NHL head coach. Washington finished this season with the ninth-most points in the Eastern Conference, one spot out of a playoff berth. "You have to do something to pivot the team to be an ongoing strong team," Leonsis said. "And I just felt that new leadership at this time was needed, and lets start it with a clean slate." Asked whether any player would be untouchable as part of upcoming changes -- a chance, perhaps, for Leonsis to mention captain and top scorer Ovechkin -- the owner replied: "Im not the general manager. So If the general manager comes with something, we would listen to the general manager." Ovechkin has won three league MVP awards and again led the NHL in scoring this season with 51 goals, but the Capitals havent made it past the second round of the playoffs during the Russian wings career. Dick Patrick, the president of the Capitals, said the team already has drawn up a list of potential GM candidates. "Typically, youd like to have a general manager in place and have him choose a coach," Patrick said. The Capitals reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1998, McPhees first year on the job, and were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. Later, MMcPhee oversaw a "rebuild" ordered by Leonsis, including jettisoning top players with big contracts such as Jaromir Jagr.dddddddddddd "Lets not forget that rebuilding process was dramatic. And I watched a great executive go through really, really hard times and really rebuild that team quickly. We just didnt get there," Leonsis said. "At some point, you just have to try something different." While McPhee eventually built a young roster filled with offensive stars, he never placed as much emphasis on constructing a rugged, defensive-minded blue line crop. He hired a succession of coaches with zero previous NHL experience running a team, including Glen Hanlon, Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter and Oates. Led by Ovechkin, the Capitals produced terrific regular-season results for a half-dozen seasons, without similar success in the post-season. Four years ago, Washington won the Presidents Trophy for having the most points during the season, then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. Leonsis called McPhee, who built seven division-winning teams, "a talented man, a great friend," but that it was time for "a fresh set of eyes." The Capitals went 65-48-17 under Oates in his two seasons. In a brief statement released via the team, Oates called it "a tremendous honour to coach the Capitals these past two seasons" and said he was "grateful for the opportunity." In his first season in charge, which was shortened because of a labour dispute, Washington reached the playoffs with a late surge before losing in the first round to the New York Rangers in seven games. "We were a continuously improving playoff team until we werent. And the last two seasons showed us that we need to improve. And thats what it came down to," Leonsis said. "Dick and I said, We have to make that gut check. Do we have to change? And where do you start? And you start with the coach and the general manager." ' ' '