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CLEARWATER, Florida – J.A. Happ got the start in the Blue Jays rain-shortened, Grapefruit League opener against the Phillies but it was Todd Redmond who left an early impression on his manager. "Redmonds like anybody else, hes going to get hit every now and then but all weve ever seen out of him is good pitching and he gets guys out," said John Gibbons. "Hes pretty polished." The 29-year-old pitched two clean innings, the second and third, striking out a batter over 22 pitches. He got the win, for what thats worth on February 26, in a 4-3 game called midway through the seventh. Redmond is among more than a half-dozen pitchers in contention for the last starting rotation spot. While not much can be made of one outing, Redmonds performance resonated following a comment Gibbons made before the game. "Usually what happens, when theres a spot open, the guy that takes it, some of those guys have those springs where theyre good all spring and theres no doubt about it ... a lot of times that guy from day one, man, hes standing out and theres no hiccups." All Redmonds ever wanted is an opportunity. Here it is, less than three months before hell turn 29. Think hes overwhelmed? Redmonds been around too long – eight minor league cities over nine seasons – to get rattled by the best chance hes had to crack an opening day roster. "Im an easy-going guy," said Redmond. "Just give me the ball, Ill go out there and pitch. Same thing as I do every day. I pitch." Redmond made 17 appearances for the Blue Jays last season, 14 of them starts. Hed only made one previous appearance in the majors, a start for the Reds in 2012 that didnt go well. Familiarity breeds a sense of comfort. "I have a little more confidence coming into camp. Of my stuff, not of me, just of my stuff. More trusting of my ability," he said. As a starter last season, Redmond slowly earned Gibbons trust, which allowed Redmond to pitch deeper into games. If hes going to succeed at the major league level, however, Redmond will have to vastly improve his numbers facing hitters for a second and third time through the order. Batters have a .627 on-base plus slugging percentage against Redmond the first time through. Redmonds OPS against spikes to .939 when the lineup turns over and .914 the third time around. He insists durability isnt an issue. "My entire career, if you look at my minor league side of it, I dont think Ive ever thrown under 160 innings a year," said Redmond. "The workload. Thats one thing I take pride in is being able to go out there every fifth day and take the ball." Redmonds almost right. In the seven seasons between 2007 and 2012, he logged at least 160 innings five times and never through less than 145 innings. Having worked a modified heavy ball program this offseason, he would typically stretch with the one-pound or two-pound weighted ball prior to throwing, Redmond says his should feels strong as he makes the push for a job in the rotation. "Hes been a good pitcher in the minor leagues," said Gibbons. "Every year hes pretty steady and he never really had that opportunity until he came here last year. If this is his year he makes it and he goes on to have a good year, hell be a big league player and I dont think there will be any looking back." DRABEK UNHAPPY WITH PERFORMANCE Kyle Drabek was visibly upset with his first spring performance, a line that looked like this: 1.2IP/1ER/1H/3BB/1K. In his only full inning of work, Drabek threw 11 pitches but only four for strikes. A candidate for that final rotation spot, he was most bothered by the lack of command. "Ive had it so good in all the bullpens," said Drabek. "Its just frustrating for me to kind of fall back into being wild a little bit. I know what I can do and thats not me." "Kyles whole thing, get it into the zone and hes fine," said Gibbons. "Hes had a long layoff through the surgery. He pitched some last year but in a lot of ways, hes been out for so long it may be something that he can build back into." The 26-year-old has a history of control problems. Hes averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings over 169 1/3 big league innings. Returning from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery last season, Drabek vastly improved his walk rate, issuing just six bases on balls over 43 innings. BAUTISTA IMPRESSIVE It took Jose Bautista all of three pitches to appear in midseason form. He smacked a 2-0, Roberto Hernandez fastball out of the park, literally. The drive to left field cleared the Phillies bullpen, the walkway behind the bullpen and the fence beyond the walkway. "I dont know, for whatever reason, I feel like Im seeing (the ball) better," said Bautista. "Theres nothing that I could have done different. Im not going to go to play winter ball right now. Its kind of odd because I havent played since August. But Im not complaining." CABRERA LIKELY TO HIT SECOND Its not even March, everyone is healthy, and manager John Gibbons is able to envision putting together a full lineup, something he wasnt able to do all of last season. Jose Reyes will lead off and, as the plan was at this time last year, Melky Cabrera has the inside track to bat behind him. "The only real downfall is he does hit a lot of ground balls but you look at what hes done the last few years, take away last year, and hes been one of the better hitters in baseball," said Gibbons. "We like guys there that can get a lot of hits. Hes a switch-hitter, he can manipulate the bat a little bit, he knows how to do those things. Ideally, if hes the player we expect him to be, than hed be a good guy for that spot." One thing Cabrera doesnt do often is walk, an ideal trait of a two-hole hitter and something that would get him on base more often ahead of sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. After walking 56 times in 2006, his first full year in the big leagues, Cabrera hasnt had more than 43 bases on balls in a season. A HEALTHY PERSPECTIVE Nobody wants to read about or hear about injury as an excuse for the Jays disappointing 2013 year. But a little perspective never hurt anyone, either. Last season, manager John Gibbons had these six players – Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie – in the lineup at the same time on only eight occasions all year. It happened over an 11-day period, starting on July 21 and ending on August 1. Red Schoendienst Cardinals Jersey . