The Macon Telegraph from Macon, Georgia • B3

THURSDAY MAY 2 2019 3BSportsMACON.COM Pirates 7, Rangers 5: Rookie Bryan Reynolds kept up his impressive start, hitting a three-run double as Pittsburgh completed a two-game sweep in Texas. Orioles 5, White Sox 4 (Gm. 1): Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and Baltimore stopped a four-game slide by rallying to win the opener of a double- header in Chicago. Notable Dodgers: Center fielder A.J. Pollock will need surgery because of an infection in his surgically repaired right elbow.

The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner bumped his elbow over the week- end in Chicago, leading to an infection in his bursa sac. Brad Ausmus said that Shohei Ohtani will not join the team this weekend in Monterrey, Mexico, rul- ing out Ohtani joining the lineup until May 7 at the earliest as he rehabs from right elbow surgery. Indians: Right-hander Corey Kluber left game at Miami in the fifth inning after being hit on the right arm by a line drive off the bat of Brian An- derson. Mets: Struggling reliever Jeurys Familia has been placed on the 10-day injured list by New York because of a sore right shoulder, one day after he coughed up a two-run lead in the ninth against Cincinnati. Giants: Pitching prospect Logan Webb has been suspended 80 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

put right-hander Chase An- derson on the injured list after he lacerated his right middle finger while warming up for a start against Colorado. SERVICES Diamondbacks beat Yankees for 2-game sweep Ketel Marte homered, Merrill Kelly won his first start against the Yankees and Arizona beat New York 3-2 Wednesday to sweep a two-game series in Phoenix. New York dropped to 0-5 this year against teams that currently have winning records and is 17-7 against clubs that started the day under .500. New York had won nine of 10 heading into the series against the Diamondbacks but wound up heading home 6-3 on its western swing. Kelly (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in 5 innings as Arizona won for the seventh time in nine games.

The 30-year-old rookie right- hander won consecutive big league starts for the first time. Highlights Red Sox 7, Athletics 3: Mitch Moreland hom- ered and drove in anoth- er run on a sacrifice fly after a lucky hop off the second base bag moved the runners along and Boston beat Oakland to complete a three-game sweep. Royals 3, Rays 2: Adal- berto Mondesi hit a two- run homer in a three-run first inning, and Kansas City held on to beat Tampa Bay in the opener of a doubleheader. Mon- desi is batting .338 with 12 extra-base hits at Kauffman Stadium, the most by any AL player in his home park. Royals 8, Rays 2: Kelvin Gutierrez hit his first big league homer, Kansas City pounded AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell for the second time in a week, and the Royals routed Tampa Bay to wrap up a doubleheader sweep.

MLB ROUNDUP MLB STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE AMERICAN LEAGUE East Pct GB L10 Tampa Bay 19 11 .633 5-5 New York 17 13 .567 2 7-3 Toronto 14 15 .483 7-3 Boston 14 17 .452 6-4 Baltimore 11 20 .355 3-7 Central Pct GB L10 Minnesota 17 10 .630 7-3 Cleveland 16 12 .571 5-5 Detroit 13 14 .481 4 5-5 Chicago 12 15 .444 5 5-5 Kansas City 11 20 .355 8 4-6 West Pct GB L10 Houston 18 12 .600 5-5 Seattle 18 15 .545 3-7 Texas 14 15 .483 3-7 Los Angeles 13 17 .433 5 5-5 Oakland 14 19 .424 3-7 GAMES Baltimore at Chi. White Sox Tampa Bay at Kansas City Detroit 1 Boston 5 1 Cleveland 7 4 Houston 11 0 Pittsburgh 4 (11) Arizona Yankees 1 L.A. Angels 4 3 Chi. Cubs 6 5 GAMES Boston 7 3 Kansas City 3 Bay 2 (Gm. 1) Kansas City 8 Bay 2 (Gm.

2) Pittsburgh 5 Baltimore 5 Sox 4 (Gm. 1) Chi. Cubs 11 0 Baltimore at Chi. p.m. Houston at Minnesota ..............8:10 p.m.

Toronto at L.A. p.m. GAMES Houston at Minnesota ..............1:10 p.m. Tampa Bay at Kansas p.m. Boston at Chi.

