New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak give them a shot on any sheet of i

ATLANTA -- Fredi Gonzalez gave three struggling stars a chance to relax. Fill-in starters Ramiro Pena, Jordan Schafer and Evan Gattis then showed the slumping regulars that hitting isnt so difficult. Pena drove in four runs with three hits, including a run-scoring single in the sixth that gave Atlanta the lead, Mike Minor pitched seven strong innings and the Braves makeshift lineup had a season-high 16 hits in an 11-3 win over R.A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night. Freddie Freeman and Reed Johnson homered, Gattis had three hits and Schafer had two hits, including a two-run single in the sixth. "We are trying to do our job, you know," Pena said. "We want to play well also. I think we got great ABs and we produced." Pena, Schafer and Gattis made the most of fill-in starts as Gonzalez rested three regulars hitting below .200: outfielders B.J. Upton and Jason Heyward and second baseman Dan Uggla. Gonzalez wouldnt say after the game if he would hold out the regulars again when the Braves open a weekend series against the Washington Nationals on Friday night. "Well see," Gonzalez said. "The guys played well. One thing you always want to do is put your best team out there." Minor (7-2) gave up six hits and three runs -- two earned -- with five strikeouts and no walks in winning his fourth straight decision. Dickey (4-7) allowed 11 hits and six runs in six innings. It was Dickeys fourth start allowing six or more runs this season, leaving his ERA at 5.18 one season after he won the NL Cy Young Award with the Mets. Dickey said he gave up a lot of soft hits. "I might have given up four hard-hit balls all night," Dickey said. "I mean, it was tough. It seemed like every ball off the bat would find a hole somewhere, or a little space in the outfield. "This games tough. Its hard. And you cant quit grinding it out, and you cant quit searching for the answers. I certainly wont. And Ill find it. Ill find it." The Blue Jays scored three runs in the sixth to pull even at 3, but the Braves scored three runs off Dickey in the bottom of the inning. Penas infield single drove in Gattis, who led off with a single. Schafer singled with two outs to drive in Chris Johnson, who reached on a fielders choice grounder, and Pena. Toronto manager John Gibbons said Dickeys velocity on his knuckleball is down. "Hes been battling that, trying to find it," Gibbons said. "He battles you out there. I know thats frustrating him." One day after a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays, the Braves made some lineup changes. Third baseman Juan Francisco, who was sharing time with Chris Johnson, was designated for assignment. Francisco was hitting .241 with five homers, 16 RBIs and 43 strikeouts in 108 at-bats. The Braves have 10 days to trade, release or send Francisco outright to the minors. Schafer, who hit leadoff and started in centre field for Upton, had a first-inning double that bounced over third baseman Mark DeRosa. Schafer scored on Andrelton Simmons single to left. Gattis, starting in left field, led off the second by slapping a single to right field. Gattis scored on a single to left by Pena, who started for Uggla. Heyward, pinch-hitting in the seventh, reached on catchers interference when his bat hit J.P. Arencibias glove. Freeman pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third with his two-out homer off Dickey. The homer came on the night fans received Freeman bobblehead dolls. Toronto pulled even in the sixth. Dickey led off with an infield single and moved to second when Simmons misplayed Jose Bautistas grounder for an error. Edwin Encarnacion drove in Dickey with a single to centre field and DeRosa added a two-run double to right field. Reed Johnson hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Todd Redmond in the eighth, capping the impressive show of depth on the Braves roster. "Its a deep team position-wise," Gonzalez said. "There are some days that the guys sitting on the bench may be better than the guys on the field and vice versa. Youve got to take every opportunity and put guys out there." Gonzalez remains confident in Upton, Uggla and Heyward. "Youve got to believe the back of the baseball cards, and theyre good players," Gonzalez said. "It may not even be the end of June. It may be the middle of June or five days from now. Who knows? But those bench guys are playing well." NOTES: The Braves selected the contract of LHP Alex Wood from Double-A Mississippi. Wood, a 2012 second-round pick from the University of Georgia, pitched the ninth, allowing one hit, in his major league debut. ... Atlanta improved to 22-3 when scoring first. ... The Braves open a series against NL East rival Washington on Friday night when Julio Teheran faces Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. The Blue Jays seven-game road trip continues at San Diego, when Chad Jenkins will face Padres RHP Jason Marquis. Air Max 97 Plus Black Orange . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Air Max 97 Vapormax Gold Bullet . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. http://www.outletairmax97.com/ . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Air Max 97 Shanghai . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Air Max 97 Vapormax For Sale . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. TORONTO -- When the World Cup of Hockey started, Team Europe was not picked as a team to beat.In fact, the unique team made up of eight nations outside of the continents traditional hockey powers was expected to be out of the best-on-best tournament.Team Europe had other plans.The blended group of players opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over the U.S. and then beat the Czech Republic in overtime to seal a spot in the semifinals before losing to Canada.I know nobody really expected us to be here right now, Danish and Detroit Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen said Saturday. But when you look in the room and go over the team, theres not a lot of players better than (Anze) Kopitar in this tournament. We got (Marian) Hossa. We got some good guys on the backend and good goaltending.The Europeans will face Sweden on Sunday for a spot in the best-of-three finals against Canada.When Team Europe players have faced Sweden for their countries -- Switzerland, Denmark, Slovakia, France, Germany, Slovenia, Austria and Norway -- in previous, they didnt have a legitimate chance to win.They do now.A veteran group of skaters and a star in Kopitar along with Slovak and New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak give them a shot on any sheet of ice.Hes the kind of goalie thhat almost every night, he gives you a chance to win, said Nielsen, who played with Halak in New York.dddddddddddd And, hell make that save when you need it.Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger said hell likely save his rah-rah speeches for another team because this one simply doesnt need it.Krueger began to sense something special was in store for Team Europe nearly a year ago when several candidates to be on the team met when Boston and the New York Islanders played. When the entire group gathered nearly three weeks ago in Quebec, Krueger got even more excited about the natural chemistry the team already had from their shared experiences.We didnt have to do a lot of extra team-building, Krueger said. It just happened with a combination of leadership and personalities and character and will -- of pure will -- of these eight nations that are forever underdogs, forever going home when the final four is staged, forever watching other teams play in finals of best of best. That opportunity has fueled the fire that taken us here.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage ' ' '