ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - J.A. Happ and Alex Cobb stood side by side on Sunday afternoon and called on Major League Baseball to provide pitchers with the option to wear protective head gear. "Whether that pitcher wants to pitch with head gear or not is up to him but I definitely think there should be an option," said Cobb. "I havent heard too much but I do know that its moving in the right direction and hopefully there will be an option by next year." The league has been studying different prototypes, including caps with enhanced padding, since last offseason. So far nothing has been approved. "I think youd be crazy not to look into it if it was available," said Happ. "I think function is the big issue. We were struck in the ear so like I said it would almost have to be a helmet situation. If it was functional and comfortable and didnt hinder the performance at all then absolutely." Both pitchers are linked by separate, equally scary, incidents at Tropicana Field this season. It was May 7 when Happ, pitching to Desmond Jennings in the second inning of an eventual 6-4 win, was struck in the side of the head by a line drive. He crumpled to the ground. Onlookers thought he was out cold even though he wasnt, and eventually he was carted off the field. Happ suffered a minor skull fracture behind his left ear. Stitches repaired a nasty gash to his ear. The worst of his injuries, however, were to his right knee. He suffered strained MCL and PCL ligaments when his leg buckled underneath him. Happs return, which came exactly three months after the incident, would have been much sooner if not for the knee trouble. Almost six weeks after Happ was hurt, an Eric Hosmer line drive hit Cobb in the head in the fifth inning of the June 15 Rays-Royals game. Cobb suffered a concussion and had to work through the effects of his head trauma before returning to the majors on Thursday, exactly two months after the incident. The two men didnt know each other beforehand and since, theyve kept in touch via text messages and have struck up a friendship. While neither relied on the other for support through the recovery process, they share a bond very few can understand. "Not too many people know what youve gone through on a personal level so to know his battles, although they were different, they were almost more severe and more troublesome in some cases with his knee," said Cobb. "Its really nice to see him back out on a big league field and pitching well, too." Happ happened to be watching at the time Cobb was injured. "It was just such a surreal thing," said Happ. "Again, just to see him and be able to catch up and see that the healing has taken place, thats the biggest thing. Definitely a scare with some of the issues that he had to deal with that I didnt. "He had a little bit more to overcome in that sense and really glad to see he was able to do that." J. J. Stokes Jersey . 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General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth defeated their respective opponents to enter the quarterfinals of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold on Thursday.?It was the sixth time since her return to the circuit after a knee surgery that Saina was stretched into a third game, as she?defeated Indonesias Dinar Dyah Ayustine 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 in 62 minutes.?Praneeth won 21-15 21-17 over fifth-seeded Wong Wing Ki Vincent from Hong Kong in 43 minutes.Nehwal, the top seed, will face unseeded Chinese player Yiman Zhang in the quarterfinals, while Praneeth will take on Chinas Zhao Jun Peng.With the Indonesian leading 7-6 in the first game, Nehwal won five consecutive points to get ahead 11-7. Nehwal couldnt hold on to the lead, however, as Ayustine clawed her way back with two separate bursts of three points for a 14-13 lead.Ahead 16-15, the Indonesian reeled off four straight points before sealing the game 21-17.Down 1-3 in the second game, Nehwal wwon ten straight points to lead 11-3.dddddddddddd. Nehwal failed to hold on to her lead yet again as Ayustine mounted another comeback, coming all the way back from 12-18 to 18-18. Nehwal held her nerve, however, winning the next three points to take the game 21-18.Nehwal dominated the deciding game, surging ahead from 11-9 to comfortably close it out 21-12.Parupalli Kashyap, the other Indian in the mens singles event, lost 13-21, 20-22 to Lin Yu Hsien from Chinese Taipei in 45 minutes. He had previously defeated Chinese Taipeis?Chun-Wei Chen 21-19 21-8 in the second round to reach the pre-quarters.In the mens doubles event, third seeds Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy ended their campaign in the second round after losing 20-22, 19-21 to?Singapores Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Hendra Wijaya in 40 minutes. ' ' '