Basisphilosophie » The Buffalo Bills cut Kelvin Benjamin with four weeks

ORCHARD PARK Jordan Scarlett Jersey , N.Y. (AP) — left in the season in an indication of how poorly the receiver underperformed during his 13 months with the team.The move, announced by the Bills on Tuesday, came as a surprise only in its timing for a player who was not expected to be re-signed by the team once his contract expired following this season.Benjamin had just 23 catches on 62 targets for 354 yards and one touchdown, and was knocked for several drops as well as running poor routes this season.He has topped 50 yards receiving just once — a five-catch, 71-yard outing in a 37-5 loss at Indianapolis in October — and finished with two or fewer catches nine times in 12 games this season.That wasn’t the type of production the Bills were expecting from the 2014 first-round draft pick they acquired in a trade with Carolina on Oct. 31, 2017.Rather than re-establish himself as a top threat following three-plus inconsistent seasons in Carolina, Benjamin wound up being surpassed on the Bills depth chart by second-year receiver Zay Jones, rookie Robert Foster and Isaiah McKenzie, who was claimed on waivers last month.Benjamin had a combined three catches for 52 yards in his past three games.Buffalo also cut veteran receiver Andre Holmes, who was mostly used on special teams, and placed starting center Russell Bodine on injured reserve. Bodine broke his leg in a 21-17 loss at Miami on Sunday.The Bills (4-8), who host the New York Jets (3-9) on Sunday David Montgomery Jersey , filled two of the roster spots by promoting defensive end Mike Love and cornerback Denzel Rice from their practice squad.Benjamin’s work ethic was questioned.Before a 20-13 loss at Houston on Oct. 14, a television reporter tweeted an exchange she said she overheard during pregame warmups. The reporter tweeted Benjamin said no when rookie quarterback Josh Allen asked him if he wanted to work on routes.Benjamin and the Bills refuted the story.Four days later, Benjamin was the first receiver off the field following practice while others spent additional time working out with then-backup quarterback Nathan Peterman.Benjamin’s departure comes as the Bills continue grooming Allen, who will make his third start after missing four games with a sprained right throwing elbow. Allen has a 3-4 record and showed significant signs of improvement by going a combined 26 of 52 for 391 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in his past two games.At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Benjamin was selected with the 28th pick by Carolina and immediately showed signs of promise by finishing his rookie season with 73 catches for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns — all career bests. He missed all of the 2015 season with a knee injury and then began having difficulty re-establishing himself as the Panthers’ top receiving threat.Benjamin eventually grew frustrated with his role and demanded out of Carolina, which prompted the Panthers to trade him to Buffalo for third- and seventh-round draft picks.Overall, he has 207 catches for 2,995 yards and 20 touchdowns in 58 games.
LOS ANGELES — The Pittsburgh Pirates headed north by bus Sunday evening to see if the roller-coaster ride will continue.

Fresh off a series victory at San Diego, capped by a 7-5 victory Sunday, the Pirates are now in Los Angeles for the first of three games Monday, having won four of their last six games.

That winning run came after a five-game losing streak. The five games before that? The Pirates won four of them.

The Dodgers have been a bit steadier of late http://www.bearsfootballauthentics.com/riley-ridley-jersey-authentic , going 17-9 in June to keep pace with the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West. But the end of June was a bit of a struggle as the Dodgers lost four of their last five before the calendar flipped. They opened July with a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

Not only did the Dodgers’ offense take off in June, to the tune of 55 home runs to set a franchise record for a month, the pitching staff got healthy again … literally.

Alex Wood (4-5, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound Monday, looking and feeling much better after nagging leg cramps early in the year.

Wood went seven innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing Wednesday, his longest start since his season debut on March 30 when he worked eight innings against the San Francisco Giants.

An All-Star for the first time last season, Wood is once again starting to look like the pitcher who can rise to the occasion on a nightly basis.

“I’m still looking for consistency out of my sinker, but the breaking ball was a lot better,” Wood told reporters after his most recent start. “Overall, it was pretty good.”

The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw back recently from a lower back injury and Rich Hill returned from a blister on his left middle finger. Both left-handers will face the Pirates this week.

Pittsburgh announced Sunday that Nick Kingham (2-3, 3.82) will start the series opener at Dodger Stadium. He will take the spot of Chad Kuhl, who is on the DL with a forearm strain.

The Pirates (40-43) know that getting some length on their current winning ways can get them to .500 soon Shareef Miller Jersey , possibly by the All-Star break that starts in two weeks.

“We’re starting to show a little bit of resiliency here the last week or so,” Pirates infielder Josh Harrison said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “A team that (is) not making any excuses, which is refreshing because at the end of the day we know what we have to do and that’s come to show up every day.

“It’s been some ups and downs, but every team goes through ups and downs, and a lot of guys here are riding that wave of knowing that any day can be that day that we turn it around.”

Wood is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Pirates. He has not faced Pittsburgh since last season. Kingham, a rookie, has not pitched against the Dodgers in any of his first six appearances.