DUNEDIN, Florida - Whether the approach translates to on-field success will only be revealed with the passage of time but its obvious to those whove been around the first two weeks of camp: the 2014 Blue Jays, constructed and built to win beginning in 2013, have no intention of repeating the misery that befell the ballclub a season ago. Adam Morrison Jersey . The attitude is all business. One of the major pieces of the clubs puzzle knows it ought to be, given whats happened and what could happen if Torontos fortunes dont turn around. "I think guys are singularly focused on trying to get the most out of what we have collectively here," knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca. "I think last year we were kind of handcuffed a little bit by a few different variables but this year guys are together and they know its basically we need to make this work or it could all get blown up. "We know that and we dont want that to happen so guys are focused." Theres been no speech alluding to a closing window of opportunity but the veteran players, all too familiar with the business of baseball, sense that after falling flat in the season after club ownership increased payroll by some $40-million, another failed year wont be tolerated. You can have one bad year as a group. A second consecutive down season and the "this team cant get it done" narrative cements itself in reality. Dickey, himself, is looking for a bounce back season. The trend is positive, dating back to last year. In 20 first half (pre-All Star Break) starts, Dickey was 8-10 with a 4.69 ERA, 20 home runs allowed and a strikeout to walk ratio of less than two-to-one. He threw 128 2/3 innings, averaging a little more than 6 1/3 per start. After the break, in 14 starts, Dickey went 6-3, 3.56, 15 home runs allowed and stuck out more than three-and-a-half hitters for every walk. Dickeys 96 second half innings work out to almost seven per start. While still prone to the long ball, everything else improved, including his health. Dickey pitched through a strained muscle in his neck, something that began in spring training but by mid-April had mushroomed into a pain that forced him to consider a stint on the disabled list. "You know how things progress," said Dickey. "It starts as something very mild and you just keep going on and thinking its probably going to go away and then something happens and it gets much more significant. It had been there in the spring. When everything gets cranked back up some things arent necessarily in the right places yet." There are no such concerns now. "Physically, Im stronger," said Dickey. Mentally, Dickeys refreshed. The trade to Toronto wasnt the only matter on his plate last offseason. He was promoting his book, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, working with child sex victims in Mumbai and by the time camp started, was being followed by a reporter and camera crew from 60 Minutes. Aside from a fundraiser in New York City and a family vacation to Florida, Dickey had a much quieter winter this year. "That was intentional," said Dickey. "Anne and I both felt like it was a season to be at home together. With the year before, with the trade and the book and India and the Cy Young and all of that, just really spread me very thin. Having a good mate, she realized that was one of the things that should probably change this offseason and she was right." When its pointed out to Dickey that the American League East likely will be stronger this year than last - the Red Sox are the defending World Series champions, the Rays have great starting pitching, the Orioles added pitching in support of a potent offense and the Yankees retooled - the knuckleballer acknowledged the Blue Jays will need a diamond in the rough, maybe more than one, to emerge. "I think that every championship club has to have a guy on the team that you dont expect a ton out of that steps up and does something special for you," said Dickey. "Whether its a position player or a pitcher, in our case I think the hope is theres going to be a pitcher that steps up and gives you something that you werent anticipating and its going to lift you into the next place." Drew Hutchison could be the guy, based on early camp returns. "I think Drews a name," Dickey concurred. "I think Todd Redmonds a name. There are others in this clubhouse that I think, by the end of the year, well have a conversation about this day and youll say, Yeah, that was the guy that you were talking about and heres what happened. Thats the hope. Thats what were hopeful for." JAYS HAMMERED BY TWINS The Blue Jays longest spring trip, not including two games in Montreal later this month, got out of hand early and finished with a 12-2 drubbing at the hands of the Twins in Lee County, near Fort Myers. J.A. Happ struggled badly, retiring one of only seven hitters he faced. He allowed four runs on two hits, walking four in a third of an inning of work. The game was the first played under MLBs new replay rules. In the sixth inning, manager John Gibbons challenged a close play at first base in which the Twins Chris Rahl was ruled safe when shortstop Munenori Kawasakis high throw brought first baseman Jared Goedert off the bag. After a review lasting more than two and a half minutes, the umpires upheld the call on the field. DELABARS BEARD While it isnt yet long enough or messy enough to be mistaken for the facial hair you see on Duck Dynasty, Steve Delabar is committed to the beard hes wearing in camp. Where this odyssey will take him, he doesnt know. "No plan," said Delabar. "Its not a bother to me. It doesnt itch. It doesnt get in my way. I get good comments from it." He wouldnt be the first late-game reliever to create a specific look but Delabar, typically low-key and easy going, isnt trying to strike fear in opposing hitters. This was a concoction for the hunting season. "Its not an intimidation thing at all," said Delabar. "I started growing it in the offseason, Ive trimmed it a couple of times and Im just letting it go." There will be no dying his facial hair, like Brian Wilson of the Dodgers. Itll have its natural tinges of red, white and brown. "Its going to become what it becomes on its own and Im going to let it do what it does," said Delabar. What about his wife, Jamie? Is she agreeable to all of this? "My wife tells me Ive got stuff hanging off of it all the time but its not intentional. "She puts up with it," Delabar continued. "Its not like, Ooh, I like the beard, its not like that. Shed rather me trim it and have it groomed nicely and keep it clean but that aint me." Rex Chapman Jersey . Costa injured his right thigh muscle against Barcelona last Saturday and had sought treatment in Belgrade from a doctor specializing in using fluid derived from horse placenta to repair damaged cells. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Jersey . -- Jonas Hiller is cautiously confident he has kicked his vertigo. https://www.cheaphornets.com/545l-tony-parker-jersey-hornets.html . - All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked spry enough in pregame warmups Sunday for Green Bays divisional playoff game against Dallas.INDIANAPOLIS -- Atlantas Mike Scott hit Indiana with the first 3-point barrage Monday night. The Hawks defence staggered the Pacers with some late stops. Now Atlanta is heading home with a chance to deliver the knockout punch to the Eastern Conferences top seed. Scott scored all 17 of his points during the Hawks incredible second-quarter run, and the defence fended off the Pacers frantic fourth-quarter charge to hold on for a 107-97 victory and a stunning 3-2 lead in the first-round series. "We can play with this team," Scott said. "Theyre a great team, especially at home, great players, great coach, but we have a belief in ourselves as well." Why not? All the Hawks have to do is protect their home court and they will reach the second round for the first time since 2011, and throw the East into disarray after the talk all season was about an Indiana-Miami rematch in the conference finals. That looks like a long shot now. The Pacers havent won consecutive games with their regular starters in the lineup since mid-March and the leagues best regular-season home team (35-6) has inexplicably given away home court advantage to the Hawks -- twice. Theyre making it look easy, too. Atlanta shredded one of the leagues top defences during a remarkable second quarter, making 13 of 16 shots overall and 9 of 11 from beyond the arc. Scott made all five of his 3s during the decisive 30-6 run, which actually started with the final basket of the first quarter, to turn a 21-18 deficit into a 48-27 lead. Indiana never recovered. Atlanta outscored the Pacers 41-19 during that 12-minute stretch, matching the second-highest second-quarter scoring total in the franchises post-season history. The Hawks scored 41 against Detroit on March 17, 1986, and the St. Louis Hawks had 45 against Fort Wayne on March 14, 1957. Indiana, meanwhile, allowed a second-quarter franchise record, breaking the previous mark of 39 points set by Boston on April 23, 2005. The Hawks joined the 1970 Milwaukee Bucks as the only road teams in the shot-clock era to score at least 40 points in a quarter and give up fewer than 19. Not enough? Atlanta tied an NBA record with 9 3-pointers, most recently done in 2008, and also broke the franchise playoff record for 3s in a game with 15. The previous mark was 12. "I didnt even know," Kyle Korver said after making two 3s in the second quarter and another late in the game to keeep the Hawks in control. Gerald Wallace Jersey. . "Mike got hot. I dont know how many 3s he hit in that quarter. Mike hadnt shot the ball as well as he did tonight, but he hasnt shot that well all series." Shelvin Mack led the Hawks with 20 points, while Paul Millsap had 18. The Pacers, meanwhile, endured yet another bleak chapter in a second-half collapse that could go down as the worst in NBA history -- if they lose either of the next two games. And it was downright dismal. Roy Hibbert finished without a point or a rebound for the first time in his playoff career. Indiana was outrebounded for the first time in the series and its rebuilt bench was outscored 45-23. Paul George led the Pacers with 26 points and 12 rebounds. George Hill, Lance Stephenson and David West all had 16 points, not quite enough to rally on a night they were again serenaded with boos in the first half. "It was frustrating because we didnt make a change," George said of the Pacers defence. "We let them run the same action, the same shot. We didnt do nothing. So that was frustrating." The game changed in a hurry. Atlanta opened the second quarter with a free throw from Mack to tie the score at 21. Scott then made four consecutive 3s to push the lead to 33-21. Mack followed that with a midrange jumper, Korver made a 3, Scott scored on a putback and Korver hit his second 3. Mack followed that with two free throws and Scott closed the run with his last 3 of the game to make it 48-27. The Pacers still trailed 61-40 at halftime and by as many as 30 points in the third quarter before the frantic comeback. Indiana cut the deficit to 85-67 late in the third and with the crowd urging them on, the Pacers made it 96-87 on C.J. Watsons layup with 4:04 to go. But Korver answered with a 3 and the Hawks closed it out at the free throw line. "We dont do much for moral victories, we just dropped the ball," West said. "Everybodys got to be ready to play and I didnt think we responded well enough." Notes: The Pacers had a moment of silence to honour former coach Jack Ramsay, who died Monday at age 89. Ramsay led the Pacers to the first NBA playoff win in franchise history. ... Atlanta has three wins at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and is the only team to beat Indiana on its home court more than once this season. ... The Pacers are 0-10 in series when trailing 3-2. ' ' '