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(Sports Network) - The Toronto Blue Jays will send Kyle Drabek to the hill hoping to turn his fortunes around against Nick Blackburn and the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of their four game series. Drabek opened the season with two straight wins followed by a no-decision, but has lost three straight outings since. The first two setbacks of that career high-tying losing streak were quality starts, but the righty endured a tough outing on Saturday at the Angels. Drabek was touched for a season-high five runs on eight hits, five walks and two homers over five frames of a 6-2 setback as he struggled with control. "Just couldnt seem to find the four-seam fastball, and thats what beat me today," said Drabek on Torontos official website. "It just needs to be fixed. ... Thats pretty much the end of that." The former 2006 first-round pick has faced the Twins just once before, beating them on April 2 of last year with seven innings of one-run ball. Drabek also struck out seven in that outing. Toronto continued its recent road dominance of the Twins in Thursdays opener, picking up their fifth straight win at Minnesota with a 6-2 triumph. The Blue Jays have won 13 of their past 15 as the guest in this series. Yunel Escobar set the table by going 4-for-4 and scoring three runs, while Brett Lawrie and Edwin Encarnacion drove in two runs each. Henderson Alvarez allowed two runs -- one earned -- over seven innings for the win, Torontos second in a row and sixth in nine games. "I felt good out there tonight and the bullpen really backed me up," said Alvarez. "Those guys have been really solid for us lately and that is always big." Josh Willingham hit a solo home run in the loss for the Twins, who have dropped five of six and are just 8-23 on the season. They have lost 14 of their past 17. "I thought we played aggressive out there tonight," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire. "We just couldnt get hits when we needed them the most." Jason Marquis gave up six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in just four innings of work to take the loss. The age of 30 has not been kind to Twins starter Nick Blackburn, who hasnt tasted a victory in over 10 months. The right-handed Blackburn is winless since July 8, dropping each of his past eight decisions. That includes an 0-4 mark and 6.84 earned run average through five starts this season. Blackburn, who turned 30 back in late February, was hit early in Sundays 5-2 loss in Seattle. He opened the game by throwing six straight balls and four of the five runs he allowed came in the first two innings. The Seminole State product lasted six innings total, yielding seven hits and three walks. "I thought he was kind of feeling for the ball, wasnt aggressive until later on in the game, and when he got aggressive, he was pretty effective," Minnesota acting manager Scott Ullger said of Blackburn. Blackburn is 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts versus the Blue Jays, who counter with 24-year-old Kyle Drabek. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The England striker was again preferred up front to Emmanuel Adebayor and justified the faith shown in him by Villas-Boas by opening the scoring in 18th minute and completing a convincing win with a fine solo effort in the 74th. Wholesale NFL Jerseys From China . Scott Cullen takes a look at a crazy game in Philadelphia, Cory Schneider doing the job for Vancouver and Kyle Turris playing hero for Ottawa. http://hipstervancouver.com/ . Chicago made the plays and scored three runs, while Torontos offence and defence both stalled as the White Sox eked out a 3-2 victory on Tuesday.NEW YORK -- That beautiful new Brooklyn arena and those slick black uniforms are getting the Nets plenty of attention. The Boston Celtics sure noticed, and they delivered a reminder Thursday night that the road to the Atlantic Division title doesnt run through Atlantic Avenue just yet. Paul Pierce scored 18 points despite briefly leaving with an ankle injury, and the Celtics spoiled the Nets return to national TV with a 115-85 exhibition victory. "Kevin Garnett came out tonight and (Rajon) Rondo and Pierce with that look on their face like even though its a preseason game, we want to send a message," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "No matter what documentaries or books that are being written about us this year, everybodys not excited. Everybodys not impressed, so were going to have to really play and we cant have the type of effort we had early in the game." Courtney Lee also had 18 for the Celtics in a rematch of the Nets 97-96 victory in Boston two nights earlier. The Nets rallied to pull that one out even while resting their starters, but they fell too far behind in this one for a comeback. Jason Terry made all five of his 3-point attempts for 15 points and Pierce was 4 for 4 behind the arc as the Celtics shot 56.5 per cent overall from the field and 11 of 19 (58 per cent) on 3-pointers. Garnett said the Celtics inspired play was because of their dismal effort in a 107-75 loss to Philadelphia on Monday, not because they were trying to put the new kids on the block, as Johnson called the Nets, back in line. "When we touch the floor man, its all business," he said. "It has nothing to do with Brooklyn. We felt like Philly, that was embarrassing. We dont play basketball like that. That was embarrassing to us. We have a culture here that we adopt. "When you put this jersey on, it comes with responsibility. Whether its preseason, were (messing) around, chilling, 1-on-1, 21, whatever it is, it comes with responsibility. We dont take that lightly around here. We felt like in Philly we took a step back." Brook Lopez scored 14 points for the Nets, who lost for the first time in four preseason games. All-Star guards Deron Williams and Joe Johnson shot a combined 6 of 22 from the field. The game was televised by TNT, the Nets first national TV appearance since a March 30, 2011, game at the Knicks. But while the Nets $1 billion new arena and upgraded roster are earning them plenty of recognition, their game doesnt look quite ready for prime time, yet. Still, they earned praise beforee the game from Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who said the Nets rebirth in Brooklyn was "terrific.dddddddddddd" "Ive been in the league a long time. Never seen a team rebrand themselves in six months," he said. "Its like this is a whole -- it is a new franchise. But it feels that way, it feels like this is different, like they just plucked this team out of the space and all of a sudden theyve got a hell of a team in our division that wears black uniforms." But Rivers team has ruled the Atlantic for five years, and Pierce and the Celtics seemed to issue a warning they plan to keep it that way. "This is a big stage and people are coming in here trying to prove a point," Nets forward Kris Humphries said. "Theres been a lot of hype with what kind of team were supposed to be and everyone wants to come in and establish themselves, so weve got to keep working. Its not about what were supposed to be, its about what we become and what we work for." Rondo had 14 points and nine assists, and Garnett finished with 14 points for the Celtics, who had been 0-3 against NBA teams. Their only preseason victory before Thursday was during their two-game European trip. "Its still preseason," Pierce said. "We just want to get to the point where were looking a lot better, where we are executing our stuff offensively and defensively. Thats the most important thing right now. We do want to win games, but the most important thing is how we are playing right now." The Celtics forced three turnovers and hit their first four shots while racing to a 9-0 start. Boston led 27-15 after one and extended the lead to 19 on a couple of occasions in the second before taking a 59-44 lead into the locker room. The Celtics shot 56.5 per cent in the first half. The only negative for the Celtics in the first half was when Pierce hurt his left ankle after making a 3-pointer in front of his own bench. He went to the back to get the ankle re-taped and returned to start the second half, even shaking off another fall when Johnson pushed him out of bounds on a fast break for a flagrant foul. Brooklyn trailed by 14 early in the third before Boston ran off eight straight, opening a 73-51 bulge on Garnetts jumper with 6:29 left in the period. The Nets got back within 14 after three before the Celtics blew it open again. Celtics forward Brandon Bass sat out the second half with a sore right ankle. Reserve guard Leandro Barbosa, who signed with the Celtics on Thursday, was not available due to pending visa paperwork. ' ' '