GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Alfredo Simon has spent most of his major league career as a reliever. Hes going to get a chance to be a starter for the Cincinnati Reds at the start of spring training. Mat Latos has been slowed by knee surgery, so manager Bryan Price has decided to use Simon as a starter during spring training. The idea is to get him ready to pitch more innings in case hes needed when the season begins. Latos had minor surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee when camp opened. Hes making good progress, but the injury left him behind in his throwing program. Simon made 16 starts for Baltimore in 2011 and welcomes the chance to move into a starters role, even if its only temporary. "Im ready to go," Simon said. "I know it has been two years (since) I have started a game, but if I get the opportunity, Im going to show Bryan Price that I can be a starter." The 32-year-old had started a total of three games in the majors when the Orioles moved him into the rotation in 2011. He went 4-9 with a 4.90 ERA in 16 starts and seven relief appearances that season. The Reds claimed him off waivers from the Orioles on April 3, 2012. He has been a valuable right-handed reliever for Cincinnati, going 3-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 36 relief appearances in 2012 and 6-4 with a 2.87 ERA in a career-high 63 appearances last season. Price planned to use him out of the bullpen again until Latos got hurt. Left-hander Tony Cingrani was the main option as an extra starter last season, but has the fifth spot in the rotation this year. "We do know we are short one starter right now without Mat," Price said. "If we were to have any setbacks where Mat was not ready to start the season, we have to look at the group we have and that would include Simon. "He has the starters background. He has a very, very durable arm. We have to look at him in longer stretches." If Latos is ready to pitch at the start of the season, Simon can move back into the bullpen. "I like starting," Simon said. "I am here to do whatever they want. All of my career (in the minors) I was a starter. Sometimes I would throw one or two innings. I can do more than that. I wanted to keep pitching. I miss it." New England Patriots Store . -- EJ Manuel followed the worst game of his career with the best. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . Argentina, who have yet to beat New Zealand in 17 meetings, rocked the All Blacks with an early converted try to backrower Juan Manuel Leguizamon and led 7-0 after five minutes. But Smiths double in the 23rd and 26th minutes - when Argentina was reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of hooker Eusebio Guinazu - turned the tide of the match and set up New Zealands third straight Championship win. New England Patriots Shirts . Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. Patriots Jerseys China . The Arena das Dunas in the northeastern city of Natal sustained minor damage during the protests, but demonstrators stayed away on Sunday and officials said the stadium passed its first test, with only minor adjustments needed going forward.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Justin Martin had 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds on Saturday, and Xavier led most of the way during a 75-69 victory over No. 9 Creighton in front of the largest crowd in the 14-year history of the Musketeers arena. It was a long-awaited rematch for Xavier, (20-9, 10-6), which lost one of the Big Easts most wide-open games at Creighton in January. Martin led the way. The junior guard helped Xavier control the tempo and build a 13-point lead early in the second half that was more than enough. Creighton (23-5, 13-3) couldnt catch up despite 27 points by Doug McDermott, who leads the nation in scoring. McDermott had 35 points during the Bluejays 95-89 win at home on Jan. 12, a game that showed the reconfigured Big East was a whole different conference. Xavier had more going for it in the rematch. Semaj Christon scored 21 points, Dee Davis added 15, and the Musketeers shot 50 per cent from the field. Xavier got its first victory over a Top 10 team since it beat No. 8 Indiana 80-65 on Nov. 24, 2007. Right after their loss at Creighton in January, several Musketeers said they couldnt wait for the rematch. Xavier sold standing-room tickets for the first time in the Cintas Centers 14 seasons, resulting in a record crowd of 10,483. Xavier led for most of the first half, pushing the lead to six points on several occasions. The Musketeers built it to double-digits with a seven-point run that featured Davis 3-pointer and a pair of baskets by Christon, making it 41-30 with 2:22 left in the half. The Mussketeers took a 43-34 lead into halftime despite not shooting a free throw.dddddddddddd Instead, the Musketeers shot 57.6 per cent from the field and went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Martin led the way, getting nine points and matching his career high with 12 rebounds. Martin came out aggressive again to start the second half. He hit a pair of 3s and Xaviers first two free throws for a 54-42 lead with 15:49 left. At that point, Xavier was 8 of 10 from beyond the arc, with Creighton more concerned about stopping drives to the basket. Christon fell down while nearly getting a steal, got up and swiped Creightons next pass and was fouled as he headed for the basket, bringing the crowd to its feet. His free throw gave Xavier a 13-point lead. Creighton couldnt make any headway as Xavier controlled the boards and pushed the pace for layups. McDermott scored 11 points in the first 7 minutes of the half, but nobody else hit any shots consistently. Xavier finally hit a cold spell, and Creighton took advantage with a 10-2 spurt. McDermotts fall-away 3-pointer cut it to 61-58 with 5:18 to go, prompting a Xavier timeout. Davis made an uncontested 3, and Jalen Reynolds drove for a lay-in that rebuilt the lead to 68-60. Creighton never got closer than five points the rest of the way. Creighton redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Zierden went down hard on a fast-break play in the first half and hurt his right knee. He was on crutches in the second half with ice wrapped on the knee. Zierden averages 11 minutes and 3.3 points. ' ' '