Sox ....................8:10 p.m. Toronto at L.A. p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Pct GB L10 Philadelphia 16 13 .552 5-5 New York 15 14 .517 1 4-6 Atlanta 14 15 .483 2 5-5 Washington 12 16 .429 3-7 Miami 8 21 .276 8 4-6 Central Pct GB L10 St. Louis 19 10 .655 9-1 Chicago 16 12 .571 7-3 Milwaukee 17 14 .548 3 5-5 Pittsburgh 14 14 .500 2-8 Cincinnati 12 17 .414 7 5-5 West Pct GB L10 Los Angeles 20 12 .625 6-4 Arizona 18 13 .581 7-3 San Diego 17 13 .567 2 6-4 Colorado 13 17 .433 6 5-5 San Francisco 12 18 .400 7 4-6 GAMES Detroit 1 St.

Louis 2 Cleveland 7 4 N.Y. Mets 3 (10) San Diego 3 Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 4 (11) Arizona Yankees 1 L.A. Dodgers 3 Chi. Cubs 6 5 GAMES Arizona Yankees 2 Detroit at Philadelphia .............7:05 p.m. St.

Louis at p.m. Cincinnati at N.Y. Mets .............7:10 p.m. Cleveland at Miami ...................7:10 p.m. San Diego at Atlanta ................7:20 p.m.

Colorado at Milwaukee .............7:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at S.F...................9:45 p.m. GAMES Cincinnati at N.Y. Mets ..........12:10 p.m.

San Diego at Atlanta ..............12:10 p.m. Colorado at Milwaukee .............1:10 p.m. St. Louis at p.m. MIKE STONE AP Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez celebrates with catcher Elias Diaz after picking up the save to beat the Rangers during the ninth inning on Wednesday.

just have Smart said. the thinnest position there, d-line and tight end. said it over and over and over, and probably more concern- ing than tight end, be- cause those guys play on special HE WALKED IN THE Fabrizio remembers the moment he realized Lan- ders could be a special talent. It a freak one-handed catch or a 100-yard game, though. you look at him, the epitome of what an NFL-size receiver looks Fabrizio said.

got the speed to go along with it, and the hands to go along with Landers is 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, and the Green Devils used every inch of that lengthy frame during his days in St. Petersburg. His senior year, he amassed 700 yards receiving and hauled in seven touch- downs. The season prior, while playing at Admiral Farragut Academy, he amassed 1,038 yards and 15 touchdowns Landers was a three- star (out of five) prospect out of high school, across the three major recruiting rankings: Rivals, 247 Sports and ESPN. He signed his letter-of-intent with Georgia in February 2017.

ability just to mus- cle people, as big as he was, made it easy for us to throw 10-to-12-yard comebacks, curls and those type of Fabrizio said. one could get around him, AN IMPORTANT OFFSEASON AHEAD Landers did not tear up the field upon his arrival to Georgia. He redshirted his freshman season in 2017, and appeared in only four games last sea- son. Most of that is probably due to depth at receiver the past two seasons. The Bulldogs had the experienced trio of Mecole Hardman, Terry Godwin and Riley Ridley, as well as the duo of Simmons and Robert- son.

The roster was even more packed in 2018, when 2018 NFL Draft pick Javon Wims topped off the Bulldog receiving corps. came in and, talent- wise and making plays, I was doing Landers said. there were guys ahead of me, older cast who were already in the playbook, and they bought in Now, the upcoming offseason is likely one of the more important in Bulldog career. receiver room will get a lot more crowded once fall camp rolls around. Signees George Pickens and Do- minick Blaylock, two major receiver recruits, both bring a breadth of talent to Athens.

Makiya Tongue is another highly- rated recruit. And Lawrence Cager, the 6-foot-5 grad- uate transfer from Miami who will also be on the roster next season. know the kids got coming in, but I know how going to Smart said. know how going to respond the first time they get hit in the mouth, the first time got to com- pete against a guy one- on-one and answer the So, the opportunity is certainly there for Lan- ders to force his way into a starting spot. But a big part of that rests on how much he improves this offseason.

like adversity, I like getting past Landers said. just putting in more work off the field. This offseason is going to be a big offsea- son for me. got to work harder than I ever have STAYING CONSISTENT Landers said he consider himself a big vocal leader but sees himself as more of a lead- by-example player. But his consistency, espe- cially in his first two sea- sons in Athens, that he says he must improve.

