NEU » potential to be playing meaningful baseb

Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Sunday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EST:- LOS ANGELES -- No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff finally makes his NFL debut for the Rams, taking over behind center when Los Angeles (4-5) hosts Ndamukong Suh and the surging Miami Dolphins (5-4). Game starts 4 p.m.- ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rookie Dak Prescott tries to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a franchise season record ninth straight win when Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens visit in a battle of division leaders. Game starts 1 p.m.- CLEVELAND -- Ben Roethlisberger gets another chance to remind Cleveland it should have drafted him as the Pittsburgh Steelers try to end a four-game losing streak when they face the winless Browns, off to the worst start in their 66-year history. Game starts 1 p.m.- The AP releases its weekly Top 25 college football poll at 2 p.m.- Follows to various Top 25 college football games, including Clemson and Oklahoma State, and lookaheads to the Iron Bowl and Michigan-Ohio State.- HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson seeks a record-tying seventh NASCAR championship in the title-deciding season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Race starts 3 p.m.- LONDON -- Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic meet in a showdown for both the ATP finals title and the year-end No. 1 ranking.- ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Canadian rookie Mackenzie Hughes tries to go wire-to-wire at the RSM Classic, where he has a one-shot lead over Billy Horschel, Camilo Villegas and fellow rookie C.T. Pan.- NAPLES, Fla. -- The LPGA season ends with Ariya Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko vying for player of the year honors in the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship. Charley Hull is the tournament leader going into Sunday.- UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Top-ranked Duke faces No. 21 Rhode Island for the championship of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament (1 p.m.) No. 24 Cincinnati takes on Penn State in the consolation game (3:30 p.m.).- NEW YORK -- It would be no stretch to imagine Donald Trump as a natural supporter of the effort to bring the Olympics back to Los Angeles in 2024. The International Olympic Committee would likely appreciate the support but still be nervous that Trump will turn America into an unsteady player on the global stage when the games are awarded next September. An AP analysis.Cory Schneider Devils Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Andy Greene Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-mirco-mueller-devils-jersey/ . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Pavel Zacha Devils Jersey .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Nico Hischier Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif.TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays have been at their inconsistent best this season. The optimism that surrounded the team at the start of the year was nearly snuffed out by a terrible start. An 11-game winning streak brought some much-needed relief and got people talking again. The 43-45 Blue Jays are hovering near the .500 mark and need a second-half surge to get in the playoff mix in the American League East. This is a team that has as many question marks now as it did in the spring. There have been some big disappointments and some intriguing surprises over the first half of the season. The new-look starting rotation has struggled more often than not. The bullpen -- thought to be a soft point by many observers at the start of the year -- has been dominant. Sluggers Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are posting big numbers again but too many weak points remain through the lineup. First baseman Adam Lind is enjoying a bounceback year and shortstop Jose Reyes has impressed with the bat and the glove. Injuries have taken a big toll and forced manager John Gibbons to be creative with his lineup. So is this the squad that was among the worst in the major leagues over the first six weeks of the season? Or is it the one that looked as if it couldnt be stopped last month? Its hard to tell. "Well that little run we made in the last few weeks, were resilient, we could have disappeared," Gibbons said in a recent interview. "Were still on that fringe, we can go one way or the other so we need to play good baseball from here on out. "It would have been easy to really just disappear but they didnt do that. They show up to play every day and thats all we can ask for." The rotation looked so deep in early April that there were several candidates for the ace title. However, the performances have been so uneven since that the team doesnt have a clear No. 1 starter. R.A. Dickey has only shown flashes of his Cy Young form. Josh Johnson missed seven weeks with triceps inflammation and has yet to get on track. Mark Buehrle soaks up innings but often allows a lot of earned runs. Brandon Morrow was mediocre before going down with a foreaarm injury and J.ddddddddddddA. Happ saw limited action before taking a liner off the head and injuring his knee. As a result, stop-gap measures on the mound have been the norm. Without the stellar crew of relievers, the Blue Jays would really be in trouble. Closer Casey Janssen has been excellent and left-hander Brett Cecil has posted all-star numbers. Steve Delabars strikeout totals are top flight and Juan Perez and Aaron Loup have also been quite effective. Injuries have been a factor throughout the lineup as well with Reyes and Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., missing significant time with ankle injuries. Melky Cabrera has battled hamstring issues all year and his range in left field has been significantly hampered. While the big bats of Bautista and Encarnacion have come through, centre-fielder Colby Rasmus and catcher J.P. Arencibia have yet to fully hit their potential. Munenori Kawasaki was a pleasant surprise as a fill-in for Reyes and outfielder Rajai Davis has been solid but newcomers Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis still look unsettled. The wild-card race remains a possibility and if the starters give the team a chance, the Blue Jays have the potential to be playing meaningful baseball in September for a change. "We just have to keep the momentum going our way and just focus on whats allowed us to win games and thats been great pitching and timely hitting," Bautista said. The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is fast approaching. It will be interesting to see if general manager Alex Anthopoulos decides to be a buyer or a seller. Gibbons remains optimistic that his team -- which is 10 games out of first place in the AL East and 5 1/2 games back in the wild-card race -- can still move up the division standings. "Weve got to play better than we did in the first half but I expect us to stay in this thing," he said. "But weve got to be solid. Weve got to get really good starting pitching and weve got to swing the bats. "We really like where our bullpen is at but it all starts on the mound with our starting rotation. If they pitch good, weve got a shot." ' ' '