WANTED & UNWANTED » Salem in the Red Sox organization.

It takes the NFL schedule makers months to organize the 256 games into a working calendar. Four guys sit in a locked room (literally Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , Roger Goodell is the only other person allowed inside), sifting through thousands of possible schedule options that are spit out by a collection of up to 225 computers connected across the globe. They need that much power to compute the hundreds of trillions of schedule options that are possible.Games are now played four days out of the week, with multiple time slots to fill each day, and countless other variables including bye weeks, strength of schedule, trips to London, primetime planning, etc. to be factored in. This can make the schedule makers' job tedious - trying to piece together the best season possible.They don't want a team coming off a trip to London to have to play an away game the following week on a Thursday against the Patriots. They also don't want a team to be privy to four straight home games with a bye in the middle and against all non-playoff teams from a year ago.The schedule makers said that there is always a perfect schedule, but it would take many more months to find it even with the amount of computing power they have Kaleb McGary Jersey , so they are content with their selection.Realistically, the fans don't care about how the league capitalizes on their broadcasting times to entice advertising dollars. All they care about is what's happening on the field and perhaps what's happening in the fantasy realm.Without those big advertising dollars floating around for the taking, the league probably wouldn't try as hard to build the perfect schedule, but they do and fans are just one of the beneficiaries.The league is filled with parity these days, Any Given Sunday... but let's take a look at the best matchups slated for this season.
TORONTO — The Detroit Tigers will start a former Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Saturday afternoon for the second game in a row in another attempt to end a losing streak that has reached 10 games.

Former Blue Jays left-hander Francisco Liriano could not do the job Friday night — allowing three runs in six innings — as the Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 3-2 in the opener of a four-game series at the Rogers Centre.

This time, the former Blue Jay is Matt Boyd (4-6, 4.15 ERA), who will face Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.98) in the second game of the series.

The Tigers (36-47) Kendall Sheffield Jersey , who are 13-26 on the road, have lost 10 games in a row for the first time since Sept. 13-22, 2003, the season in which they lost 119 games.

“We had some opportunities, but it’s the same story,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You pitch really good and you don’t score, or you don’t pitch good enough and it just extends on. The guys are really trying, they’re bothered out there and they’re frustrated. They want to win, the guys are really pushing hard in the dugout John Cominsky Jersey , but it’s just not happening right now.”

The Tigers have lost 11 of their past 13 games in Toronto.

The Blue Jays (38-43), who were returning from a 3-4 road trip that easily could have been better, have won nine of their past 10 home games. They are 21-20 at home.

Boyd took the loss Sunday at Cleveland when he allowed six runs, eight hits and two walks while striking out five in three innings.

The start Saturday will be his 16th of the season.

In four career starts against the Blue Jays, Boyd is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He did not factor in the decision June 2 against Toronto at Comerica Park when he gave up four runs, six hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out three.

Boyd, who was sent to the Tigers July 30, 2015, as part of the trade that sent David Price to the Blue Jays Qadree Ollison Jersey , is 0-3 with an 8.66 ERA in four career starts at the Rogers Centre.

Gaviglio will be making his 10th appearance and eighth start of the season.

In his past three starts, he is 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA and has pitched only 12 innings.

He has faced the Tigers once in his career, allowing two runs in five innings in a no decision.

The Tigers have been outscored 64-26 during their losing streak.

Before the game Friday, the Blue Jays selected the contract of utility player Darnell Sweeney from Triple-A Buffalo. He was batting .232 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 47 games. He has played all infield positions except first base, both corner outfield positions and also pitched a scoreless inning.

Sweeney takes the roster spot of outfielder Steve Pearce, who was traded Thursday night to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Santiago Espinal, who will play at Class A Dunedin.

Moving Pearce means that Kendrys Morales will again see regular use as the designated hitter and breaks up a logjam in the outfield. The Blue Jays return to four outfielders with Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk, Kevin Pillar and Curtis Granderson.

Espinal Ed Oliver Jersey , 23, batted .313 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 65 games with Class A Salem in the Red Sox organization.

“Middle-of-the-diamond players, you can’t have enough of them,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Friday. “The athleticism, that’s where it all begins. If you can play in the middle, you can often play anywhere else, so that’s first and foremost. (Espinal) is an above-average runner and performing well at a decent level, so there’s plenty to like.”