The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Toronto Blue Jays – INSIDE PITCH
Brett Cecil kept things under control when it appeared Tuesday’s game might get away from him.
After giving up three runs in the third inning against Kansas City, he allowed a single and a walk to his first two hitters in the fourth.
Then he worked out of the inning while keeping the score 3-0. The Blue Jays rewarded him in the home fourth with six runs, three on Adam Lind’s homer.
Cecil pitched scoreless ball in the fifth and sixth innings, and the Blue Jays were on their way a 6-3 victory.
Cecil is 2-1 with a 5.64 ERA in four starts since being recalled from the minors June 15.
“I think the two most important innings that I had were the fourth inning and the fifth inning,” Cecil said. “The fourth inning I got the two leadoff guys on and was able to get out of that after giving up three in the third. And the team came in and scored six runs after that, and I had a shutdown inning after that.”
Manager John Farrell said, “With the exception of the third inning, he stayed out of the middle of the plate. He mixed and matched his stuff well. And once again, he and Jeff (Mathis, the catcher,) did an excellent job working together.”
The Blue Jays have not had much success in holding the other team scoreless in the inning after they have scored, so Cecil’s fifth inning Tuesday was important.
“They’re critical in my mind to maintain the momentum,” Farrell said of shutdown innings. “But even after we had eight hits in the one inning, it’s an extended inning, Brett’s there on the bench for quite a while, and he came out and they expanded the zone a little bit and he had an eight-pitch inning. That was a key point in the ballgame, especially from a pitching standpoint.”
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MLB Team Report – Toronto Blue Jays – NOTES, QUOTES
–RF Jose Bautista, who singled in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 6-3 win over Kansas City, is on a seven-game hitting streak. He is batting .346 (9-for-26) in that span. He has three homers in the seven games. He has reached base in 17 consecutive home games.
–DH Edwin Encarnacion, who played first base Tuesday, was 2-for-3 with his 56th RBI of the season. He extended his hitting streak to nine games. He is batting .414 (12-for-29) during the nine games and has hit in 30 of his past 35 games.
–C J.P. Arencibia, who did not play Tuesday, is batting .185 (15-for-81) in 24 games since June 1. In that time, he has two home runs and nine RBI, 30 strikeouts, six walks and an OPS of .547.
–1B Adam Lind, who started Tuesday’s game against Kansas City as the designated hitter, broke an 0-for-10 slump with a three-run homer in Toronto’s six-run fourth inning. He finished 2-for-4 and is 4-for-19 with three home runs in the first six games of the eight-game homestand. He has three homers since being recalled from the minors June 25.
–3B Brett Lawrie hit two singles in the Blue Jays’ six-run fourth inning Tuesday. He is the first Blue Jay to have two hits in the same inning this season. The previous Blue Jay to do it was OF Eric Thames, who had two doubles in the first inning July 14 against the Yankees. Lawrie has reached base safely in 35 of his past 38 games.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 — Saves by RHP Casey Janssen in 10 save opportunities since he became the closer May 9. He pitched the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 6-3 win over Kansas City.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s definitely not looking bigger, but it looks a little slower. That was one of the reasons I went down there, to try to slow the ball down a little bit.” — 1B Adam Lind, on how the ball looks to him after he worked on improving his bat speed during a stint in the minors. He hit a three-run homer Tuesday in Toronto’s 6-3 win over Kansas City, and he has three homers since being recalled June 25.
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MLB Team Report – Toronto Blue Jays – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–RHP Brandon Morrow (strained left oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list June 12. He threw on flat ground for the first time June 25. There is no timetable for his return.
–RHP Sergio Santos (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list April 21, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 24. He resumed throwing in mid-May, and he threw a 25-pitch bullpen session June 1. He threw his third bullpen session June 7. He experienced a setback in late June, and there is no timetable for his return.
–RHP Drew Hutchison (sore right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list June 16, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 25. He was diagnosed with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain, but he won’t have to undergo Tommy John surgery. Hutchison won’t resume throwing before mid- to late July.
–RHP Dustin McGowan (plantar fasciitis in right foot) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 25. His throwing program was shut down in late April due to right shoulder inflammation, but he resumed throwing in Dunedin, Fla., in mid-May. There is no timetable for his return.
–RHP Jesse Litsch (right shoulder tendinitis, right shoulder infection) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 20. He learned May 22 that his infection was gone, but he still had a sore shoulder. There is no timetable for his return.
–RHP Kyle Drabek (sprained right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 14, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 22. He had season-ending Tommy John surgery June 19.
ROTATION:
LHP Ricky Romero
RHP Henderson Alvarez
LHP Brett Cecil
LHP Aaron Laffey
RHP Carlos Villanueva
BULLPEN:
RHP Casey Janssen (closer)
RHP Francisco Cordero
LHP Darren Oliver
RHP Jason Frasor
LHP Luis Perez
RHP Jesse Chavez
RHP Scott Richmond
RHP Drew Carpenter
CATCHERS:
J.P. Arencibia
Jeff Mathis
INFIELDERS:
1B Adam Lind
2B Kelly Johnson
SS Yunel Escobar
3B Brett Lawrie
DH Edwin Encarnacion
INF Omar Vizquel
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Rajai Davis
CF Colby Rasmus
RF Jose Bautista
OF Ben Francisco
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