There were plenty of critics who thought the Blue Jays gave up too much to the New York Mets for knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. But you just never know with young unproven players. Both Syndergaard and DArnaud have have had their problems over the last few weeks. They were ranked the Mets top two prospects coming into this season. However a couple of weeks ago, Syndergaard, who can get it to the plate in the 95-97 mph-range, developed a flex strain in his pitching arm and had to shut it down at Triple “A” Las Vegas for a week or so. Fortunately, the MRI showed it had nothing to do with his elbow. As soon as he returned though, Syndergaard got bowled over in a homeplate collision as he was covering home after throwing a wild pitch. He suffered a sprained AC joint in his left (non-throwing shoulder) and once again has had to shut it down for about a week. Its nothing career-threatening, but it is a setback and will delay his anticipated call-up to the Mets this season. DArnauds problems are more troublesome. He was sent down to Vegas by the Mets on Sunday after hitting just .180, and only .113 over his last 41 at bats. Worse than that, his defence which was supposed to be a strength was the worst of any catcher in the National League. A concussion suffered earlier this season may have factored in, but Mets skipper Terry Collins said DArnaud wont be called up again until he starts hitting and dominating in the Pacific Coast League like the prospect he was supposed to be. Whatever you may think of Dickey, he already has 20 victories over his brief stay in Toronto, hes an innings eater and has helped put them in first place in the AL East. If you were wondering why teams seem so reluctant to trade starting pitching at this point of the season consider this; only two teams in the Majors, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia are further than 6.5 games out in the Wild Card chases. The Rays are 10 games out and the Phllies are seven back. Ever other team, including the Cubs, Astros and Diamondbacks, who got off to horrible starts, are within 6.5 games of a Wild Card spot or closer. If you are that close, even if your overall talent isnt that good, its not easy to tell your fans you are trading for the future with almost 100 games left. Even Boston with a 10-game losing skid and then a five-game win streak is still only five games out of a playoff spot. It only makes sense for the Rays to deal their ace lefty David Price but I cant see him being moved to any other team in the American League East. Texas might make sense, but I have a hunch Price could end up with the Mets. They lost six in a row and are in danger of tumbling into becoming a mere afterthought in New York and the National League. The Mets are loaded with pitching prospects like Syndergaard, Zach Wheeler, Rafael Montero and Jake deGrom. These are the kinds of young arms that should entice the Rays. New York is seven games under .500 heading into Mondays play, but they are only five games back of Atlanta, Washington and Miami, who are locked in a virtual tie for first place in a winnable National League East. Price to the Mets makes sense, if only to upstage the Yankees who have pitching issues of their own. If youre going to trade for pitching prospects, though, you still could get burned. When the Blue Jays dealt David Cone to the Yankees in 1995, they received three young righthanders in return, in Mike Gordon, Jason Jarvis and Marty Janzen. Gordon and Jarvis never climbed higher than Double “A”, and Janzen had only a brief stint with the Jays. Over parts of two seasons, he went 6-7 with a 6.39 ERA. He was ultimately claimed in the expansion draft by Arizona after the 1997 season and then was traded back to the Yankees. However, Janzen never saw the light of day in the Majors again. Cone helped the Yankees win four World Series (1996, 1998-2000) to go with the ring he won with the Blue Jays in 1992. Looking Ahead The next 16 games are going to be huge for the Blue Jays. Over that span, they play 10 games against the Yankees and Baltimore, starting with a four-game set at Camden Yards later this week, then a road series with the Yankees on the same trip followed by a three-game set at Rogers Centre June 23-25. Show of Respect I dont know if it was a one-off or just the “Cardinals way” but it was impressive and classy when the St. Louis players lined up in front of their dugout Sunday for the anthems. Home, Not Sweet Home One of the oddities of this season is the L.A. Dodgers home record. 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The Padres backed Kennedy with some rare run support. “He deserved that one," Padres manager Bud Black said. “Hes been a victim of not a lot of runs and if you look across the board at his numbers, all that stuff, hes been good. We just havent scored for him and Im glad we got it done in the bottom half of the sixth." It appeared Kennedy was headed for another tough-luck loss. He was trailing 1-0 when he left for a pinch-hitter in the sixth. The Padres scored four times in the inning, surprising Chicago starter Jason Hammel (5-3). “I felt in complete command," Hammel said. “I felt like I was going to go complete-game shutout. Everything was working." Chase Headley tied it with a sacrifice fly and the Padres went ahead 2-1 Carlos Quentins pinch-hit single off reliever James Russell. Two walks by Hammel helped extend the inning. For Quentin, it was his third pinch-hit RBI in two games after a two-run, homer in Saturdays loss. “We were going to stay away a little bit from Quentin," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. “The ball just came back out over the plate." Jedd Gyorko added an RBI double and when centre fielder Emilio Bonifacio misplayed the ball for an error, pinch-runner Tyson Ross also scored for a 4-1 lead. Ross, a pitcher, ran for Quentin and scored a run for the firstt time in the majors.ddddddddddddHe slid home, although there was no throw to the plate. “I figured better safe than sorry," Ross said. A sixth-inning home run by Junior Lake gave the Cubs a brief lead, although it took a little while for him to celebrate. Lake hit an arching drive to left field and Seth Smith appeared as if he caught the ball before it reached the seats. A disappointed Lake nearly veered off the basepaths, but he resumed his trot third when umpire Greg Gibson gave the home run signal. Hammel retired 11 straight before Yonder Alonso lined a single in the fifth inning for the Padres first hit. Alonso stole second and advanced to third on Cameron Maybins one-out infield single. But Maybin was picked off first by Hammel and Rene Rivera struck out to end the threat. The Cubs didnt have much luck against Kennedy early. Castro got into scoring position in the second inning after a leadoff single and a walk, but Kennedy got the next three batters. Hammel pitched 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks, with five strikeouts. But this day belonged to Kennedy, and that it came at Petco Park made all the better. “Its always great to see runs scored like that," Kennedy said, “whether youre pitching or not." NOTES: The Padres are encouraged with the progress RHP Andrew Cashner is making with his sore right elbow. Cashner will throw again on Monday after playing catch on Saturday. ... Padres LHP Robbie Erlin, on the DL with a sore throwing elbow, is scheduled to throw next weekend ... Quentin is expected to start on Monday against the Diamondbacks. Quentin had missed four games with a groin injury. ... Luis Valbuenas eight-game hitting streak for the Cubs, which tied a career high, was snapped. ... Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-4, 1.96) faces Giants RHP Yusmeiro Petit (3-1, 4.76) on Monday. It will be Samardzijas 200th career game. ... Ross (5-4, 2.64) goes against Arizona RHP Brandon McCarthy (1-6, 4.67) on Monday. 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