bouncing back from a quarterfinal loss to Roger Federer last year von lou0930s Blog

LAKELAND, Florida – That Ricky Romeros name was even being mentioned as a possibility for the last remaining spot in the Blue Jays rotation is an indication of the uncertainty surrounding the clubs starting corps less than two weeks before opening day. Zane Gonzalez Womens Jersey . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Whats also clear is that it isnt clear who the best option is to join R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and, presumably, Drew Hutchison in a rotation that last season posted baseballs second-worst starting staff ERA (4.81.) Romero and Stroman were outsiders at best to break camp with the big league club and for different reasons. There had been cautious optimism surrounding Romero, the reclamation project, who had been showing some signs of emerging from his two-year funk. Stroman, meanwhile, is a projected future star and rotation cornerstone who, along with Drew Hutchison and Aaron Sanchez, has the coaching staff salivating. Given the mediocre-to-subpar performances of J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond this spring, theres been some consideration, however small, given to handing Stroman a rotation spot. After all, how much lesser of an option is he than any of the others? Romero, scheduled to go four or five innings on Tuesday depending on pitch count, instead went two-and-two-thirds, allowing three runs on three hits, a home run, five walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches. It could have been worse. Romero picked off two of his walks and another was caught stealing. Only 23 of Romeros 57 pitches were strikes. He acknowledged falling behind in counts and not following through in his delivery but also took a shot at Mother Nature. "It was a weird weather day, too," said Romero. "The balls were a little slick and it just kept coming out of my hand and whatnot, but I tried to battle." The game time temperature was 20-celcius. It was a sunny day. There was a breeze, but nothing out of the ordinary. Romero also admitted to being too amped up. "I was a little excited," he said. "I think just getting a start and whatnot, that was the first start Ive had since the Triple-A season ended last year. It was a little different, just trying to get used to it again." "Not enough strikes," said manager John Gibbons. "Today, all the way around, it was just a bad day in every phase of the game. Let that one go. Ive got nothing to say. Its tough for me to analyze that. You were watching what I was watching. You analyze it." While theres no doubt the Blue Jays would enjoy getting some kind of return on the $15.6-million still owed Romero through the end of next season, his name started coming up as a rotation option only after general manager Alex Anthopoulos failed to sign Ervin Santana, a non-move which seems to become more glaring by the day. Gibbons wouldnt commit to whether Romero would get another start. "This ones over," said Gibbons. "It was a bad day all the way around." Stroman was supposed to follow Romero and pitch four or five innings. He recorded only one out before being pulled in the fifth, giving up seven runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout. "Not enough strikes," said Gibbons. Its pretty simple." Toronto pitchers combined to walk 11 on the afternoon. The Blue Jays need someone to step up, pitch well and take the final rotation spot. Time is running out before the job is awarded to someone by default. Its J.A. Happs turn next. He starts on Wednesday, in Dunedin, against the Phillies. MORROW vs. BUEHRLE IN INTRASQUAD GAME Brandon Morrow, whos being strongly considered to pitch the home opener on April 4 against the Yankees, making him the "fifth" starter, squared off against Mark Buehrle in an intrasquad game in Dunedin on Tuesday. Morrow, who missed the final four months of last season with an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm, has struggled with fastball command this spring. In three-and-two-thirds innings, he allowed two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out two. Morrow threw 63 pitches; his fastball ranged in the low-to-mid 90s. "I was getting ahead, throwing it where I wanted to," said Morrow. "I think I had a couple looking strikeouts on it. All in all, it was a good day. I felt really good with my curveball. Slider and split couldve been better, but I made some good pitches with those too." Buehrle threw four-and-third innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits (including home runs by Erik Kratz and Kenny Wilson) and two walks. He struck out three and threw 81 pitches. JANSSEN THROWS LIVE BATTING PRACTICE Casey Janssen faced live hitters for the first time since late February. He threw live batting practice on Tuesday morning in Dunedin. "Another step in the right direction," said Janssen. "Got the heart pumping a little bit, which was nice. Im sure Fridays going to be more of the same, hopefully a little bit more in the velocity department, just because therell be defenders behind me." Barring the unforeseen, Janssen is scheduled to appear in his first Grapefruit League game on Friday when the Blue Jays visit the Rays in Port Charlotte. On Tuesday, Janssen threw his fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. He didnt throw his cut fastball. Janssen has been kept out of spring games due to soreness in the back of his right shoulder. The pain is unrelated to his offseason shoulder surgery of a year ago and the discomfort it caused last year. DETERMINING LINDS ROLE Adam Lind got the start against Tigers left-hander Drew Smyly on Tuesday as the club works toward determining whether hell be a strict platoon player this season. "I always can hit lefties; I just cant hit the Cy Young lefties," said Lind. "I cant tell you how many people probably hit David Price well or Jon Lester well or CC (Sabathia) well but unfortunately all those guys are in the same division. Its the beauty of playing in this division. You know where youre at as a baseball player." Linds career splits dont lie. Hes hit right-handers at a .286 BA/.850 OPS clip and hits a home run about once in every 20 at-bats. Against left-handers, the number dwindles to .219BA/.603 OPS with a home run in 2.6-percent of his at-bats. Right-handed hitting Moises Sierra, whos out of options, is the top candidate at the moment to take those at-bats against lefties. The Jays are still trying to figure out the plan.  "Hes been swinging it pretty good against some pretty good lefties this spring," said manager John Gibbons. "Well just see where it goes from there. It all stacks up right now, and Sierras that guy, he would face some of the lefties. But, I think, Lindy and (hitting coach Kevin) Seitzer have been working on an approach to face those lefties and lets see where that takes us." Lind succeeded in his goal of staying off the disabled list last season. Hed missed time with a bad back in each of the previous two years. Last offseason, Lind turned to yoga. He enjoyed it and felt that it helped so he took it up a notch this past winter. "I went personal yoga instructor this year," said Lind. "It was nice. She got to know my body and we got a little more specific instead of just having a class with 20 people in it. She would correct me if I was in the wrong positions and things like that. It was nice to have someone to be there just for me." The Blue Jays will employ a yoga instructor to conduct a session on a weekly basis in an effort to curb the number of muscle-related injuries. Lind likes the benefits. "I loved it," he said. "Ill continue to do it even when Im done playing. The way it makes you feel when you walk out of that classroom, you really get away. Theres so much more into it, Im just doing the physical part of it. Im not lost in the yoga world just yet." Howard Wilson Womens Jersey .com) - Baltimore Ravens running back Justin Forsett is active for Sundays matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Myles Garrett Browns Jersey . - IndyCar racing officials expressed confidence on Monday that the NOLA Motorsports Park will be able to complete more $4.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Tomas Berdych picked a good time to end his lengthy losing streak to Rafael Nadal, while Andy Murray continued his run toward another Australian Open final. Tuesdays first mens quarterfinal was never close and the second wasnt much more competitive. Berdych became the first player to stamp his ticket into the semifinals following a shocking 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win over the second-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal at the years first Grand Slam event. Murray, a three-time Aussie Open runner-up, then dispatched 19-year-old Aussie crowd favorite Nick Kyrgios, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The third-seeded Nadal was able to fend off a pair of match points in his final service game of the third set, but was unable to overcome a 2-5 deficit in the tiebreak. With the No. 7 seed Berdych up 6-5, Nadal sent the backhand of Berdychs serve into the net and the Czech officially put his straight-set triumph into the books. Berdych had dropped 17 consecutive matches to last years Aussie Open finalist Nadal, a streak that dated back to 2007. He also reached his second straight Aussie semi. The big-hitting Berdych had been 3-18 lifetime against Nadal, including a loss in the 2010 Wimbledon final. Nadal owns 14 major titles, including a lone Aussie championship in 2009. Hes also a two-time runner-up at Melbourne Park, including last year against Stan Wawrinka. It just was not my day, said Nadal. I didnt play with the right intensity, with the right rhythm, and the opponent played better than me. You have to play well to win against a player like Tomas. I didnt play my best today. He played better than me and thats it. Thats sport. Sometimes, almost every time, it is simple: the player who plays better, the player who is able to maintain the better rhythm, the better concentration, play with less mistakes, is the player who has more success. And today this player has been Tomas. Meanwhile, Murray was in command throughout against Kyrgios and didnt face a break point against hhis serve until the seventh game of the third set. DeShone Kizer Youth Jersey. He advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time in the last six years, bouncing back from a quarterfinal loss to Roger Federer last year. The sixth-seeded Scot broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set and won a tight tiebreak in the second before breaking serve for another 4-2 lead in the third. Kyrgios finally answered with a break, but Murray responded with one of his own for a 5-3 advantage and held serve to finish the match in just over two hours. Im happy. Its nice to be in the latter stages of a slam again, said Murray. Im happy with that. Obviously we want to do the best possible, but all you can do is prepare as best you can, which I certainly did over the past few weeks and months, and have given myself an opportunity. Maybe I wont play well in a couple of days; maybe I play great. I dont know. But Ive given myself a good opportunity again, and hopefully I can use it to my advantage. The two-time Grand Slam champion Murray will meet Berdych in the semis. Mens quarterfinal play will continue Wednesday. The fourth-seeded defending Melbourne champion Wawrinka will face fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and the evening match will feature four-time Aussie winner Novak Djokovic against eighth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic. Obviously, if he serves as well as he does, 20, 30 aces average per match, puts a lot of pressure on the opponents serve, Djokovic said of Raonic. You take a chance, you double fault, the set is gone. These kind of matches are very challenging mentally for us to play against servers like that. Djokovic is a perfect 4-0 versus Raonic, while Wawrinka is 2-1 lifetime against Nishikori, although the Japanese star captured their last meeting in the U.S. Open quarterfinals back in September. The world No. 1 Djokovic is the reigning Wimbledon champion who is seeking an eighth Grand Slam title. He captured three straight Aussie crowns from 2011-13. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '

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