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Nelson Cruz was suffering from migraines when the Seattle Mariners were in Tampa Bay last weekend. He certainly has been causing headaches for opposing pitchers recently.

Cruz Charles Haley Jersey , the Mariners’ designated hitter, has eight home runs in his past 16 games, during which he has raised his average from .220 to .251. He hit three home runs in a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels this week and will set his sights on Boston Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello when the teams meet Friday night at Safeco Field.

“He’s certainly in a really good groove right now,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “So hopefully we can ride it for as long as we can.”

Cruz, who missed most of spring training with a quadriceps strain, hit home runs in each of the first two games of the season. But when he returned to the dugout after that second homer, he sprained his right ankle on the bottom step as he was about to put his helmet and gear away and was placed on the 10-day disabled list.

He had seven homers in his first 37 games this season before more than doubling that since May 28.

“I think we’ll look up at the end of the year and we’ll get a typical Nelson Cruz year here. He was off to a slow start early, everybody was all, ‘Where is this going?’ But he’s righted the ship,” Servais said.

Cruz downplayed his part in leading the surprising Mariners to near the top of the American League West.

“The pitching is the one that got us here,” Cruz said. “I think we score enough to be able to win most of the games. We just find a way to scratch runs.”

Servais said the key to Cruz’s recent play has been his health. The 37-year-old also was hobbled after being hit by a pitch on the foot May 15.

“He is feeling healthier Miles Killebrew Jersey ,” Servais said. “He’s such a big part of our lineup, driving guys in, getting the ball out of the ballpark. We saw it coming at the end of the last homestand. He started coming out of it, hitting those balls hard, hitting balls better.

“He’s getting the ball in the air. His timing is much better, he’s staying behind the ball and he isn’t chasing. He is swinging at strikes. That’s the key for any batter, not just Nelson.”

Porcello (8-3, 3.54 ERA) is 6-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 12 career starts against the Mariners. He has looked much more like the 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner (when he went 22-4) than the pitcher who lost a league-high 17 games last season.

“Two years ago is a long time ago now, it feels like, so it’s hard to compare,” Porcello told MLB.com. “I think we’re doing some things differently than we even did two years ago. So I haven’t really thought about what I was doing then. I know what I’m doing now Russell Bodine Jersey , and I want to keep that going.”

The Mariners will send left-hander James Paxton (6-1, 3.02) to the mound. Paxton, who hasn’t lost since his first start of the season, is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.

Rashad Greene has missed nearly twice as many games as he’s played in three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaving the receiver with plenty to prove going into the final year of his rookie contract.

It’s not an ideal position. It’s also not one Greene seems concerned about.

”I’m a deep thinker and I’m aware that life is going to hit you sometimes,” Greene said after minicamp Wednesday. ”It’s hitting me this way, and it’s my job. You’ve got to be able to bounce back and be strong and show that you can overcome adversity. It builds character and makes you a better person.”

He’s counting on it making him a better player, too.

Just being healthy is a good start.

Greene missed seven games as a rookie in 2015 because of a broken thumb. He missed eight more the following year because of an Achilles injury. He sat out all of last season with an ailing back.

Even with the injuries mounting, his confidence never wavered.

So it didn’t bother him when the Jaguars signed Donte Moncrief to a one-year, $9.6 million deal in free agency or when they selected DJ Chark in the second round of the NFL draft.

”I wasn’t thinking, `Oh John Johnson Jersey , this is the end,’ or getting agitated with what was going on,” Greene said. ”You’ve got to make plays. At the end of the day, it’s a job, and if you don’t make plays, you’re not going to make the team. That’s imperative.

”You can’t have anxiety. You just got to relax, have fun and make plays.”

Greene would have been considered a long shot to make Jacksonville’s roster just a few weeks ago. But the former Florida State standout, a fifth-round draft pick in 2015, has made his share of plays during organized team activities.

He’s been so impressive that he looks like a strong option to be part of a rotation that includes Marqise Lee, Moncrief, Keelan Cole and Chark.

”A lot of times when you are injured Troy Hill Jersey , you do not have that ability to showcase what you can do,” coach Doug Marrone said. ”I think he went through that last year and right now he is healthy, performing well and looking a lot like the player that I first saw when he came here, making plays and doing things.

”I think that if he keeps continuing the way he does and continues to play this way during training camp and the preseason, he will be heavily involved in the mix of making this team.”

Greene has 24 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been more dynamic on special teams, returning 39 punts for 432 yards and a score. He averaged 16.7 yards a punt return as a rookie.

But injuries have been his more prominent story line.

”He is definitely versatile,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. ”He is a smooth wide receiver that has a lot of good quick shake and control of his body. He is a guy that we are excited to see as the pads come on and as training camp goes. We just want to keep seeing him. He is doing everything he can to put himself in position to get out on the field.”

And maybe watch less and play more.

”All I can ask for is a chance,” Greene said. ”And the organization is giving me that. It feels great to be out there and competing. I’m having fun, and I can live with the results.”

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