SAN DIEGO -- Cincinnati Reds right-hander Homer Bailey has waited a long time for Sundays rubber match of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.Rehab is not easy. I wouldnt wish it on anyone, Bailey said recently.Sunday will be Baileys third start since August 2014. During the past 23 months, he has had two rounds of surgery on his right elbow, including Tommy John reconstruction surgery on May 8, 2015. He earlier had surgery on Sept. 15, 2014, to repair a torn flexor tendon.We are certainly happy to see Homer returning, Reds manager Bryan Price said. Hes a quality, veteran presence who is going to add stability to a young rotation.Bailey opened the year on the 60-day disabled list. After two rehab appearances in April, he was again shut down and didnt resume pitching until June 27 when he made the first of six straight rehab starts for Triple-A Louisville (1-2, 5.75 ERA).He was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday.Bailey will be matched against Paul Clemens on Sunday. Clemens was claimed off waivers by the Padres from the Miami Marlins on June 28.He has since made five appearances for the Padres, including one spot start at St. Louis in the second game of a doubleheader on July 20. He allowed three runs, four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings.Clemens was moved into the rotation Friday when the Padres traded starting pitchers Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea to the Marlins.I like his stuff, Padres manager Andy Green said recently of Clemens, who spent most of this season with the Marlins Triple-A New Orleans affiliate.I like his curve. I think it plays at the major league level. He just needs to find some consistency and gain some confidence. Sometimes, all a player or a pitcher needs is a change of scenery. That might be the case with Paul.Clemens is a 29-year-old right-hander who was originally a seventh-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in the 2008 draft. He is 6 feet 3 and 215 pounds.This is a great opportunity for Paul and other members of the rotation, Green said.Meanwhile, the Padres were flying outfielder Jabari Blash in from Triple-A El Paso (the Chihuahuas were actually in Las Vegas) to take Kemps place on a depleted roster. Even before Kemp was traded to Atlanta during Saturday nights game, the Padres were down two position players.Because of the inexperienced rotation, the Padres are carrying an eight-man bullpen to cover the extra innings created by shorter outing from the starters. And with the loss of Kemp and the unavailability of outfielder Alex Dickerson (right hip contusion) for a few days, the Padres were down to two healthy reserves.They were forced to start first baseman Wil Myers in right and infielder Alexi Amarista in left. Blash is scheduled to start in right field on Sunday afternoon against Bailey.Naturally, Im excited, Bailey said. Its not like another start every fifth day. This is the start of another stage of my career. Cheap Kyrie 2 For Sale . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Kyrie Irving Shoes Clearance . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. http://www.kyrieirvingshoescheap.com/ .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Kyrie 3 Shoes White . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Kyrie 4 Confetti For Sale .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. The NCAA and ACC have both sent a strong message to North Carolina, pulling championship games from the state because of HB2, the controversial law that blocks transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in government buildings, schools and universities. North Carolinas GOP responded in turn with a statement thats as tone-deaf as it is offensive and desperate.This is so absurd its almost comical, North Carolina Republican Party spokeswoman Kami Mueller said in a statement Monday. I genuinely look forward to the NCAA merging all mens and womens teams together as singular, unified, unisex teams. Under the NCAAs logic, colleges should make cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers and hotel rooms. This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation. If you are unwilling to have womens bathrooms and locker rooms, how do you have a womens team?This is truly the hottest take Ive ever seen on the slippery slope argument long used to deny LGBT rights -- how, exactly, do you get from unisex bathrooms to unisex teams? But thats not even the most cynical part of the North Carolina GOPs response: I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor, Mueller continued.The NCAA deserves criticism for failing to protect sexual assault victims across the country. Violence against women is rampant on college campuses, particularly in sports, and victims have long been silenced as their athlete attackers continue to thrive under the protective netting of college sports. (The NCAA pointed to the resources it provides student-athletes on preventing sexual assault and violence, and the North Carolina GOP didnt respond to a request for comment).But its extremely problematic to use the sexual assault cases?at Baylor as a singular barometer for moral comparison. First of all, the NCAA is a wide-ranging organization that can and should have the ability to address more than one issue at once. It doesnt need to choose between preventing violence and fighting discrimination.Moreover, playing the Baylor card effectively gives a pass to any lesser offenses. There are plenty of issuues that dont reach the level of problems?at Baylor.dddddddddddd Just because the system failed in Waco, Texas, doesnt mean we should stop trying to make it work elsewhere.I, and countless other sexual assault survivors, would implore the North Carolina GOP not to co-opt our movement for victims rights in order to deny the rights of transgender citizens, many of whom are victims of violence as well. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the LGBT community experiences sexual violence at rates higher than heterosexuals. Human Rights Campaign estimates that nearly half of transgender people will experience sexual violence in their lifetime.In addition to ignoring the plight of sexual assault in the transgender community, the North Carolina GOPs statement is blatantly disingenuous, given the partys history of denying legal protections for assault victims. In 2012, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr was one of 31 Republicans who voted against the Violence Against Women Act. In 2013, seven representatives from North Carolina voted against a watered-down version of the bill: Renee Ellmers, Walter Jones, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Robert Pittenger, Mark Meadows and George Holding. And to take it a step further, Jones was one of nine Republican congressmen who voted against a resolution to allow the House to consider any version of the bill at all.North Carolina Republicans are invoking sexual assault victims in order to further an agenda of sexual discrimination. For as loud as its statement against the NCAA sounded, the party has been noticeably silent on sexual assault cases involving players in its home state, most recently the allegations against UNC linebacker Allen Artis.Violence against women is not an appropriate political device, especially when the politicians involved have voting records that clearly reflect an utter disregard for the issue and its victims. The sports world is continually struggling to get it right on sexual violence. Using it as a smokescreen isnt the answer. ' ' '