BRADENTON, Florida - J.A. Happ was pummeled by the Pirates on Tuesday, leaving general manager Alex Anthopoulos with an unappealing conundrum: its become easier for him to sell to the fan base the idea of having $12.7-million (Ricky Romeros and Happs combined 2014 salaries) of dead or differently-allocated money than it is to sell the fan base on including the left-hander in the opening day starting rotation. Happ faced 20 batters in three-plus innings. Twelve of them got hits, including Pittsburgh starter Wandy Rodriguez, who hit a wind-aided, opposite field, two-run home run to cap a four-run second inning. Rodriguez had never homered in 437 career major league at-bats. Happ allowed seven earned runs, bloating his springtime ERA over four starts to 20.57. The Blue Jays lost, wait for it, 22-5. "It wasnt a good day for anybody, really," said manager John Gibbons. "We got pounded pretty good. They werent missing em. We got hit around pretty good." Meanwhile, back in Dunedin, Dustin McGowan, the sudden favourite for the final available rotation job, threw four innings of scoreless baseball in a Triple-A game. His fastball was clocked in the mid-90s; McGowan hit the 62-pitch mark. "I thought he looked great," Anthopoulos told a pool reporter in Dunedin. "Its just trying to get him stretched out here. Every step is a step in the right direction, but well see how he feels tonight, tomorrow, all that kind of stuff. He got up to 62 today off of 48 the (outing) before. Well take it outing by outing at this point." The logical next step, provided McGowans wonky shoulder feels good on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, is to have the right-hander throw another minor league game in Florida on Sunday. "The big thing is that we dont get ahead of ourselves because we re-evaluate it almost daily to see how he feels," said Anthopoulos. "I always remind him as well, I keep reminding him that at any time any concerns, any tweaks, anything at all, he needs to tell us, and he said, Absolutely. Hes obviously a big part of wanting to do this as well. As I told him when were even exploring this, he needs to want to do this because we would never take chances with his career or with his health. Hes the one who knows how he feels. Hes been through this enough times. He has to communicate with us." Happ has had a puzzling spring. He arrived in Dunedin under the impression he had a spot in the starting rotation locked up. After poor starts on February 26 and March 3, he missed game action due to a bad back. His two appearances since his return, on March 19 and on Tuesday, have gone no better. "Yeah, thats not an issue," said Gibbons, when asked if Happs back was still a concern. Happ has an option remaining, meaning he could be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. However, the fly in the ointment is significant: as a major league veteran with more than five years of service time, Happ has the right to refuse the assignment, at which point the Jays could keep him or release him while paying him full freight. Would Happ be willing to move to the bullpen? "Im not thinking about that," he said. "Ill answer that question if someone else, one of the bosses, decides they need to ask that. Well deal with that then. But thats not something thats on my mind." The Blue Jays still have not officially named Drew Hutchison to their starting rotation although its inconceivable he doesnt make the team. Hutchison has been the clubs best pitcher this spring and Anthopoulos is on the record as saying hes taking the best 25 players north. Assuming Hutchison joins R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle in the rotation, Anthopoulos, Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker have to decide between McGowan, Happ and Todd Redmond for the final spot. The idea of piggybacking McGowan, that is starting him on a strict pitch count and backfilling with Redmond, Esmil Rogers, maybe even Happ, behind him has been bandied about. It likely will be revisited during internal meetings ahead of Sundays deadline to announce the opening day roster. "When we announce the team, everybody will know who it is," said Gibbons. REYES GOING TO MONTREAL? The Blue Jays are encouraged by the MRI results on Jose Reyes left hamstring, which revealed a minor strain. "Hopefully hes in there the next couple of days, maybe at DH," said manager John Gibbons. "Let him run half-speed, three-quarter-speed. It actually made us feel pretty good after we heard the results." When asked on Monday, before he had his MRI, whether he would play through the strain if the regular season already was underway, Reyes didnt answer. It behooves the Jays to be careful, though, especially considering the club plays 91 games (81 at home, 10 in Tampa Bay) of its 162 on artificial turf. "With baseball, too, there can be a lot of dead time too before you actually get a ball," said Gibbons. "That quick movement will sometimes get you. We feel good about it and you hope it doesnt turn into anything down the road either." Still, Gibbons says the plan is to bring Reyes to Montreal, where two games will be played on turf, if hes healthy enough to go. "Im sure everybody wants to see him play up there," said Gibbons. THE SECOND CATCHER R.A. Dickey is scheduled to start the Blue Jays final Grapefruit League home game on Wednesday. By game time, we should have a better idea of who will back up Dioner Navarro. "I would say the guy who catches him (Wednesday) will be the backup catcher," said Gibbons. "Ill leave it at that." Erik Kratz and Josh Thole are vying for the job. Gibbons has repeatedly said that effectively catching Dickey is the jobs number one priority. Thole, to the extent someone can be, is a master at it. Hes also got the most experience. Dickeys pitched 565 innings to Thole over their time together with the Mets and Blue Jays. Kratz, a 2002 Blue Jays draft pick, returned to the organization in an offseason trade with the Phillies. Hes a threat to hit a home run, having gone deep 18 times in 375 at-bats over the last two seasons. Thole posted a .175/.256/.242 line in limited action last season. If he makes the team it appears the club will have trouble generating offence from the eighth and ninth (Ryan Goins) spots in the lineup on the days he plays. Custom Baseball Jerseys China . Its like being on Broadway, everything you do matters. Id want to be good though! I couldnt play here if I wasnt very good. #83217388 / gettyimages. Custom New York Mets Nike Jerseys . The Brad Jacobs team from Sault Ste. 