The Star
Cecil brings the heat, but shaky D loses game for Jays
“Right away, I told myself I was going to try and make the play,” Patterson said. “I assumed it would be a tough play for Jose. I didn't know if he was going to be backpedalling, looking back at me, but talking to a couple of teammates he was camped under the ball. I didn't want to take that chance of looking at him and him looking at me. We've done that one or two times in the outfield and the ball dropped in the gap. That's the last thing I wanted to happen.”
The realigned Jays defence with Bautista back in the infield is still a work in progress, but shaky D, especially in the outfield, is more and more contributing to extra outs and ruining potentially quality starts. Thursday was one of them as Cecil made his first start back, rejoining a rotation he had led in wins just a year ago. Following the hang-time double that should have been caught, a double over Eric Thames' head and a home run by Brandon Wood, it felt like the game had gotten away.
“The play should have been made and we just didn't make it,” Bautista said. “Whatever happened doesn't really matter, it's just the fact that we opened up a big inning for them.”
...
“Yeah, absolutely. It's just a mistake behind third and the floodgates opened,” Cecil said “But you know I've always said and I said at the time, I still have to make my pitches after the mistake.”
There were some sure signs of progress for Cecil. The first pitch that came out of his hand lit up the scoreboard radar gun at 92 m.p.h. Manager John Farrell had said he wouldn't be paying attention to speeds, but you just know that he had to have noticed. The just-promoted southpaw threw six more fastballs from 91-93 before even attempting an off-speed pitch. The Pirates scored a run on an Alex Presley triple and an Andrew McCutchen groundout, but the dugout was smiling for Cecil.
“I'm excited to be back,” Cecil said of the part adrenalin may have played in that first inning. “Hopefully (my velocity) just sticks around there. Yeah, I wanted to establish fastball first. I'm not going to throw one fastball and start flipping stuff up there.”
McGowan returns to mound
Blue Jays right-hander Dustin McGowan is set to take to the mound in a professional game for the first time in nearly three years on Saturday. He will begin his minor-league rehabilitation by pitching two innings for the Dunedin Blue Jays against the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
...
Saturday’s outing comes after McGowan had two successful bullpen sessions following stiffness in his forearm that forced him to skip a scheduled simulated game, Farrell said.
The 29-year-old is expected to throw two innings for the Jays’ Class-A affiliate in two consecutive appearances before increasing his work in subsequent outings, Farrell said. By the end of his 30-day assignment, McGowan will be up to five innings, he said.
...
Travis Snider was expected to be back in the lineup for Triple-A Las Vegas as early as Thursday night, according to Farrell. The outfielder, who was demoted in late April, has been out since being struck in the bill of the helmet during an at-bat on June 17.
Doc operating better than ever
With two runners on base and a 2-2 count to Florida Marlins catcher John Buck, Phillies ace Roy (Doc) Halladay toes the rubber, winds up and unleashes the pitch he’s been refining since the Jays traded him in December 2009.
The 77-m.p.h. curveball does just what Halladay, a six-time all-star with the Jays, expects. It zooms toward batter looking tantalizingly hittable, then veers sharply out of the strike zone just as Buck commits to swinging.
The pitch is designed to produce a strikeout or a weak ground ball, but Buck manages to muscle the ball into shallow centre field for single that scores two runs.
They were the third and fourth the Marlins earned off Halladay on an evening in which the 2010 Cy Young winner would complete seven innings without earning a decision, but Buck knows better than to judge Halladay on that night’s numbers.
...
“He’s different from the first time I faced him, but the first time I faced him he was no slouch,” says Buck, who is hitting .143 in 14 lifetime at-bats against Halladay. “I don’t know if he’s improving or just constantly making adjustments. I don’t know how you can improve when you’re already the best.”
Saturday’s game marks Halladay’s first start in Toronto since the trade that sent him to the Phillies in exchange for a group of prospects that included Kyle Drabek, a homecoming postponed last year when the G-20 summit bumped a scheduled Jays-Phillies series from Toronto to Philadelphia.
Halladay’s return to the Rogers Centre isn’t a final referendum on the trade — Drabek remains a top prospect even after his demotion to Las Vegas — it’s hard to ignore the massive gap between Halladay’s success and Drabek’s struggles.
...
“Having a chance at it is fun but you want to go all the way,” says Halladay. “Just getting there doesn’t seem to be good enough. We have a good team and you want to have a chance to win it all.”
...
Last April, Phillies reliever Jose Contreras watched as Halladay dismantled the Atlanta Braves over nine shutout innings, and when he returned to the clubhouse he expected to see Halladay relaxing.
Instead he found him at his locker, right arm packed in ice, eyes locked on his laptop computer as he analyzed his next opponents, the San Francisco Giants.
“He didn’t even wait until the next day. He was already focused on the next game,” Contreras recalls. “I’ve never seen anyone better. I always tell (other relievers), if you want to learn about pitching, talk to (Halladay) and do what he does.”
The most obvious difference between Halladay the Jay and Halladay the Philly is the team surrounding him.
...
Everybody’s used to seeing the best of him,” says Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. “But that guy is a star and a fighter. And he’s a winner, and that’s what’s most important.”
Halladay recognizes the pressure his success generates, and he welcomes it.
High expectations mean fans care, and that his team is a contender.
“That’s exactly what everybody wants,” he says. “There’s no better place in baseball than right here. Fans, team, everything.”
The Globe and Mail
Blue Jays come up short
Karstens (6-4) held the Blue Jays to two runs on five hits, including homers by Arencibia and Escobar in the fifth inning, in the rubber match of the three-game interleague series.
...
Toronto (40-42) could not take advantage of runners on first and third with none out in the bottom of the first after Yunel Escobar and Eric Thames singled.
