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ST. PETERSBURG Garrett Bradbury 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 http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-irv-smith-jr.-jersey , 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, 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 Alexander Mattison Jersey , 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, 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 http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dru-samia-jersey , 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.

In John Ross‘s first two NFL seasons, he looked like a major bust. Selected by the Bengals with the ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ross didn’t catch a single pass in his first season and managed just 21 catches for 210 yards in his second.This year is much different.Ross is leading the NFL with 270 receiving yards and a stunning 24.5 yards per catch, finally using the blazing speed that saw him break the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton sees a major difference from Ross in his first year playing for new coach Zac Taylor.“He’s got a great understanding of this offense, and he’s probably doing some different things than he was doing in years past,” Dalton said. “His attention to all the details has been on point Daniel Jones Jersey , and he’s playing with confidence. He knows he’s going to make these plays, and I think it’s a belief in himself and that’s shown in the way he’s played so far.”Dalton said he thinks Ross is feeling more comfortable both physically and mentally this season.“Yeah, and I think he feels good right now physically,” Dalton said. “We had to get him back ready to go. He knows the big play potential you can have in this offense, and he’s proved that through the first two weeks.”After never having more than 52 yards in a game in his first two seasons, Ross has 112 and 158 yards in two games this year. This year he looks like a completely different player.