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4 for Canada, but the game was not nearly that close. A tougher test comes Saturday when Canada play
Topic Started: Apr 28 2016, 04:12 AM (2 Views)
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BRADENTON, Florida - J. Cheap Adidas Zx Flux .A. Happ was pummeled by the Pirates on Tuesday, leaving general manager Alex Anthopoulos with an unappealing conundrum: its become easier for him to sell to the fan base the idea of having $12.7-million (Ricky Romeros and Happs combined 2014 salaries) of dead or differently-allocated money than it is to sell the fan base on including the left-hander in the opening day starting rotation. Happ faced 20 batters in three-plus innings. Twelve of them got hits, including Pittsburgh starter Wandy Rodriguez, who hit a wind-aided, opposite field, two-run home run to cap a four-run second inning. Rodriguez had never homered in 437 career major league at-bats. Happ allowed seven earned runs, bloating his springtime ERA over four starts to 20.57. The Blue Jays lost, wait for it, 22-5. "It wasnt a good day for anybody, really," said manager John Gibbons. "We got pounded pretty good. They werent missing em. We got hit around pretty good." Meanwhile, back in Dunedin, Dustin McGowan, the sudden favourite for the final available rotation job, threw four innings of scoreless baseball in a Triple-A game. His fastball was clocked in the mid-90s; McGowan hit the 62-pitch mark. "I thought he looked great," Anthopoulos told a pool reporter in Dunedin. "Its just trying to get him stretched out here. Every step is a step in the right direction, but well see how he feels tonight, tomorrow, all that kind of stuff. He got up to 62 today off of 48 the (outing) before. Well take it outing by outing at this point." The logical next step, provided McGowans wonky shoulder feels good on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, is to have the right-hander throw another minor league game in Florida on Sunday. "The big thing is that we dont get ahead of ourselves because we re-evaluate it almost daily to see how he feels," said Anthopoulos. "I always remind him as well, I keep reminding him that at any time any concerns, any tweaks, anything at all, he needs to tell us, and he said, Absolutely. Hes obviously a big part of wanting to do this as well. As I told him when were even exploring this, he needs to want to do this because we would never take chances with his career or with his health. Hes the one who knows how he feels. Hes been through this enough times. He has to communicate with us." Happ has had a puzzling spring. He arrived in Dunedin under the impression he had a spot in the starting rotation locked up. After poor starts on February 26 and March 3, he missed game action due to a bad back. His two appearances since his return, on March 19 and on Tuesday, have gone no better. "Yeah, thats not an issue," said Gibbons, when asked if Happs back was still a concern. Happ has an option remaining, meaning he could be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. However, the fly in the ointment is significant: as a major league veteran with more than five years of service time, Happ has the right to refuse the assignment, at which point the Jays could keep him or release him while paying him full freight. Would Happ be willing to move to the bullpen? "Im not thinking about that," he said. "Ill answer that question if someone else, one of the bosses, decides they need to ask that. Well deal with that then. But thats not something thats on my mind." The Blue Jays still have not officially named Drew Hutchison to their starting rotation although its inconceivable he doesnt make the team. Hutchison has been the clubs best pitcher this spring and Anthopoulos is on the record as saying hes taking the best 25 players north. Assuming Hutchison joins R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle in the rotation, Anthopoulos, Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker have to decide between McGowan, Happ and Todd Redmond for the final spot. The idea of piggybacking McGowan, that is starting him on a strict pitch count and backfilling with Redmond, Esmil Rogers, maybe even Happ, behind him has been bandied about. It likely will be revisited during internal meetings ahead of Sundays deadline to announce the opening day roster. "When we announce the team, everybody will know who it is," said Gibbons. REYES GOING TO MONTREAL? The Blue Jays are encouraged by the MRI results on Jose Reyes left hamstring, which revealed a minor strain. "Hopefully hes in there the next couple of days, maybe at DH," said manager John Gibbons. "Let him run half-speed, three-quarter-speed. It actually made us feel pretty good after we heard the results." When asked on Monday, before he had his MRI, whether he would play through the strain if the regular season already was underway, Reyes didnt answer. It behooves the Jays to be careful, though, especially considering the club plays 91 games (81 at home, 10 in Tampa Bay) of its 162 on artificial turf. "With baseball, too, there can be a lot of dead time too before you actually get a ball," said Gibbons. "That quick movement will sometimes get you. We feel good about it and you hope it doesnt turn into anything down the road either." Still, Gibbons says the plan is to bring Reyes to Montreal, where two games will be played on turf, if hes healthy enough to go. "Im sure everybody wants to see him play up there," said Gibbons. THE SECOND CATCHER R.A. Dickey is scheduled to start the Blue Jays final Grapefruit League home game on Wednesday. By game time, we should have a better idea of who will back up Dioner Navarro. "I would say the guy who catches him (Wednesday) will be the backup catcher," said Gibbons. "Ill leave it at that." Erik Kratz and Josh Thole are vying for the job. Gibbons has repeatedly said that effectively catching Dickey is the jobs number one priority. Thole, to the extent someone can be, is a master at it. Hes also got the most experience. Dickeys pitched 565 innings to Thole over their time together with the Mets and Blue Jays. Kratz, a 2002 Blue Jays draft pick, returned to the organization in an offseason trade with the Phillies. Hes a threat to hit a home run, having gone deep 18 times in 375 at-bats over