Former Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay, who was booed by some fans, made a nice play on Jose Bautista's grounder and threw home to catch Escobar trying to score. Adam Lind grounded into a double play.
Jason Frasor finds his comfort zone
The names Tom Henke and Duane Ward roll easily off the tongues of Toronto Blue Jays historians whenever the discussion turns to the all-time top relievers who have plied their craft with the Canadian franchise.
Jason Frasor … not so much.
...
When the 33-year-old was summoned into the game in the eighth inning to protect a one-run lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, it marked the 446th appearance of his Toronto career (2004-11).
It tied Frasor with Henke for second place on the Blue Jays list, just six back of Ward, who leads with 452 appearances.
“There’s something to be said about sticking around the same place for eight seasons,” Frasor says. “I’m proud of it.”
...
Although Frasor has at times held the closer’s role, he’s has only 36 saves to his credit. His main stock in trade has been in middle relief – and he is once again enjoying another quality season, striking out 27 in 32 2/3 innings with a 3.67 earned-run average.
Frasor has allowed a run in just six of the 35 games he has appeared in this year.
“I like my role right now,” he says. “I like to be the fifth-, sixth-, seventh- or eighth- [inning guy].”
...
Although he played alongside Halladay for six seasons, Frasor will profess to not really knowing what makes the tightly wound all-star tick.
“I don’t know if he was close to many guys,” Frasor says. “And a lot of guys who play with him say, they question his leadership, he should have done this, he should have done that. But I mean if anyone led by example it was that guy.
“If you can’t learn by watching someone like Halladay, then I don’t know who you can learn from.”
Frasor says he expects the fans at Rogers Centre to greet Halladay warmly – but not too warmly.
“They should cheer for him. But when we score, they better cheer for that, too. I don’t want it to feel like an away game.”
Toronto Sun
Glove gaffes cost Jays
There really isn’t any way to sugarcoat it. The Blue Jays outfield defence is dreadful and it is costing them games.
There really is no way to measure the full effect but the outcomes of at least half a dozen games, including Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, have been influenced in some way by the Jays inability to make routine plays in the outfield.
...
“That’s the outfielder’s ball coming in,” said manager John Farrell. “I don’t think Corey saw Jose camped underneath it. That’s where the communication has to be delivered with clarity to make sure the ball is secured.
“You want your players to be aggressive but at the moment when the ball is to be caught, you have to have clarity.”
...
Cecil was greeted rudely back to the big leagues by Pittsburgh leadoff man Alex Presley who ripped Cecil’s third pitch of the game for a triple. Two batters later, Presley came home on Andrew McCutcheon’s groundball to Bautista.
Jays’ McGowan set to start rehab
From tomorrow, he will have 30 days to produce positive results that could lead him back to the majors. If there is a setback, the clock can still be re-set on further rehab assignments, so there remains no hard deadline, but this is definitely a milestone.
Just last week he had a tiny setback with forearm stiffness, but that has passed.
“When we talked about McGowan the other day, there was a quick red flag that he had a major setback,” said manager John Farrell. “It was just a matter of allowing him to get over some soreness in his forearm. He’s back on the mound and will start his major league rehab on Saturday.
...
One of the major keys to Brandon Morrow’s recent run of dominant pitching has been the development of his two-seam fastball to complement his four-seamer.
“He’s been able to get ahead by commanding his 91-mph fastball and then step on it at 96,” said Farrell. “Those are two drastically different pitches, even though they’re both fastballs.
“He’s had more consistent command of his fastball and better strike percentage, particularly first pitch. I think those very simple basic principles to pitching have provided him more consistency.”
Toronto set for Halladay love-in
Share
Change text size for the story
Print this story
For Toronto fans, this weekend is all about the Doc Halladay love-in on Saturday afternoon. For the Phillies, it’s all about taking care of business.
The Phils and their dream pitching staff may be riding high with the best record in baseball, winners of 16 of their last 23 games, but they can’t seem to shake off the tenacious Atlanta Braves, who sit just four games back.
Toronto represents the start of a stiff test for Philadelphia, which will play 12 of its next 15 games on the road. The one three-game home series in that span is a pivotal one against those same Braves.
...
“We talk about our starting pitching a lot and we should, but I’m real proud of the back end of our bullpen,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “We have young kids who like to pitch and they gut it out. They’re not afraid.”
...
“It’s good that we’ve won 50 games and you say that’s the best in baseball and I look right behind us and there (are) the Braves with 46,” Manuel told reporters before Thursday’s game. “Yeah, we’ve done good, but at the same time, we’re at the halfway point.”
Bob Elliott's annual Canada Day lineup
Time to run our 11th annual Canada Day, Team Canada lineup up the flag pole and see how many fans salute.
When we began in 2001 this was a ‘what-if?’ mythical team. The World Baseball Classic changed all of that in 2006.
...
In 2001 we had to go to double-A to find a third outfielder.
Now we have arguments: Justin Morneau or Joey Votto at first? Does current active Canadian home run leader Matt Stairs play the outfield (and hope nothing is hit his way), DH, or sit and wait for a pinch hit appearance that may never come?
* Leading off will be third baseman Brett Lawrie from Langley, B.C., the Jays’ can’t miss prospect at triple-A Las Vegas, whose broken left hand is healed.
* Batting second is New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin from Montreal.
* In the No, 3 hole is Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto of Etobicoke.
* Hitting clean-up is Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau of New Westminister, B.C. As is usually the case the starting first base job goes to the reigning MVP, so Morneau will DH.
* Batting fifth is New York Mets left fielder Jason Bay from Trail, B.C.
SS Girl
RGM Girl
I could ramble a bit about the team but I don't really care about the usual Blue Jays stuff right now because Halladay is coming back tomorrow. Who else is going to the game tomorrow?