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip. Dexter Fowler Jersey . Jonathan Crompton led the team to a 40-9 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Crompton threw three touchdown passes - two to Duron Carter and one to Brandon London - and Sean Whyte connected on four field goals to power the Alouettes to the win. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/car...artinez-jersey/. And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. Chris Carpenter Jersey . -- New York Yankees centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was sent for an MRI Thursday of his ailing right calf, which was negative. Marcell Ozuna Jersey .com) - The Kansas City Chiefs activated linebacker Joe Mays from short-term injured reserve on Saturday. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Brandon Carr and the Dallas Cowboys are serious about forcing turnovers. They needed six to put away Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Carr returned an interception 49 yards for the clinching touchdown, and the Cowboys overcame a big night from Manning to beat him for the first time at their fancy $1.2 billion stadium in a 36-31 victory Sunday night. Tony Romo shook off hits to the ribs that knocked him out for the final Dallas play of the first half and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jason Witten. Manning threw three touchdown passes to Victor Cruz and four overall, and he had New York in position for a comeback victory despite the flurry of mistakes. But with the Giants trailing 30-24, Mannings pass went off the hand of running back DeRel Scott into Carrs arms. The cornerback beat Manning down the sideline with 1:50 left for Dallas second defensive touchdown. Barry Church returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. "Its infectious. Its contagious," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "We challenged them at halftime. We had three, lets get three more." The Cowboys had only 16 turnovers all last year, switched to a four-man front with new defensive co-ordinator Monte Kiffin and swore all preseason that taking the ball away was the foremost thing on their minds. They proved it from the first snap of the season. DeMarcus Ware intercepted Mannings first pass, and the Giants turned it over on their first three possessions. The Cowboys didnt take advantage of the early gifts, but built a big enough lead to hold off a New York comeback once the Giants finally stopped turning it over. It matched the most turnovers for the Giants since 1987, when they had seven against New Orleans. And it was the most Dallas has forced since 2003. "Just tells you our system is so much built on attitude," said defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who was defensive co-ordinator for Chicago last year when the Bears led the NFL with 44 turnovers. "We had a lot of guys play tonight who jumped in and helped us. Its just team defence." Church scored on the fourth New York turnover -- the second fumble from new starting running back David Wilson, who lost control of the ball on a strip by Nick Hayden just before hitting the ground. Church scooped up the ball and ran it in. The Cowboys went up 27-10 in the third quarter after the fifth miscue -- a punt that bounced and hit Trumaine McBride while he was trying to block for the return. Rookie Devonte Holloman won a scramble for the loose ball, and Romo threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Witten. "I just think its pretty exciting to see what our team defensively has been able to do here, in training camp, preseason and into the season," Romo said.dddddddddddd When the mistakes stopped, the Giants made it a game again. New York went 80 yards, capped by Cruzs second score on an 18-yard pass, and Cruz scored again from the 10 to pull the Giants to 30-24 midway through the fourth quarter. New York got the ball back, but the Cowboys forced a quick punt. After Dallas again failed to move the ball, Carr came through with the clinching interception. "Youre not going to win the game turning the ball over five times and muffing a punt," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "Im totally, totally disappointed, embarrassed about that football. Thats sloppy, sloppy football." The Giants scored with 11 seconds left on Mannings fourth touchdown, a 4-yarder to Brandon Myers. But Dallas recovered an onside kick. Manning was 27 of 42 for 450 yards and had three 100-yard receivers in Cruz (five catches, 118 yards), Hakeem Nicks (five for 114) and Rueben Randle (five for 101) Romo was 36 of 49 for 263 yards, and Miles Austin had 10 catches for 72 yards. Witten, who had only three touchdowns last year, had eight grabs for 70 and became the third tight end in NFL history with 9,000 yards receiving. DeMarco Murray had 86 yards rushing for Dallas. Romo threw a 15-yard TD pass to Witten before halftime, and Dan Bailey also had two field goals (30 and 38 yards) by then for a 13-10 lead. In the final minute of the first half, Romo was hit in the ribs and had the wind knocked out after being crushed between Mathias Kiwanuka and Justin Trattou after throwing an incompletion. Kyle Orton came on to finish the half, but Romo was back after halftime. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Romo didnt receive any treatment, and that the medical staff cleared him to play. "One tough player, one tough man," Jones said. "He will go out and play in pain and play hurt." After Mannings second interception, this one by new Cowboys safety Will Allen, Dallas had third-and-11 at the Giants 14. Romo threw a pass toward rookie Terrance Williams that instead deflected off the Giants Prince Amukamara into the arms of New York teammate Ryan Mundy, who raced 91 yards. He was caught from behind by Murray at the 1. NOTES: The crowd of 85,348 was significantly smaller than the NFL regular-season record crowd of 105,121 that watched the first Giants game at the stadium in its 2009 debut. ... Giants CB Prince Amukamara was knocked out of the game with a concussion after a helmet-on-helmet collision with S Ryan Mundy, who was cleared to return. ' ' '