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Harrison, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Red Bull New York will aim to strengthen its odds of playoff soccer on Saturday when the club welcomes the Houston Dynamo to Red Bull Arena. New York enters the weekend on 41 points, just one point above the postseason divide. The club was unable to strengthen its position last time out as it suffered a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy, snapping New Yorks four-match unbeaten run. The Red Bulls were slightly shorthanded in the defeat to the Galaxy as Lloyd Sam and Ambroise Oyongo were sidelined through injury. But RBNY head coach Mike Petke believes that Sam should be fit in time for Saturdays crucial clash with Houston. Lloyd is looking good, and Lloyd is expected, knock on some wood, to be back for this weekend, said Petke in his weekly conference call on Tuesday. His was a minor thing that we didnt feel too comfortable taking a chance with. Oyongos situation is a bit worse, Petke continued. Hes got what looks to be a decent hamstring injury. His (availability) wasnt even a question for last game. ... You never know. Hes young and he could have a heck of a recovery in the next couple days, but Im planning on not having him again. New York is certain to be without Jamison Olave after the Colombian picked up his fifth yellow card in the defeat to L.A. on Sunday, leaving Petke to pick between Matt Miazga, Armando and Damien Perrinelle to partner Ibrahim Sekagya in the center of the clubs defense. New York still boasts a quality attack that features superstar Thierry Henry and leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips has bagged five goals against the Dynamo this term, leaving the visitors with plenty of work to do in order to contain the Englishman. Weve just got to apply a lot of pressure on him, make it difficult for him on the night, thats the best thing we can do - try our best to make sure we dont give him anything too easy, Dynamo defender Kofi Sarkodie told the clubs official website. Were doing better, getting some shutouts, scoring goals so weve just got to keep that going ... I think collectively its just been a good effort from everybody. Last-minute tackles, guys getting in the box - and weve gotten goals early which I think has helped. Houston enters the weekend in fine form, riding a five-game unbeaten run in league play that has seen the club take 11 points from a possible 15. The Dynamo are still alive in the playoff hunt with 36 points from 29 games, but they must pick up three points at Red Bull Arena on Saturday to maintain a realistic shot at locking down a postseason berth. NHL Jerseys From China .J. - Percy Harvin is ready to go, and theres no question in his mind hell be playing Sunday. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. 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Make what you will of a small sample size, the market will surely correct itself, but slugger Jose Bautista acknowledges that change must come soon and he identifies one stat in particular: the teams .157 batting average with runners in scoring position, entering Sundays game. "I think, obviously, you can not necessarily get on base a whole lot and not out-hit the other team but if you get the timely hits when you need them, youre still going to win as long as youre getting good pitching and defence, which we have been getting," Bautista told TSN.ca on Sunday morning. Bautista points the finger at himself. Through a dozen games, hes been up nine times with runners in scoring position. He has one hit, a home run, two RBI, has walked three times and struck out on three occasions. "Ive gotten my fair chances of driving in runs in different situations and I havent been able to come through so Ive got to focus a little bit better, I think, and just figure out a way to execute no matter what the circumstances are," he said. While Bautista is willing to first look at himself, which is admirable, its difficult to point the finger at him. While his batting average was only .200 entering Sunday, his on-base percentage of .451 (attributable to his major league-leading 16 walks) and slugging percentage of .571 (four of his seven hits have been home runs) constitutes significant production in a dry lineup. The problem is Bautistas getting on base and nobodys taking advantage of it. Hes scored only six times so far on plays that arent a result of his home runs. The main culprit is Edwin Encarnacion, who entered Sunday with a .174/.240/.261 slash line, no home runs and he was still looking for his first RBBI.dddddddddddd. The consensus on Encarnacion is that its merely a timing issue. Hes not been a slow starter in either 2012 or 2013, his two breakout years, hitting eight and nine home runs, respectively, in the opening month of those seasons. "I dont know if he feels that way but it certainly seems that way from my perspective where he just hasnt found his rhythm yet," said Bautista of Encarnacion. "That being coupled with the way they pitch to us, being so different and so difficult, its easy to kind of get back into rhythm when you see a 2-0 fastball and you can place your bet on that but he doesnt see that very often." Bautista wonders if, maybe, theres something about the way Encarnacion is being pitched. Encarnacion, with two straight big seasons, now is an established superstar. Its similar to what Bautista went through a couple of years ago. "I saw a huge difference after 2011," said Bautista. "Not so much after 2012 but after 2011 it was just a night and day difference on how people were pitching to me. The amount of breaking balls in hitters counts and Ive seen pitches in hitters counts, first pitches, even in 3-0 counts, I was seeing some stuff that Im like, Im not even swinging and Im getting sliders and changeups." The great hitters learn to be patient. They have to be. "Can you lay off of those borderline and bad pitches consistently?" said Bautista of the question that plagues the games elite hitters. Toronto entered Sundays play with a 3.88 starting staff ERA, on track for a great improvement over 2013, and a .993 team fielding percentage, which tied the club for second in baseball. "Were more concerned about more consistently putting a good effort forward and weve done that with every aspect of the game except for the offence," said Bautista. "Were obviously working to get better at that." ' ' '