back in the fold, and unless one is traded, the same opportunities might not be there for the up-and-coming shooting guard. ... In Minnesota, the early retu

NEW YORK -- Jayson Nix thinks its a whole lot easier to get good pitches to hit now that the Yankees are getting some of their stars back in the lineup. Nix hit a tying homer in the seventh inning and a game-ending single in the ninth, lifting New York to its second comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, 3-2 in the nightcap for a split doubleheader sweep. In the opener, Robinson Cano and Chris Stewart each hit three-run homers to rally the Yankees from four runs down to beat the Blue Jays 8-4. "I feel like weve had a little bit of a jolt in our team and were playing really well right now," Nix said. "I think Sori (Alfonso Soriano) coming over here, first off, brings a whole lot of energy to the team. ... and then Al (Alex Rodriguez) coming as well and playing good. I feel like as a whole the teams playing a lot better. I think we all feel pretty good for this final push." Cano had an RBI single in the second game and had six hits and five RBIs in the two games for New York, which has won eight of 10 and is 9-6 since Alex Rodriguez returned on Aug. 5. Toronto slugger Jose Bautista made an early exit in the opener and was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bone bruise in his left hip. He says he was initially injured trying to score about two weeks ago. "I am about 70 per cent," Bautista said. "I dont think I am doing the team any favours playing with it right now." Manager John Gibbons said Bautista will rest for two weeks then be evaluated before the next step is planned. Ichiro Suzuki singled and doubled in the first game, leaving him one shy of 4,000 combined hits during his careers in Japan and the major leagues. With fans standing and chanting "Ichi-ro!" in the eighth, he grounded out. Suzuki pinch ran in the night game and scored the winning run. With a full moon hanging over the right field rafters, Darren Oliver (3-4) walked Mark Reynolds to start the ninth. Suzuki pinch ran and advanced on Eduardo Nunezs sacrifice bunt. Suzuki stole third, which forced Toronto to bring the infield in. He scored on Nixs line drive to left. "It changes it a lot. It makes my job a lot easier," Nix said of Suzukis 18th stolen base. Mariano Rivera (4-2) worked out of a two-on jam in the top of the ninth for the win. Anthony Gose failed to get down a sacrifice bunt in the inning. "He has to get that bunt down," Gibbons said. "Maybe it would have made a difference." The Blue Jays extended their record with an 11th straight loss in New York. Mark Buehrle was on track to end an eight-decision losing streak to New York but he gave up a tying homer in the seventh to Nix, the infielders first homer since June 25th. Nix was the Yankees second unlikely long ball hitter of the day. Stewart connected off Neil Wagner (2-4) in the sixth inning for his first homer since May 15 -- thats 173 homerless at-bats -- to put New York ahead in the opener. Just 1-10 in his career against the Yankees, the left-hander shut down a rejuvenated lineup by allowing two runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out Rodriguez all three times he faced him. During the afternoon game, Major League Baseball announced Yankees manager Joe Girardi was fined $5,000 for his on-field tirade after Bostons Ryan Dempster hit Rodriguez with a pitch on Sunday. Dempster was suspended five games and fined $2,500. Girardi refused to comment on the suspension and fines but did reiterate what he said earlier in the day, that hes worried a light penalty would encourage "open season" on Rodriguez. "Well find out," Girardi said. "I sure hope not." In the opener, Rodriguez singled to start the sixth -- to cheers -- and he scored on Stewarts fourth homer of the season, a shot to left field off Wagner that put New York ahead 6-4. But Rodriguez struck out five times in the doubleheader in seven at-bats. He came up with two on in the eighth inning of the late game, but grounded into a double play. "I wasnt sure what wed get the second game in a sense. Its the first time he probably had to play two games in one day, but Im OK with everything," Girardi said. Rajai Davis had a two-run double in the first game, and was responsible for the Blue Jays first two runs in Game 2. He scored on Phil Hughes wild pitch in the first inning and had a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to put Toronto up 2-1. In the opener, Cano got his 200th career home run off Esmil Rogers in the third and had four hits. His drive in the third pulled New York to 4-3 after Toronto went up 4-0 in the second against Ivan Nova (7-4). Cano added an RBI double in the seventh. Nova allowed four runs in the second inning when Toronto batted around in the makeup of a rained-out game on May 19. Kevin Pillar got his first big league hit in the night game -- in his 18th at-bat, a liner over a leaping Cano. Cano tossed the ball to the Blue Jays dugout and Jose Reyes pretended to throw it into the crowd. Pillar stood on first smiling broadly. The 24-year-old from California went 0 for 4 in the opener but got his first RBI. NOTES: Hughes gave up two runs in six innings. ... Suzuki has 1,278 hits in Japan and 2,721 in the majors. ... Yankees SS Derek Jeter (right calf strain) played his second simulated game at the teams complex in Tampa, Fla. He ran the bases for the first time. ... Blue Jays RHP Thad Weber was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, but was recalled as the 26th man for the doubleheader. ... The Yankees held a high-level meeting at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., focused on improving player development and amateur scouting. Among those in attendance were managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, senior vice-president of baseball operations Mark Newman and vice-president of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer. Vans Shoes Discount . