Basisphilosophie » of high school. Thursday, the point

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Given a day to prepare, prized Houston infield prospect Carlos Correa delivered in a big way. Told that he would start, the 19-year-old Correa hit his first two home runs of spring training and led the Astros over the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 Thursday. Manager Bo Porter told Correa, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft, on Wednesday night that he would be in the lineup. "A lot of time with young players, youll go up to them and tell them that, because you kind of want to see how theyre going to respond," Porter said. "And he responded the way you would want your player to respond." "The way he performed today was pretty impressive," he said. Correa and Jon Singleton connected off Blue Jays starter Esmil Rogers for back-to-back homers in the third inning. Correa connected again in the eighth, hitting a two-run drive to centre field off Neil Wagner. "I was just focused," Correa said. "He told me I was going to start today." "I came out here with the mentality to play hard, play the game the right way and do my best all the time on the field," the shortstop said. Porter said while Correa still has room for improvement, his work ethic has been outstanding. "Hes a focused individual," Porter said. "Hes one of the first ones to the ballpark, hes the last one to leave. His attention to detail is mature for his age, but thats why he plays the game at the speed he plays it -- because hes confident." Astros starter Dallas Keuchel yielded six hits and struck out two in four scoreless innings. The left-hander, who was 6-10 with a 5.15 ERA last season, has not allowed a run in three starts this spring. Anthony Gose finished 2 for 2 with a triple and double, and scored three runs for Toronto. Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, Melky Cabrera and Dan Johnson also doubled for the Blue Jays. STARTING TIME Blue Jays: Rogers, a candidate for the fifth spot in Torontos rotation, allowed four earned runs, walked two and struck out six in three innings. Rogers struggled with command of his changeup, which led to Singletons home run. "The only way I can get better is when I pitch and throw the changeup," he said. "I just have to make my pitches and work a little bit more out of the stretch and try to get my command out of the stretch because Im a little quick when I have runners on base." Astros: Keuchel said throwing against high wind gusts was tough, but he was happy to keep solid command on all of his pitches. "Always got to be a little happy with throwing up some zeros, but that wind was kind of a challenge there in the first inning," he said. "You know, Im warming up in the bullpen and always getting loose and you never know how the wind is going to respond. But I think I had a little bit more movement on my two-seam and my changeup, so that was kind of nice," he said. TRAINERS ROOM Blue Jays: Manager John Gibbons said left-handed starter J.A. Happ (sore back) is scheduled to throw three innings in a minor league game on Friday in Dunedin. Astros: Top pitching prospect Mark Appel could make his first appearance of the spring next week. Appel, the first overall selection by Houston in last years amateur draft, underwent an appendectomy in January. Porter said reliever Jesse Crain (right biceps surgery) is continuing to make progress in the organizations training program and his arm strength is increasing. The right-hander had an 0.74 ERA in 36 2-3 innings with the Chicago White Sox last season. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in July, but did not pitch because of the injury. RIGHT ON Porter said L.J. Hoes is still in the mix for the starting spot in right field despite a hip injury early in camp. George Springer, Marc Krauss and J.D. Martinez also are in contention. Porter said Hoes, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline last season for right-handed starter Bud Norris, played well enough down the stretch to get a look this spring. "Hes got about two weeks to get ready for opening day," Porter said. "L.J. is a guy thats always gotten on base (and) has great minor league numbers. He came here last year and was a great asset to our ballclub the second half of the season and we believe hes going to be able to help us a lot this year." Hoes started in left field against the Blue Jays. He began a relay in the first that nabbed Jose Bautista at the plate when the slugger attempted to score from first base on a double by Edwin Encarnacion. MELKMAN IN THE MIDDLE? Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera could see time in centre field during the regular season now that he has fully recovered from complications stemming from a benign tumour, which was removed from his lower back last September. Gibbons said he will probably only use Cabrera there against a tough left-hander, or if Colby Rasmus needs a day off. "Thats where he played today and he played there in Lakeland the other day and did a nice job," Gibbons said. "He only got a couple balls, but hes done it before. When he came up with the Yankees, he played centre field and he played it in Kansas City and played it very well." Discount Balenciaga Shoes . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. Balenciaga Shoes Cheap Sale . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. http://www.discountbalenciaga.com/ . Nine-year veteran Danny Granger did not make his debut with the Clippers because of a technicality on the teams active list, which is signed by coach Doc Rivers before every game and relayed to the officials. Grangers name was printed by hand by a member of the public relations staff under the heading: "Updated Roster Additions," but the number on the sheet was not circled along with the other active players by the required deadline of 6:30 p. Cheap Balenciaga Shoes Online . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. Balenciaga Shoes Sale Online . Chris Heisey connected for his first grand slam and Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in a career high-tying four runs as Cincinnati took advantage of Tampa Bays depleted pitching staff for a 12-4 victory on Sunday.Wayne Simmonds and Steve Mason came up big with the Flyers season on the line and forced a Game Seven. Scott Cullen has notes on Simmonds, Mason, Lundqvist, Giroux, Hagelin and more. LETS GO SEVEN Wayne Simmonds scored a hat trick and Steve Mason stopped 34 of 36 New York Rangers shots as the Philadelphia Flyers won 5-2 in Game Six, forcing a Game Seven to decide the series Wednesday night. Simmonds, who scored a career-high 29 goals and 60 points during the regular season, erupted for three goals, all from within a few feet of the net. Officially, Simmonds three goals traveled a total of 20 feet, but thats not unusual -- among players with at least 20 goals, Simmonds average shooting distance of 26.0 feet during the regular season ranked 15th, so he makes his bones as a presence in front of the net. In addition, or at least underlying his three-goal performance, Simmonds generated 11 shot attempts in only 12:50 of ice time. While Simmonds was cleaning up the scraps around the Rangers net, Mason was taking care of business in the Philadelphia net, making quite a few high-quality saves to preserve the Flyers lead, even though the Rangers carried a lot of the play (and before score effects kicked in). Mason has stopped 92 of 98 shots that hes faced (.939 SV%) since joining the series in Game Three. Thats better than usual from Mason, who has a career save percentage of .907 and a .920 mark in 68 games with the Flyers, but Philadelphia needs him to continue at that level for one more game to get through this series. Flyers D Erik Gustafsson, replacing Hal Gill (who was replacing Nicklas Grossman) in the lineup, scored a goal on a breakaway coming out of thhe penalty box and had solid relative possession numbers.dddddddddddd For the Blueshirts, Henrik Lundqvist comes with the much higher pedigree, but after allowing four goals on 23 shots in Game Six (before getting pulled in favour of Cam Talbot), his save percentage in the series has dipped to .892 (132 saves on 148 shots). Lundqvist has a .920 career save percentage in both the regular season and playoffs, over a span of 647 games. That track record ranks him among the elite puckstoppers in the league, but its imperative for the Rangers that Lundqvist bounce back in Game Seven. Its not just Lundqvist that needs to be better, though. The Rangers power play is in a 0-for-20 streak since Benoit Pouliots goal in the first period of Game Two. While RW Rick Nash has yet to score a goal in the series, hes put 25 shots on goal and has the best possession numbers for the Rangers in the series. Flyers C Claude Giroux contributed a goal and two assists to the cause, his goal coming into an empty net with 4:11 remaining in the third period, giving him six points through six games. Rangers LW Carl Hagelin scored a goal, but created many chances in Game Six, registering nine shot attempts in 14:50 of ice time and rookie J.T. Miller had an assist for the second straight game since being inserted into the lineup. No team has won back-to-back games in this series, so perhaps that favours the Rangers going into Game Seven, though owning the possession battle would be more relevant. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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