ST. PETERSBURG
Authentic B.J. Hill Jersey , Fla. — Tropicana Field has not been kind to J.A. Happ.
Five years ago, Happ took a line drive directly to his head, hitting him behind his left ear and fracturing his skull. He fell to the ground hard enough
that he strained ligaments in his knee, and it would be three months before he
returned to the mound.
Happ will start for Toronto in Thursday’s series finale, and while he’s been back to the Trop nine times since his injury there, he’s won only once, in that
same 2013 season, in just his third game back from injury.
Happ is off to a solid 8-3 start with a 3.71 ERA, and he’s 4-0 in his last five starts, taking a full run off his season ERA along the way. One of his
three losses this season came against the Rays, giving up three runs on four
hits in 5 2/3 innings in a May 4 loss where he walked more batters (four) than
he struck out (three). On Friday against Baltimore, he was especially sharp,
throwing seven innings and allowing only two hits and a single unearned run.
And while he’s struggled at Tropicana Field
Giancarlo Stanton Jersey , his overall career numbers against the Rays are better, with a 3-4 record and 5.05 ERA — he has just one win in 10 appearances
against Tampa Bay over the last four seasons.
Tampa Bay, trying to push through a rash of injuries to its starting pitching, continues to experiment regularly with “openers,” using relievers as
part of bullpen days to start about half their games in recent weeks. Nowhere is
the Rays’ desperation more glaring than with Thursday’s starter, Wilmer Font,
who is already playing for his third team this season.
Font pitched six games with the Dodgers, then four with the Athletics, and he’s now made five appearances with the Rays. He’s 0-3 on the season with a 9.59
ERA, but in his five games with Tampa Bay, he’s fared much better, with a 3.24
ERA and 0-1 record. In those five games, he’s thrown 8 1/3 innings
Authentic Pernell McPhee Jersey , allowing three earned runs on five hits. In his last outing, also a makeshift start, he lasted into the third inning Friday
against Seattle, but gave up two runs on two hits, getting five of his seven
outs via strikeout.
Font has actually faced Toronto already this season while with Oakland — staked with the ninth inning and a 9-0 lead, he gave up a two-run home run to
Yangervis Solarte.
The two American League East rivals went into Wednesday’s game within a half-game of each other in the standings, still well ahead of last-place
Baltimore.
Toronto gets Thursday off before beginning an interleague stretch at home, with three games against the Nationals, then two against the Braves. The Rays,
meanwhile, go on the road for the next week, with four games at the Yankees and
three at the Astros, then returning home with seven of their next nine again
against the Yankees and Astros.
— Takkarist McKinley should be next in the line of the second-year breakout players on the Atlanta Falcons‘ defense.
He knows he needs to be healthy to make that next step and now he’s trying to move past another shoulder injury.
McKinley has had surgeries on both shoulders the last two years — the right following his 2016 season at UCLA and the left following his 2017 rookie season
with the Falcons.
A new problem
Cheap Vita Vea Jersey , a bruised right shoulder, has prevented the second-year defensive end from participating in team drills for most of the
start of training camp. He again was limited to individual drills on Monday.
The Falcons say there’s no structural problem, but McKinley’s status is uncertain for Atlanta’s preseason opener at the New York Jets on Friday
night.
McKinley said Monday he’s never happy “when you’re not out there on the field. When I play football, I’m not trying to be on the sideline, I’m trying to
be out there on the field.”
Coach Dan Quinn said “Takk” could be cleared for full participation on Tuesday, so he hasn’t been ruled out for the game against the Jets.
The Falcons likely will take a cautious approach with McKinley, the 2017 first-round pick whose health is a key to continued improvement by the
defense.
He had six sacks as a rookie backup in 2017. The Falcons hope he can earn a starting job and emerge as another player who makes significant progress in his
second year.
“It will happen with Takk,” Quinn said Monday. “We’ll see that jump from him.”
McKinley said Quinn has talked with him about how the team’s other projected starting defensive end, Vic Beasley Jr., led the NFL with 15 1/2 sacks in 2016,
his second season. Quinn also told McKinley about safety Keanu Neal and
linebackers Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell earning Pro Bowl honors in their
second seasons and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett also breaking out in his
second year.
“But just because they had a good second year don’t guarantee that I’ll have a good second year,” McKinley said. “The sophomore slump is a huge thing.
“Obviously I’m trying to be on the good side, not the slump side. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to prove yourself to be better.”
McKinley actually proved a lot as a rookie. After his six sacks in the regular season
Matt Kemp Jersey , he added two more in the playoffs.
“Looking back I should have had at least 13 sacks if I had finished,” he said, adding he missed opportunities when he would “reach out with your arms
instead of wrapping up.”
Adrian Clayborn led the Falcons with 9 1/2 sacks last season before signing with New England. Clayborn’s departure opens the way for McKinley and Beasley,
now a full-time end after spending time at outside linebacker last season, to be
the starting ends.
Even when he’s not on the practice field, McKinley said he’s preparing for the bigger workload as a starter.
“When I’m not there on 11 on 11, I’m trying to stay in shape and do things inside to get me prepared for the reps I’m going to have this season,” he said.
“That’s probably the biggest thing, just understanding that I’m going to be
playing more.”
NOTES: Former six-time Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson visited practice and posed for a photo with Falcons receivers Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and Calvin
Ridley. … The Falcons have ruled out PK Matt Bryant (undisclosed injury) and OT
Ty Sambrailo (right hand) for the preseason opener. Bryant, 44, was on the field
during part of the practice. Quinn said Bryant “is coming along quickly but he’s
not there yet.”
.
