11-16-2019, 12:42 AM
TORONTO - J. Paul George Shoes Discount .A. Happ faced pressure before he even stepped on to the mound Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. A night after the Blue Jays got blown out of the dome by the Red Sox, they needed a strong performance from the next starter. Happ gave them that with six shutout innings and Toronto hitters woke up to rebound and beat Boston 7-3. "Everybody knows, especially after last night, that demolition, we knew we got to come through today," catcher Dioner Navarro said. "We were expecting J.A. Happ to give us a shot and he did a great job and the offence came through." Happ (8-5) dominated in what manager John Gibbons called the leftys best start of the season. He allowed five hits and struck out four while throwing 68 of his 103 pitches for strikes. But what Happ did particularly well Tuesday night was work out of trouble. He got an inning-ending double play in the third, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, stranded a runner at third in the fifth and was masterful in getting a double play and then a final strikeout in the sixth. "I was trying to just take a breath and make a pitch," said Happ, who never looked fazed when runners were in scoring position. "Its a confidence-builder, gives you more confidence as you keep going out there and try to execute pitches." Given the jams he got himself into, Happ was far from flawless. He also got some help defensively, like when third baseman Munenori Kawasaki sprinted into foul territory to make an over-the-shoulder catch to end the second. But unlike Mondays starter, Drew Hutchison, Happ didnt make any mistakes that proved costly. Locating his curveball so effectively played a major role. "He established it, he used it quite a bit," Gibbons said. "He had a good curveball tonight that he was throwing over the plate and a good change-up. That was big." Happ operated with a razor-thin margin for error most of the night. Outfielder Anthony Gose manufactured the Blue Jays first run in the third by drawing a walk, stealing second and scoring when Melky Cabreras line drive hit Jake Peavy and the pitchers throw to first got away from Mike Napoli. That gave the Blue Jays a one-run lead, but the offence didnt explode until the sixth. That inning proved to be Peavys undoing. Jose Reyes led off with a solo shot, and then Navarro drove in two more runs with his seventh home run of the season. "Thats awesome," Happ said of the Blue Jays sixth-inning showing. "What were trying to do is let these guys get in the dugout and try to continue to go to work against a tough pitcher in Peavy, and we eventually got to him." Peavy finished with five earned runs on eight hits against him to drop to 1-9 this season. "Ive got to be better," he said. "Thats all there is to it." David Ortiz hit his 23rd home run of the season off Blue Jays reliever Dustin McGowan in the eighth to break up the shutout. But the offensive muscle the Red Sox flexed Monday night in a 14-1 stomping never quite materialized. "Theres no bank that we can take runs and put them in and take a loan out the next day, unfortunately," manager John Farrell said. "It would have been nice to be able to do that today." But that didnt stop Boston from making things interesting. And after some small ball by the Blue Jays (52-49) got it to 7-1, closer Casey Janssen ran into some problems in the ninth. Janssen, who had previously been bothered by a stomach illness, gave up a two-run home run to Stephen Drew and had two runners on and two outs when Gibbons went to lefty Brett Cecil to face Oritz. "I made some bad pitches and they hit them and made some good pitches and was able to get a little bit of success," said Janssen, who brushed off concerns about his health. Cecil needed only two pitches to get Ortiz to ground out and pick up his fourth save of the season and help the Blue Jays put Mondays blowout loss behind them. With two games left against the Red Sox (47-53) and the Blue Jays still within striking distance of the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles, Happ was glad he was able to help Toronto get back on track. "I think the good thing is, whatever you want to say about last night is it counts as one and tonight counts as one, so were even," he said. "As bad as it may have seemed, we kind of came back, and as far as wins and losses they count the same." Notes: Called up earlier in the day, second baseman Ryan Goins drove in the Blue Jays sixth run with a single in the eighth. Along with Goins, Toronto purchased the contracts of top pitching prospect Aaron Sanchez and reliever Esmil Rogers and designated lefty long man Brad Mills for assignment and optioned catcher Erik Kratz and outfielder Darin Mastroianni. ... Milos Raonic served up the ceremonial first pitch, using a racket to hit a tennis ball to Mark Buehrle behind the plate. Knowing how hard the tennis star can hit it, Buehrle put on a catchers mask before getting in the way of Raonics over-handed volley. ... The paid attendance was 29,269. Kobe Bryant Shoes Sell . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Clearance Air Max 270 . Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to stay unbeaten in road games since last July, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/ .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves hired former Washington Wizards executive Milt Newton as general manager Friday, with new president of basketball operations Flip Saunders tabbing a familiar face to help him reshape the franchises front office. Newton spent the previous 10 years with the Wizards, most recently serving as vice-president of player personnel. He worked closely with Saunders when Saunders was the head coach for the Wizards, and quickly became a prime candidate to make the move to Minnesota when Saunders took over this summer for the fired David Kahn. "I have followed Milt closely during his career and have always been impressed with his basketball knowledge, work ethic and professionalism," Saunders said in a statement issued by the team. "His front-office experience in the NBA, as well as his ability to combine analytics evaluation with his basketball playing and scouting background will greatly benefit our organization." Saunders will continue to have final say on all organizational issues with the Wolves. But Newton will help with scouting, salary cap management, trade talks and other personnel issues. Rob Babcock also is expected to receive a greater role in scouting and personnell decisions as Saunders works to install some infrastructure in the basketball operations department. Wholesale Vapormax Plus. Kahn spent the last two years of his four-year stay in Minnesota without an official general manager. The lack of a defined structure beneath Kahn in the front office led to confusion and inefficiency at times, and Saunders said when he was hired that establishing a more organized staff was one of his priorities. Newton got in on the ground floor while the NBA Development League was established, something that appealed to Saunders, who takes great pride in his time as a coach and executive in the old CBA. Newton, whose wife went to high school in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka, also has worked for the Philadelphia 76ers and USA Basketball. "Milt possesses an extraordinary skill set that is a great fit for the Timberwolves organization," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement issued by the Wolves. "His exceptional work ethic and basketball acumen played a large role in the launch and success of the NBA Development League. I am extremely pleased for Milt and the Timberwolves who will no doubt benefit from the tremendous experience he brings to their front office." ' ' '