r cent — in other words, better than one in every 10 plays that an opposing offence runs results in

ATLANTA - B.J. Upton would like a do-over on his debut season with the Braves. The subject came up when Upton, as part of the teams winter promotional tour, made a recent visit to Redan High School in the Atlanta area. He was asked by a student if would change anything in his career. Upton didnt hesitate before answering, "Anything in baseball? Last year. The whole last season." Its an understandable wish. After signing the biggest free-agent contract in Braves history — $75.25 million for five years — Upton endured a nightmarish 2013 season. He hit only .184, struck out in more than one-third of his at-bats and was benched. The only highlights were playing beside his younger brother, Justin Upton, in the outfield and seeing the Braves advance to the playoffs. "Definitely it was tough," B.J. Upton told The Associated Press. "You know, baseball is going to throw you some curveballs, so to speak." After missing far too many curveballs — and fastballs and sliders — Upton is writing off the season as an aberration. "Maybe not to that magnitude, but at some point I think every player goes through that type of season," he said. "As long as you can learn from it so that some of the things that happened wont happen again, thats all you can ask." The new start begins with spring training. Braves pitchers and catchers report on Thursday. The full squad reports on Feb. 18, and the first full-squad workout is Feb. 19. Upton impressed his teammates and manager Fredi Gonzalez by continuing to spend extra time on his swing through his disappointing season. "Hes one of the hardest workers on the team," said third baseman Chris Johnson. "Hes always in the cage. Those two brothers are workhorses." Assistant hitting coach Scott Fletcher said Upton never changed his demeanour, even after losing his starting job. "He didnt pout," Fletcher said. "He just kept working. He was ready for anything that Fredi needed from him. That shows a lot of his character. I look for him to come back and do well. Thats just the type of competitor he is. Hes had a lot of great years and hes going to continue to do that. I think hes going to have some great years for us." Upton hit 28 homers and had 31 stolen bases in 2012 with Tampa Bay. He hit only nine homers with 12 steals last season. The Braves need Upton, 29, to at least approach his career .248 batting average. Upton worked on his swing at his off-season home in Tampa, Fla., where he had a visit from Braves hitting coach Greg Walker. "My reports from Greg have been positive," said Braves general manager Frank Wren. "I think hes approached the off-season well. From what Greg has seen of his work, he thinks its steps in the right direction." After last season, Wren said Upton may have tried too hard to show he deserved the big contract. "Its a deep hole that gets deeper and deeper the harder you try," Wren said. "Weve seen dozens and dozens of players go through it." Upton said he didnt expect such a difficult transition to the National League. "Its just the nature of the beast," Upton said. "You come to a new organization and a new league and its just a whole bunch of variables that I dont think you really think of affecting you as a player, and they might have the slightest bit. I dont think a lot of guys see it really hitting them that hard. It was just a totally different situation. "Obviously you dont want it to go that way. I dont regret it. Maybe it was something I needed to happen. Its not something Im going to dwell on. Its a fresh start and I get to move on." Morten Andersen Jersey . The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-3 in front of 6,769 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. Willie Roaf Jersey .com) - The Utah Jazz look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when the Denver Nuggets visit Salt Lake City Monday night. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Sam-Mills-Saints-Jersey/ . This was one of them. Omar Infante homered and tied a career high with six RBIs to carry the Kansas City Royals over the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Sunday. Archie Manning Jersey .com) - The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with running back Jackie Battle on a one-year contract Friday. Rickey Jackson Jersey . Tyutin has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury which occurred while playing for Russia at the Olympics. The top-two defenceman has four goals and 20 assists, 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with Columbus this season.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Texans quarterback Gary Kubiak felt an overwhelming sense of empathy for Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor when he watched video of him against the Kansas City Chiefs defence last weekend. If Pryor turned one direction, he ran into Tamba Hali. Turn the other, Justin Houston was on top of him. Try to step up in the pocket and Derrick Johnson was waiting. Pryor was sacked 10 times in a 24-7 victory that kept the Chiefs unbeaten. "When you get 10 in one game, its kind of hard to say, We have to block that guy," said Kubiak, who is trying to come up with a plan to slow down that pass rush on Sunday. "Andy Reids got such a quality team thing going on right now," Kubiak said, "and thats what good teams do. Production comes from everywhere, not one or two places. You can see the energy theyre feeding off of, and the way theyre playing, pretty impressive." Just how impressive? Record-setting. The Chiefs second-best single-game total left them with 31 sacks from 10 different players through their first six games, putting them on pace for 82 1/2 sacks by the end of the regular season. That would not only shatter the club mark of 60 set in 1990, but the NFL record of 72 set by the 84 Bears. The sack became an official stat recorded by the league in 1982. Houston leads the Chiefs with 9 1/2 sacks — his career-best of 10 was set just last year — and is tied with the Colts Robert Mathis for the most in the NFL. Hali is fourth with 7 1/2 sacks. It was Hali who terrorized Pryor last weekend. He had 3 1/2 sacks to just one for teammate Houston, winning what has turned into a weekly battle. "Justin could have gone out there and had a heck of a game," Hali said, "but we knew about this quarterback and his scrambling ability to our left, his right, which allowed me to come off the edge and let me buy some time to get there. "Our chemistry," Hali said, "we definitely understand what we want to get done." After all, Hali has been getting it done for quite a while. He has 70 sacks since his rookie season of 2006, three shy of Art Still for third on the frannchise list.dddddddddddd The only players to have more in a Chiefs uniform were Derrick Thomas (126.5) and Neil Smith (86.5), two of the stalwarts on that 1990 team that bullied quarterbacks in a similar fashion. His play last season wasnt nearly at the same level, though, at least statistically speaking, and that begs the question: What has changed this season? Most of the pass-rush pieces on what has emerged as the NFLs stingiest defence were already in place when a new coaching staff arrived. The credit belongs to defensive co-ordinator Bob Sutton, who has been dialing up aggressive game plans ever since a season-opening win over Jacksonville. "Bob Sutton does a tremendous job along with his assistants of making everybody be aware that its not just going to be outside linebackers," Hali said. "Were all going to put pressure on the quarterback. They do a great job with us, and we all just go out there and execute." The result is a sack rate of 12.1 per cent — in other words, better than one in every 10 plays that an opposing offence runs results in its quarterback lying on his back. "Were doing our job and having our fun doing it. We know they cant double both sides at once," Houston said. "Its really just a feel, we play off each other." All the pressure that Hali and Houston create from the edges has freed up other guys to get in on the fun. Johnson had two sacks against Oakland, defensive tackle Dontari Poe has been all over opposing quarterbacks, and even safety Eric Berry is been in on the pressure. "Weve got players like Justin and Tamba that are willing to do anything to help us win," Berry said. "Those guys are so unselfish. They put it on the line every week. I think that speaks a lot to the character of our defence." Notes: Chiefs TE Anthony Fasano (sprained ankle) returned to practice after missing his last four games. "Weve done everything we could rehab-wise to get it there," he said. "Its not 100 per cent, but it feels pretty good." ... S Kendrick Lewis (sprained ankle) was the only player held out of practice Wednesday. ' ' '