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| Author: | yyys123 [ Mon Dec 23, 2019 2:37 pm ] |
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DUNEDIN, Fla. -- J.A. Happ offered more questions than answers Wednesday in another rocky outing for the Toronto Blue Jays. The six-foot-five left-hander, pencilled in as one of Torontos starters, lasted just 2 2/3 innings in an 11-6 Grapefruit League win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Happ threw 71 pitches, including 34 strikes in an appearance short on control on a day when pitching coach Pete Walker said the goal was "to get him in the strike zone." "Its a big start for him," Walker added. It did not go according to plan, however, on a sunny 21-degree day before 5,255 at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. "Fortunately its not the end of the world here," Happ said. "But theyre going to count soon." On the plus side, Jays slugger Jose Bautista hit a pair of two-run homers -- his fourth and fifth home runs of the spring. And Melky Cabrera, who now has 19 hits in 45 spring at-bats, drove in two runs with two hits. And one day after being thumped 18-4 by the Detroit Tigers, the Jays (8-10) rallied from a 3-0 deficit for the win over the Phillies (5-13). With R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow accounting for three-fifths of the starting rotation, the Jays have spent the spring looking for two more to join them. While Drew Hutchison has been by far the best of the rest, the Jays have so far resisted appointing him part of the rotation. Instead they have ostensibly given one of the remaining starting jobs to Happ, who has yet to provide much reason for earning it, and said the search continues to fill the final hole. Happ carried an ERA of 40.50 into Wednesdays game, having given up six runs on six hits with five walks in 1 1/3 innings over two previous spring appearances. A back problem has delayed his progress in spring training. He looked for positives in Wednesdays outing, saying the back felt fine and there were some possible minor technical fixes available. "I dont feel like Im far (from where I should be)," he told reporters. "You guys are going to take that outing for what it was and it doesnt look pretty. But pitch-wise, Im up to 70. Next time, it will be 85-90. If I still feel strong, that will be a good thing. So Im close." There seemed to be some mixed messages on Happs role before manager John Gibbons declared him part of the probable rotation. Happ dodged a question on whether he felt he had to prove something to make the rotation or whether his pedigree had already earned it. "Thats really not up for me to really answer that because that changes to whoever the bosses are," he said. "So it doesnt really matter what I think for that. "I expect to go out and be better, I know that. And hopefully these next two (outings) will be." The Jays starting pitching plans are certainly not set in stone. "We have an idea of what were going to do, but things could change," Walker said prior to Wednesdays game. Happ went 5-7 with a 4.56 ERA in 18 starts for Toronto last year in a season derailed by injury. He suffered a skull fracture and sprained right knee when he fell to the ground after getting hit with a liner by Desmond Jennings on May 7. He returned to action Aug. 7. Happ did not help his cause Wednesday when he gave up three runs on three hits, walking four and striking out two. He lived dangerously early, putting the leadoff batters on base the first two innings and often going behind in the count. He paid for it in the second, loading the bases on a single and two walks. With two outs, he was 0-2 on Ben Revere but the Phillies leadoff hitter worked the count to 3-2 and then emptied the bases with a double to the left-field fence. Happ got the first two outs in the third but then yielded a walk and a single before giving way to Sergio Santos. Toronto went ahead 4-3 in the third on an RBI double by Jose Reyes, sacrifice fly by Cabrera and two-run homer by Bautista. The Jays sent 10 men to the plate, leaving the bases loaded. The Phillies pulled even with two outs in the fourth when No. 9 hitter Cody Asche hit a solo shot to centre off Santos. Cabrera added an RBI single and Adam Lind a two-run double in the fourth for a 7-4 lead. Bautistas second homer made it 9-4 in the sixth. A Ryan Goins triple increased the lead to 10-4 in the seventh. Philadelphia pulled two back in the seventh against reliever Aaron Loup. The Jays added a run in the eighth on a Dan Johnson RBI single. Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez had his own troubles on the day, before exiting with one out in the fourth. He gave up seven earned runs on 11 hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The 33-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, who was 6-13 with a 4.89 ERA last season for Tampa Bay, cruised through the first two innings and then crumbled in the third and fourth. Previously known as Fausto Carmona, Hernandez came to the Phillies in December on a US$4.5 million, one-year contract. He made headlines in January 2012 when he was arrested on charges of falsifying his identity that were later dropped. Major League Baseball suspended him for three weeks. NOTES -- Earlier Wednesday, the Jays assigned left-hander Ricky Romero and right-hander Marcus Stroman to their minor-league complex. Both were shelled in an 18-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday ... Toronto entered Wednesdays games with 74 walks in spring training, worst among American League teams. .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. . -- Dee Ford prefers to keep things simple: Play hard and fast, and let others worry about his NFL draft stock. . The 30-year-old Moore played in 13 games for the Saints last season, catching 37 balls for 457 yards and two touchdowns. . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. . The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima.CALGARY - Sean Monahan scored his 21st goal and also notched the shootout winner Wednesday night as the red-hot Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 for their fourth straight victory. Tied 1-1 after three shooters with Marian Gaborik scoring for L.A. and Jiri Hudler responding for Calgary, Monahan improved his record in shootouts to 5-for-8 on the season, firing a shot past Jonathan Quick for his fourth shootout winner. Karri Ramo then clinched the victory with a stop on Mike Richards. The Flames goaltender made 41 saves in regulation, and added a huge stop in overtime as Jarret Stoll tried to jam the puck over Ramos outstretched pad but couldnt despite repeated attempts. T.J. Galiardi and Matt Stajan also scored for Calgary (35-38-7), which has won seven of their last 10. Stoll, Anze Kopitar and Jordan King scored for Los Angeles (45-28-7). The playoff-bound Kings, locked into third spot in the Pacific Division, are winless in four of their last five. Trailing 3-0 at one point, the Kings got tied the game 3-3 at 12:18 of the third, taking advantage of a turnover in the Flames end by Calgarys rookie winger Bryce Van Brabant, playing in his fifth career game. After Van Brabant clearing attempt was intercepted at the Flames blue-line, Jake Muzzins shot was deflected in by King, who was screening Ramo. It was the 15th goal of the season for King and his third in his last four games. The left-winger had missed the previous four games with an undisclosed injury. On the heels of eight consecutive road wins, Los Angeles has just one point to show for the first three games of a four-game road trip, which wraps up Thursday in Edmonton. Calgary opened the scoring when Galiardi scored the lone goal of the first period at 11:58. Galiardi had struggled all season offensively but a rare shift with one of the NHLs hottest players in Mike Cammalleri resulted in his fourth ggoal.dddddddddddd Set-up in the slot by Cammalleri, Galiardi made a nice move before putting a backhand past Quick. Galiardi then turned playmaker, stripping the puck from Justin Williams along the sideboards and setting up Monahan. The Flames rookie put a quick shot past Quick to make it 2-0 four minutes into the second period. Its the first time a Calgary rookie has scored 21 goals in a single season since Jarome Iginla in 1996-97. The Flames took advantage of another Kings turnover to surge in front 3-0 at 15:28 of the second. This time it was Stajan who eventually had a bouncing puck come to him and he scored his 14th of the season. However, the Kings struck back right away with goals 24 seconds apart to get back to within one. After Stolls deflection of Slava Voynovs point shot at 16:09, Kopitar scored his 26th on an individual effort. Picking up the puck in front of the net, Kopitar carried it behind the net, and back out the other side, making a slick move to elude Monahan as he curled into the slot to zip a backhand past Ramo. Starting for the ninth time in the last 10 games since coming back from a knee injury, Ramo did his part in goal for Calgary, improving to 17-13-4 on the year. Ramo had a shutout streak of over 124 minutes before the Kings finally got on the scoreboard. Quick was far less busy facing only 18 shots. His record fell to 27-17-3 with the loss. Notes: There were no penalties to either team in the game. For the Kings, it was the first time that had happened since Feb. 19, 1977. That had never happened for the Flames since the team moved to Calgary. ... Kings defencemen Drew Doughty (shoulder) and Robyn Regehr each missed their second game as they nurse minor ailments. ... Calgary C Matt Stajan (personal) returned after missing three games. ... Flames LW Paul Byron (personal) missed his fourth game. ... The Kings had won six games in a row in Calgary. ' ' ' |
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