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Vans Shoes Australia Sale . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. http://www.cheapvansaustralia.com/ . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Cheap Vans Shoes Australia Free Shipping . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Vans Shoes Clearance Sale . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. It was a summer the NBA wont soon forget.It went from Kevin Durant leaving Oklahoma City for Western Conference rival Golden State, to Tim Duncan deciding to join Kobe Bryant in retirement, to an assortment of high-profile coaching changes, to the U.S. taking home an Olympic gold in Rio.And we havent even mentioned the infusion of talent the June draft added to the league, as Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers), Brandon Ingram (Los Angeles Lakers), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Dragan Bender (Phoenix Suns) and Kris Dunn (Minnesota Timberwolves) comprised the top five picks.Indeed, theres a lot to digest as we prepare for another season.The good news is theres never been a better time to play fantasy hoops at ESPN, as the August release of the all-in-one ESPN Fantasy Sports app now enables you to participate in mock drafts and real drafts for the first time ever.Here are some of the main takeaways from the updated rankings heading into the 2016-17 NBA season:The Durant factor: Durants move to the Warriors might hurt his fantasy value only slightly -- after all, he had already been playing alongside Russell Westbrook all these years -- but his impact is significant on the rest of the Warriors stars. Stephen Curry would have been the sure-fire No. 1 pick had Durant stayed with the Thunder, but Currys usage rate, shot attempts and minutes are all likely to go down with KD on the roster.That elevates Westbrook to No. 1 as he now carries the load for the Thunder as the teams lone superstar. Curry (4) and Durant (5) slip behind not only Westbrook but also James Harden (2) and Karl-Anthony Towns (3). Meanwhile, fellow Warriors Draymond Green (17) and Klay Thompson (27) slide down about 10 spots from where they would have been without Durant.Big risers: Aside from Towns, who put up ridiculously good numbers (18.3 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2 APG, 1.7 BPG, 54.2 FG%, 81.1 FT%, 34.1 3PT%) on his way to Rookie of the Year honors last season, a number of other emerging stars move up the rankings. Rangy Milwaukee swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo (14) is now a good bet to be an early second-rounder, while Isaiah Thomas (22), C.J. McCollum (26), Victor Oladipo (28), Khris Middleton (33), Kristaps Porzingis (36) and Nikola Jokic (47) are others who rank much higher than theyve been previously.Where art Brow??If Anthony Davis could stay healthy, hed be right there in the discussion with Westbrook and Harden for the top overall pick this season. Problem is, the 23-year-old big man has yet to play more than 68 games in any of his first four NBA seasons and was limited to a career-low 61 games last season. As great as he is and as much as he stuffs the box score each night, hes a major risk with these durability issuess.dddddddddddd He drops to No. 9 in the rankings, behind not only Westbrook and Harden but also Towns, Curry, Durant,?Chris Paul (6), Kawhi Leonard (7) and LeBron James (8).Rookie impact: Simmons (76), Ingram (113), Dunn (133), Jamal Murray (156) and Bender (177) are the top-ranked rookies, but you can probably count on Simmons and Ingram to be drafted higher because of the buzz that comes with their arrival to the league.The DAntoni influence: The fast pace that new Houston Rockets coach Mike DAntoni has his teams play always provides a nice fantasy boost, which not only helps Harden but also every other player in the teams rotation. Trevor Ariza (51), Ryan Anderson (75), Eric Gordon (137), Clint Capela (140), Patrick Beverley (150), Michael Beasley (173) and Josh Smith (185) are all worth a closer look this season with DAntoni onboard.Other new faces in Philly: Simmons isnt the only big-name rookie to join the 76ers this season. Versatile center Joel Embiid, the third overall pick in 2014, and 6-foot-10 forward Dario Saric, the 12th overall pick in 2014, are two others you cant forget about. Weve ranked them back-to-back, 131 and 132, and they are both intriguing talents who offer upside in the later rounds.Wheres Bosh??One of the toughest decisions to make in the rankings was where to put Miami power forward Chris Bosh, who missed parts of the past two seasons with blood clots. If he manages to stay healthy and repair his relationship with the Heat, the 32-year-old Bosh is undoubtedly a top-50 fantasy player. At this stage, though, the risk outweighs the upside, and that is reflected by his ranking (120) as a late 10th-round pick in 12-team drafts.Other observations: Devin Booker (78) finished last season looking like one of the brightest young stars in the league, so why is he ranked so low? Because Eric Bledsoe (24) and Brandon Knight (56) are both back in the fold, and unless one is traded, the same opportunities might not be there for the up-and-coming shooting guard. ... In Minnesota, the early returns indicate that Dunn is expected to be one of the favorites for Rookie of the Year this season. If thats the case, you can count on him taking away some of Ricky Rubios playing time, which is why Rubio is ranked down at 79. ... Harrison Barnes (94) has never been a very strong fantasy player, as his game revolves around mostly scoring, 3-pointers and rebounding, but hes now on a max contract on a new team in Dallas and will be a more prominent part of the offense than he ever was in Golden State. He enters his fifth NBA season and is still only 24. ' ' '