Landers has yet to catch a single pass in a regular-season (or post- season) game at Georgia. Even his G-Day num- bers flashy: two catches for 54 yards, with 52 of them coming on one throw from quarterback Stetson Bennett. make a play, or sometimes start off bad, then just got to get my head right and get back in the Landers said. here on out, just got to start off good and end Landers said he wants to improve his play after fatigue sets in, and be better about arriving on-time to workouts and practices. He mentioned former Bulldogs Sony Michel, Nick Chubb, Isaiah Wynn, Godwin and Ridley by name, as five guys who helped him adjust to the environment at Georgia.

got to play a big role in this Lan- ders said. lost a lot of guys, so I want to be that player that can make But he needs the con- sistency. Landers drop- ped two passes during the spring scrim- mage and had another ball that was within his catching radius (in other words, a pass that was catchable). feel like earned a Landers said. is given to you, got to learn everything.

going to go into the fall with the same mindset I had in the spring: going hard and giving everything FROM PAGE 1B LANDERS the Grover Cleveland thing and count one guy twice he seemed to hit it off faster with Koetter. So that. also this: The one time under DQ that the defense has appeared of champion- ship caliber was when they got closest to a championship, and that was when Quinn took over from Richard Smith after Thanksgiving in the season that yielded an NFC title. We know Quinn had done that until after the Super Bowl, but still: Even as it was happening, it was clear these defenders were playing in a way they before. In January 2013, Koet- offense had the Fal- cons leading San Francisco by 17 points in the NFC Championship Game; in February 2017, defense had the Falcons leading New England by 25 in the Super Bowl.

They won neither game. If we pair Big-Time Offense with Big-Time Defense and Koetter, unlike Kyle Shanahan that night in Houston, remembers to run the ball, might the Falcons up and win it all by the ridiculous score of 73-10? Yes, this is getting ahead of ourselves. Ac- cording to BetOnline, the Falcons have a 36.6% chance of making the playoffs, which is to say they have a 63.4% chance of missing the playoffs. The schedule is difficult, especially at the start, and this team is coming off maybe the least impres- sive 7-9 season the Fal- cons beat a team that broke .500 in the history of football. We also might recall that the 2016 Falcons were coming off a season that started 6-1 and end- ed 8-8 and were facing the co-toughest schedule.

They went 11-5. Falcons fans will be debating the 2019 draft for the next decade fans; what they do but I have no problem with investing in the protection of the greatest asset, who wears No. 2. In my experience, loading up along the offensive line is usually a sound strategy. unless you pick the wrong offensive linemen, and we know that until oh, at least the first five minutes of rook- ie camp.

Full disclosure: spent most of the time since Feb. 5, 2017, ex- pecting the Falcons to mess up. I feel a bit dif- ferent today. I know the Saints consider them- selves the team to beat and will be driven by righteous fury, but if you saw New Orleans in per- son early and late last season I did, FYI you had to notice that the halting Drew Brees in the star-crossed NFC Cham- pionship Game bore little resemblance to the dy- namic version of Septem- ber. Then again, he turned 40 in January.

The one thing we been able to say about the Falcons lately is that they lack talent. They had to underachieve mightily to go 7-9. hard to imagine the change in coaching structure and the potential upgrade in the O-line yield a surge in performance. Should that happen (and it should), room to move in the NFC. not saying the odds-on favorite to win the conference.

I see Chris Lindstrom having that level of immediate impact. What I do see is that the Falcons seem better positioned to maxi- mize resources than at any time since well, 28-3. not sure that constitu- tes full-blown belief, but I do feel rather less skepti- cal. And the new me, always looking on the bright side of life. (Disclaimer: This as- sumes the Falcons lose in Minneapolis on Sept.

8. If they do, they should fold the franchise.) FROM PAGE 1B FALCONS MARK LOMOGLIO AP Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan will be working with Dirk Koetter as his offensive coordinator after Steve Sarkisian was let go on New Eve. BETTMAN: BANNING HITS TO HEAD WOULD MEAN END OF ALL HITS OTTAWA, ONTARIO NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hit back Wednesday at the notion of banning any kind of head contact, telling a Canadian parliamentary panel that such a rule would be impossible to enforce and lead to the end of hitting. The league has faced calls to penalize any head contact in the hope of eliminating potentially debilitating concussions. Those calling for a strict rule include Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goalie and cabinet minister in Paul Liberal govern- ment.

In sometimes comba- tive testimony, Bettman said such a rule at the NHL level would mean larger players would inev- itably land blows on smaller heads in the normal course of play, leading to penalties. Ulti- mately would be no more body something that players and fans feel is an ing, appealing, entertain- and important part of the game. BLUE JACKETS SEEK MORE HISTORY WITH EVERY GAME COLUMBUS, OHIO The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to jour- ney deeper into unchart- ed territory with each win in these playoffs. Among the franchise firsts so far: Winning a playoff series (they swept Tampa Bay in the open- ing round), first appear- ance in the second round, first second-round game played and won at home. And on Thursday night, it will be the first time many of the young Blue Jackets have played a meaningful game in the month of May.

No Co- lumbus player has played this late in 18 years of the existence. Game 4 is Thursday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. ASSOCIATED PRESS NHL IN BRIEF.