TORONTO - With six weeks remaining before his teams likely return to the playoffs, Dwane Casey is hoping to manufacture some late-season rest for the Raptors two leading scorers. Although DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have shown no sign of wearing down, each logging more playing time than they have previously in their careers, Casey would like to keep them as fresh as possible for the stretch run, something that may be easier said than done. Sitting 9 1/2 games ahead of ninth-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings, Toronto - the Easts third seed - is poised to make its first postseason appearance in six years. With that comes another rarity for the franchise, playing meaningful games in March and April. The challenge for Casey and the Raptors coaching staff will be in managing the rotation, loosening it enough to give the guards a breathier - together or separately - without sacrificing important games. "Thats the hard thing," Casey acknowledged following Wednesdays practice. "Weve got to buy them a few minutes here and there but every possession - not only every game, every quarter [but] every possession - is meaningful." "When you start looking at scoring, we hit a drought the other night against Golden State right before the fourth quarter but we were just trying to buy minutes for those guys off the floor. Its a catch-22." DeRozan is fourth in the league, averaging just over 38 minutes per game, behind only Carmelo Anthony, James Harden and Kevin Durant while Lowry is 14th, logging roughly 36 a night. Amongst NBA duos, only Houstons pair of Harden and Chandler Parsons as well as Golden States Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson play more. In February, DeRozan played over 40 minutes a night, with Lowry nearly hitting 38. Since the early-December trade, Casey has been rolling out a strict nine-man rotation, using primarily Greivis Vasquez and John Salmons to spell Lowry, DeRozan and Terrence Ross. Getting reliable contribution from his reserves and piecing together the right combinations will be essential for the Raptors coach to expand the rotation enough to buy his backcourt duo more downtime on the bench. One player hed like to see more of, who could help in taking the burden off Lowry and DeRozan, is newcomer Nando De Colo. The versatile guard has played just eight minutes since being acquired from the Spurs in a deadline day trade two weeks ago. Although Casey has had trouble pinpointing where exactly De Colo fits in his lineup, he anticipates using the 26-year-old as a secondary ball handler, likely at the two or three position. "Weve got to make sure we have the right combinations on the court, that way we dont sacrifice scoring, but he knows how to play, he has a feel for the game," Casey said of De Colo. "You cant really put your finger on his position or what he is, a two, a three or a point [guard], but hes a basketball player. He just knows how to play." The Raptors got back to work Wednesday after taking a couple days off to satisfy a league mandate. "I thought we had decent focus," Casey said, "the usual first day back to school-type start, but I thought once guys got into it we ramped the intensity a little bit. "There was no resistance as far as the drills were concerned whatsoever, so I could sense they were anxious to get back. As a coach you dont want to lose that rhythm, thats the biggest fear. I didnt sense any of that today." While Jonas Valanciunas used the time off to get away from the game, spending the day ice fishing on Lake Simcoe (he returned home empty handed, without a fish), Terrence Ross took advantage of a rare mid-season opportunity for rest. Ross has been nursing a sprained left ankle, keeping him out of Sundays win over Golden State, but was able to practice in full Wednesday. "It happened at the best time," said Ross, who expects to be in uniform when the Raptors host Sacramento on Friday. "I got a few days off to stay off it and rest. Im feeling back to normal. Ive still got to do treatment on it but right now it feels good." Fake China Jerseys . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots. China Jerseys Cheap . 