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While Buck Pierce will be getting another shot, I think Max Hall does deserve another opportunity.LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers were well aware that Lance Lynn was experiencing blister problems on his middle finger. And for two innings, they showed callous disregard for his fastball -- the only pitch the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander could throw without pain. Andre Ethier and three of his Los Angeles teammates hit RBI doubles during a six-run second inning Saturday en route to a 9-1 victory, enabling Zack Greinke to become the third NL pitcher to reach double digits in wins. "I think everyone could see that Lynn was just getting the fastball across," Ethier said. "And when a guy can only do that and isnt having any luck with anything else, I think its a sign for a hitter to look for a straight heater, dead-red, and wait for that pitch over the plate." Greinke (10-4) allowed a run and four hits over seven innings, struck out 10 and did not walk a batter as the Dodgers won for the 11th time in 15 games. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner is 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA in 19 starts following a Dodgers loss since signing a $147 million, six-year contract in December 2012. Lynn (8-6) lasted just two innings and was charged with seven runs, nine hits and two wild pitches. He is 2-4 with a 3.90 ERA in six starts since throwing his first professional shutout May 27 and beating the Mets 6-0 with a career-high 126 pitches. "Honestly, I have blister problems every time I start, but I usually dont have them rip off like they did today," Lynn said. "Im missing a lot of the top part of my finger -- the whole tip, pretty much. I think it dried out, coming from Colorado, and it just ripped off. The wetter it got today, the more it kept going back. But thats a part of pitching. You try to get through those things, and I wasnt able to do that." Los Angeles got an unearned run in the first after back-to-back infield hits by Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez, who returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sore right shoulder. Puig went to third on a fielders choice grounder by Adrian Gonzalez and continued home when shortstop Daniel Descalso dropped the ball on the exchange from his glove to his right hand. The Dodgers, who didnt get an extra-base hit in the first two games of this series, broke it open during Lynns 45-pitch second inning with the doubles by Ethier, Justin Turner, A.J. Ellis and Dee Gordon. Gonzalez and Matt Kemp addded two-out RBI singles.dddddddddddd "If I threw anything else but the fastball, it hurt. It was burning," Lynn said. "But Im a fastball pitcher, anyway, and they were ready for it. I tried to throw some other pitches, but I just didnt have any feel with it." The defending NL West champs sent 11 batters to the plate during their most productive inning of the season -- including Miguel Rojas, who came in as a pinch runner after Turner strained his left hamstring running out his double. "I think we needed a good offensive showing for Zack because of how well hes done for us," Ethier said. "Hes had a couple of tough losses lately, so it was good to put up some early runs for him and let him do his work." Greinke became the first Dodgers pitcher to reach double digits in wins before the All-Star break since 2007, when Brad Penny started 10-1 and finished 16-4. Matt Carpenters third-inning homer accounted for St. Louis run. The defending NL champions tried to get back in the game in the fifth, but Greinke struck out Carpenter with runners at second and third. During the Dodgers big rally, one of Lynns pitches missed Greinkes head by inches after he squared to bunt. Gordon tried to score from second on a wild pitch to Ramirez, as Yadier Molina jogged back to the screen to retrieve it. But the six-time Gold Glove winner got the ball to Lynn in time for the tag on Gordon. "Hes always trying to take the extra base, so youre always aware," Lynn said. "I didnt think that he would do it, but youve always got your eye on him just in case. I dont even know if I would have gotten three outs that inning if it werent for that one." NOTES: Rojas replaced Ramirez at SS in the third inning and Juan Uribe took over at 3B for Turner. Uribe drove in the Dodgers final two runs with a bases-loaded single in the eighth. ... Greinke has made 121 starts since committing his last error on July 16, 2010, for Kansas City. The 11-year veteran has never won a Gold Glove. ... Lynn got a victory in relief against the Dodgers in the opening game of last years NL championship series and won Game 4 in a starting role. ... The Dodgers have played nine consecutive errorless games, their longest streak since a nine-game stretch in June 2004. ... The Dodgers have hit only two homers over their last 10 games and five in their last 13, all of them solo shots. ' ' '