the last two seasons. Thole posted a .175/.256/.242 line in limited action last season. If he makes the team it appears the club will have trouble generating offence from the eighth and ninth (Ryan Goins) spots in the lineup on the days he plays. Adidas Neo Lite Racer Womens . Rocque and her Edmonton rink stole two points in the eighth end and hit out for the win after South Korea scored a single in the ninth. "Honestly, this is unexplainable," Rocque said. Nike Flyknit Chukka SFB Light Charcoal Black Mens Running Shoes . Federer, who only arrived in Australia on Wednesday after a grueling U.S. Open semifinal loss, began slowly on the grass court at Royal Sydney Golf Club before taking the the second-set tiebreaker and then breaking Hewitt in the first game of the third. http://www.adisuperstarnz.com/adidas-neo-trainers/adidas-lite-racer.html MALMO, Sweden -- Anthony Mantha looked more relieved than jubilant after his three goals helped Canada start the world junior championship with a victory. It may be because there had been doubts the Longueuil, Que., native would make the team -- despite lighting up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season -- because of his questionable defensive play. No one doubted his ability to put the puck in the net, as Mantha demonstrated with a hat trick in Canadas 7-2 win over Germany on Thursday. "Its a great feeling," the lanky, six-foot-four right winger said. "For me, personally, I had to get a big game going and I think thats what I did." It helped that Mantha was on a line with perhaps Canadas most dynamic playmaker in Jonathan Drouin, who assisted on all three of his goals -- two on power plays and one at even strength. But Mantha, the grandson of former NHL forward Andre Pronovost, scores wherever he plays. He had 35 goals in only 32 games with the Val dOr Foreurs before joining Team Canada two weeks ago for the run-up to the world juniors. He has 85 goals in 99 games over the last season and a half. Coach Brent Sutter said what clinched his spot was that ability to put the puck in the net, which there is not a lot of on this squad compared to past world junior teams. Sutter hopes a crash course in 200-foot hockey will make the Detroit Red Wings prospect a more complete player as the tournament goes on. "He can score goals, but there are other aspects of his game he needs to continue to work on," said Sutter. "Things Ive talked to him about one on one. "Its simple. Its being a competitor in all three zones and making sure hes responsible in all three zones. Not just for this tournament, but for him to be a good pro. Especially with the organization hell go to in Detroit. Thats what they expect there. You cant just play the offensive side of the puck." Sutter said Mantha wants to learn and feels he is already "a better player now than when he joined the team 11 days ago. That comes from our conversations. He understands that hes not going to get on the ice if hes only going to be a power-play guy." He got a passing grade in two-way play against the Germans, who were overmatched but took advantage of some early Canadian sloppiness to keep the score close through the first 15 minutes of play. Mantha has a remarkably quick release for a big man, and having the clever Drouin laying passes on his stick could be a vital asset as the tournament moves on and the competition gets tougher. He said his grandfather, who scored 109 goals in 556 NHL games from 1957 to 1968 for Montreal, Boston, Detroit and the Minnesota North Stars, was a key influence in his hockey deveelopment. Mens/Womens NZ Nike Air Huarache Oreo Black/White Sneakers Cheap. He said Pronovost taught him "three key points" to success, but wont reveal them all. "One is work," he offered. But he still went into the teams selection camp two weeks ago in Toronto looking to prove he can do more than score. "For sure I had to make an impression," he said. "Not every player was guaranteed a spot and I had to battle through it. I got great news and now Im trying to carry it on." Drouin has played with Mantha before in an exhibition series and feels that chemistry is developing. "Anthonys a big guy," said the third overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Hes hard to play against in the corners and everything. I try to use my hands and speed and I think we complement each other pretty well." The Canadian team got a rousing welcome from the crowd of 1,831 -- nearly all wearing Hockey Canada jerseys -- at the 5,800-seat Isstadion, but still looked nervous as the game began. The Germans got the opening goal off a faceoff in the Canada zone as Dorian Saeftel put a shot through traffic that fooled goalie Jake Paterson only 1:35 into the game. After Josh Anderson and Mantha gave Canada a lead, Janik Moser tied it for Germany after defenceman Adam Pelech whiffed on a clearing attempt. Then Canada took over as Mantha and Bo Horvat got goals before the intermission, Sam Reinhart and Mantha added goals in the second period and Nic Petan finished a play engineered by 16-year-old Conner McDavid in the third. McDavid had two assists, while his linemate Reinhart also had two points. Their line with Horvat could have had several if not for some fine saves by Shawinigan Cataractes goalie Marvin Cupper. "I think I played pretty well," said McDavid. "I missed a whole bunch of chances that Im pretty embarrassed about, but I thought I played an all right game. "That shift where Bo and Reino set me up for a couple of breakaways and the goalie made a couple of good saves -- I was beating myself up pretty good about it, but they laid off me. They were good about it." The shots were 30-24 for Canada, but the game was not nearly that close. A tougher test comes Saturday when Canada plays its second group stage game against the Czech Republic. Notes: Defenceman Griffin Reinhart sat out the first of three games he will miss due to a suspension incurred at last years world juniors. . . Germany has six players from Canadian junior teams, including Prince Albert star Leon Draisaitl who had a mostly quiet game, and another six who play in the U.S. . . Canada has its second youngest team ever at 18 years 10 months 25 days. Only the 1987 team that was disqualified after a brawl with the Soviets was younger. 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