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All in a nights work for the slugger as the Jays won a sixth-straight game, 3-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals. “I think its got to be the most eventful game Ive ever had in my career,” said Bautista. “Id like to see if anybody could find somebody else to have a game with that combination of plays. Thatd be pretty awesome.” Whats becoming clearer as the days go by is that this is a good Blue Jays team. Mediocre or bad teams dont win nine in a row, drop a couple and then respond with another win streak thats now reached six. Torontos been victorious in 20 of its last 24 games, is at or near the top of the sports key offensive statistical categories and continues to get solid starting pitching and defence. “Were playing great baseball and were enjoying a great couple of months and we need to keep doing that so we can get to the playoffs,” said Bautista. “We just need to stay with the consistency. Same approach, same effort that were putting forward every single night and its a lot of fun when youre winning. Its the first time Ive ever experienced anything like this at this level so Im enjoying it a lot as well.” Marcus Stroman won his second-straight start and improved his big league record to 3-0, hurling six-plus innings of one-run ball. After a shaky start - he allowed the run in the first, and backed by strong defensive plays by Bautista and Brett Lawrie - Stroman settled in and ended up striking out seven Cardinals. His curveball, which confounded the Royals last Saturday, made for more misery for another Missouri-based team. “Its been huge just because I dont feel like I necessarily have to throw a fastball in a fastball count,” said Stroman. “Just being able to mix it up and keep guys off balance has been pretty good this year.” When Stroman was lifted by manager John Gibbons in the seventh, the fans gave him a standing ovation. “Yeah, its pretty special,” said Stroman. “I tried to do my best tough guy impersonation and tried not to smile but it was definitely pretty special walking off. Just to go out there and put my team in a position to win was awesome.” 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROGERS CENTRE Jimmy Key threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Ernie Whitt on Friday night. The two formed the battery for the first ever pitch thrown at SkyDome, a strike to Milwaukees Paul Molitor on June 5, 1989. It was a trip down memory lane in a stadium that so often is unfairly maligned. A technological wonder when it was built, some still see it that way. “Itss a nice piece of architecture,” said Jose Bautista.dddddddddddd “You come in here and you expect it to be kind of old and beat down and look out of place because its so old but it actually looks pretty modern from the outside looking in. I was surprised the first time I saw it. I was expecting something different. I was pleasantly surprised.” Fans old enough to remember that June night in 1989 and the four Blue Jays playoff appearances in the SkyDomes first five years may have a different opinion of the facility than the younger crowd thats yet to experience a winner. Still, fond memories abound, even those of the more recent variety. “Itd have to be probably the day that I hit the 50th home run,” said Bautista of September 24, 2010. “It was a pretty nice crowd in a day game and one of the unique features of the stadium was highlighted that day, you know, open roof on a beautiful day.” Only Cito Gaston has managed more games in Rogers Centre/SkyDome than John Gibbons. “Its an entertaining place,” said Gibbons. “Exciting, fans come here because some crazy things can happen. The ball flies. Youve got some bouncy turf. I really enjoy this place. One thing youre guaranteed, youre always going to have a game because they can close that roof.” NO QUIT When a team has won six in a row, 15 of 17 and 20 of 24 like the Blue Jays have after Fridays action, chances are resiliency is one of its characteristics. The clubs star player sees it. “Its something that I always thought, even from last year, that we never give up,” said Bautista. “We had a lot of tough games last year. We lost a lot of close games and we battled back from some blowouts and came close, not quite enough to come out with a win. I always noted that about this team where we never give up and we always fight.” Amid the wreckage of last years lost season, 32 of Torontos 74 victories were comeback wins. So far this season, the Blue Jays have 13 come-from-behind victories. RASMUS AND SANTOS UPDATES Centrefielder Colby Rasmus is nearing a return to game action as he recovers from a right hamstring injury. “Colbys doing baseball activities down (in Florida),” said Gibbons. “We figure at the beginning of the week hell probably get into a game.” Rasmus has been on the disabled list since May 13. What he originally believed wouldnt require a DL stint has turned into a near-month absence, a reminder of how uncertain muscle injuries can be. Sergio Santos threw a bullpen session before Thursdays game in Detroit. Gibbons wasnt clear on the plan moving forward. Earlier in the week the plan was for Santos to throw sides on Thursday (he did) and on Sunday and if he passed both tests, hed leave for Buffalo and a rehab assignment perhaps as early as Monday. ' ' '