DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse. Just look for a big smile atop a compact five-foot-nine, 155-pound body. The 28-year-old Florida native is also hard to miss on the field -- an elegant, mobile shortstop with a slick glove. A career .230 hitter in the minors, Diaz is not likely to stick with a major league club that already has a superstar at shortstop in Jose Reyes, the versatile Ryan Goins at second base and Maicer Izturis as a utility infielder. But his skills are appreciated and have been on display again in the Blue Jays organization after a one-year stint with the Boston Red Sox and former Jays manager John Farrell. "Id heard about them," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of Diazs fielding talents. "Everybodys always said youre not going to find a better shortstop or defender, period. You can put him anywhere out there and hes definitely shown that this spring." Diaz has appeared in the infield and outfield this spring, often as a late inning replacement. He has turned heads with a nifty double play and scored the 10th-inning game-winner on some aggressive base-running in a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles last Sunday. As of Wednesday, he was hitting .077 with one hit in 13 at-bats this spring. He knows defence is his ticket in baseball. "Ive always love to be out there making plays and doing acrobatic things," he said. "Luckily thats kept me in the game for as long as it has." He was given No. 1 to wear by the Jays, the same number as former great Tony Fernandez. "Its a honour to be wearing that number," he said. "He was an unbelievable shortstop." A 12th-round pick -- 360th overall -- by the Jays in the 2006 draft out of North Carolina State, Diaz is happy to be back in the Toronto fold after his year away. "It feels like I never left," he said. "It feels like home. I was here for seven years and then I took a little hiatus with the Red Sox for a year." Boston had its moments, however. He was called up to the majors for the first time, "which was amazing," he said. He saw action in five games, with four at-bats. He had no hits but scored two runs. "I was there for a week ... Fortunately Im going to get a World Series ring and all that so Im really excited about that. It was a good time," he said. Coincidentally, Diazs debut in the majors came against Toronto and he threw out Reyes from third in Torontos first at-bat. He also scored the winning run against the Jays. These days his locker is just down the row from Reyes in a largely Spanish-speaking neighbourhood of the clubhouse. With a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, he grew up with Spanish as his first language. "This is my corner. These are my people," he said with a grin. Diaz says he tries not to think of where he might end up. The goal is the big leagues and the plan is to play as well as possible. After that, que sera sera. "Make sure youre healthy and just try to be ready when the time comes," Diaz said by way of summary. "Im just out there trying to show I can help the team in any way possible." Away from the field, Diaz is married with three daughters -- 10, eight and 16 months. The family makes its home in Dunedin with his wife and daughters joining Diaz "wherever Im at," when school breaks for the summer. "By now, theyre used to it ... Its a crazy fun life," he said. But it has not always been fun for Diaz. In 2011, he was one of the final cuts out of the Jays major league camp. He went to double-A ball and then triple-A in Las Vegas. "I was doing really well," he said. "I went to have dinner, took a cab and woke up in a hospital." There was an accident and Diaz suffered a concussion, lost some hearing and his two front teeth, among other injuries. His wife, then his fiancee, was on the side of the cab that got hit and took the brunt of the impact. She suffered broken ribs, a torn spleen, separated shoulder and cuts. "It was pretty ugly," he said. "But luckily were healthy now." The injuries also took a toll on his playing career. "That took me out of it for a couple of months," he said. "That window, I felt like, was a good chance of being called up at the time." Two false front teeth have not impacted Diazs smile. He seems to savour every baseball moment. Willie Wilson Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Kevin Appier Jersey . -- Rodney Stuckey scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks for the first time in eight meetings, 92-86 on Tuesday night. https://www.cheaproyals.com/1747a-willie...sey-royals.html. Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in just 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to see off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Steve Balboni Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. Jorge Bonifacio Jersey . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- No. 7 Texas A&M didnt do much celebrating after a 38-10 win over Rice on Saturday night. The Aggies improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2010, but werent overjoyed with the victory because they thought they could have played much better. "Guys werent very happy with how they played tonight," coach Kevin Sumlin said. "In the locker room our guys were ho hum and pretty hard on themselves ... and thats good." Kenny Hill threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns and Texas A&M overcame a slow start for the win. The Aggies led by 14 points at halftime, but struggled at times to sustain drives and committed several costly penalties, including one that resulted in a touchdown being called back, in the first half. They got going after halftime with Hill finding Josh Reynolds on a 20-yard touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter. A 1-yard touchdown run by Tra Carson pushed the lead to 35-10 later in the third. Hill also had TD passes of 14, 13 and 48 yards and has 1,094 yards passing this season to become the first player in school history to throw for 1,000 yards in the first three games of a season. "We started off slow," Hill said. "We never want to start it off slow. We are going to work on that and fix that and be better next week." Driphus Jackson threw for 212 yards and a touchdown and ran for 84 yards for Rice (0-2). There was heavy rain in College Station on Friday night and there were a number of divots on the grass field. Rice coach David Bailiff went on the field near some of them at the start of halftime and talked to several people for a couple of minutes before going into the locker room. Members of the grounds crew ran onto the field during many of the stops in play in the second half to fill the holes. At one point in the third quarter there were 10 people spread across the field working on it. "I thought Eric Hyman their athletic director ... their grounds crew did about as good a job as anybody could do keeping up with that," Bailiff said. "They kept the surface safe for the football team and thats what its all about." The field was just installed last month because of renovations to Kyle Field. "Kyle Field is a new field and its a pretty bad field," Texas A&M defensive end Julien Obioha said. "I slipped becaause the field would give out.dddddddddddd" Reynolds had just two catches but they were both for touchdowns and he finished with 68 yards receiving. Hill had a nifty run to set up Carsons score in the third quarter. He zig-zagged his way around several Rice defenders before being tripped up from behind at the 1. The play was initially ruled a touchdown, but it was reviewed and overturned. Hill was replaced by freshman Kyle Allen with about five minutes remaining. Allen threw an interception to end his only drive. Texas A&M freshman Myles Garrett had 2 1/2 sacks to give him 5 1/2 this season, which is a school-record for a freshman. The Owls dominated the time of possession at more than 43 minutes, but would often come up empty after long drives. "We just have to finish the drive," Jackson said. "Its a little disappointing to be out there for 43 minutes and only put up 10 points." James Hairston made a 33-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the third quarter for Rice. A career-best 47-yard field goal by Josh Lambo pushed the lead to 38-10 early in the fourth quarter. A&M took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Speedy Noil grabbed a 14-yard pass for his first career touchdown. Noil limped to the locker room in the third quarter with an unspecified injury and Sumlin wouldnt provide details on it after the game. The Aggies made it 14-0 on their next possession when Hill found Ricky Seals-Jones for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The Owls got within a touchdown when Jackson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mario Hull. Reynolds came back to get the ball and then juked Malcolm Hill to evade a tackle on his way to the end zone on a 48-yard touchdown reception that made it 21-7 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Hairston hit a 53-yard field goal seconds before halftime that would have made it 21-10, but A&M was flagged for having 12 men on the field and the Owls had to kick again. The second time it was blocked by Seals-Jones and Armani Watts returned it 93 yards for a touchdown. But those points would be taken away, too. There was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the A&M bench and the would-be TD run became a 35-yard return. "Really bizarre ending to the first half," Sumlin said. Hairston also missed a 22-yard field goal attempt early in the first quarter. ' ' '