Final Score in Toronto: Angels 9 Blue Jays 7

The day after former hitting coach Mickey Hatcher took a job with the Dodgers, the Angels banged out fourteen hits in a 9-7 win over the Blue Jays. They were shut out seven times this season with Hatcher in the dugout but only once under current hitting coach Jim Eppard. There were no streaks of games this year with the bats recording back to back games with hits amassed well into the teens but after getting seventeen hits in Monday night's game and sixteen hits last night in Baltimore, the Angels got fourteen north of the border on Wednesday evening.

Albert Pujols had his first 4 hit game as an Angel. Mark Trumbo hit his nineteenth homerun of the season and had an insurance 1-run triple in the top of the ninth. Remember back when Trumbo was actually getting benched earlier this season to make room for Vernon Wells in the lineup?

Dan Haren stunk, allowing six runs on seven hits with a homerun to Jeff Mathis being the most egregious slip-up of a sloppy night, the other longball, a three run jack to Jose Bautista that temporarily gave the Jays the lead, being totally explicable.

Ernesto Frieri got a four-out save, inducing a bases-loaded double play to end the game. Whew. He threw 31 pitches and as Angels great turned lucid telecaster Garret Anderson observed on the postgame show, Mister Freeze will likely be shelved for at least tomorrow's contest after throwing 31 pitches to get those four outs.

UPDATE: In watching the rebroadcast of the

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Angels 9 Blue Jays 7

That was a game lost on a manager's decision. Brett Cecil looked great for the first 3 innings. But then he gave up 3 in the 4th and 1 more in the 5th. Jose Bautista put us ahead again in the bottom of the 5th. Cecil really should have come out of the game there. He didn't. In the 6th Brett gave up a bunt single (and made an error on it). A ground rule double, a sac bunt, then a 2-run homer to Mike Trout later, we were down by 2. That's when Farrell pulled him. Way too late. At very least John should have pulled Brett before the Trout homer.

Our bullpen did well. Jason Frasor finished off the 6th. Francisco Cordero made it through a scoreless 7th, with the help of a great pick off throw by Jeff Mathis. Darren Oliver pitched a great 8th.

Then Casey Janssen came out for the 9th. With Albert Pujols up to start the inning, Casey got to 1-2 and threw a perfect strike, but it was called a ball. So a pitch later he throws another one, about he same spot, and it is called a ball again. Then Albert singled. A triple by Mark Trumbo and the Angels got an insurance run. Then Casey got the 3 outs without allowing the runner to score from third. Casey stared at the umpire on his way off the field.

We almost came back in the 9th. Mathis singled. Brett Lawrie singled at the end of a 8 pitch at bat. Colby Rasmus struck out. Jose Bautista took an 8 pitch walk. Unfortunately Edwin Encarnacion hit into a double play. Ernesto Frieri has a 0.77 ERA and we almost beat him. Almost.

Our offense did get us 7 runs. A solo homer for Jeff Mathis (who missed the cycle by a triple) and the 3 run shot for Jose (crushed). Lawrie, Yunel Escobar and Rajai Davis (nice sac fly) had an RBI each. Mathis went 4 for 4 against his old team. Lawrie 2 for 5. All the other starters had 1 hit except for Adam Lind. Adam looked terrible at the plate. I still don't understand why we call up him and leave Travis Snider at Vegas.

The other play, that could have helped us, came in the 7th inning. Colby was on third, Bautista up. Infield in. Jose grounds one to short, Colby goes on contact and slides between the legs of Angel catch Bobby Wilson. It was a close play, but I still think he was safe.

Jays of the Day are Mathis (.356 WPA and some good defense), Jose (.278) and Lawrie (.171). Suckage: Cecil (-.714, 5.1, 10 hits, 8 earned, 2 walks, 6 k, it started out so well), Edwin (-.326, from the game ending DP) and J.P. Arencibia (-.101, all on the pinch hit strikeout).

Tomorrow, the day we were all hoping wouldn't come, Carlos Villanueva starts for the Jays. Ervin Santana gets the call for the Angels.

Many Blue Jays fans use the 510 Spadina streetcar to get to the Rogers Centre because it is usually not as busy as the subway to Union, and that it drops them right off at Bremner Boulevard near gate 11. However, just like many Blue Jays starters, the 510 streetcars will not be in operation for the remainder of the season.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) will be doing major reconstruction to the streetcar right-of-way that runs down the middle of Spadina Avenue in order to make it compatible with the recently-purchased low-floor streetcars.

During the construction, replacement busses will be running on Spadina Avenue and will be stopping at curb-side (not at the platforms in the middle of the road).

I recently spoke with TTC CEO Andy Byford and he told me that they have planned for four extra busses will be ordered to assist the 510 route during Blue Jays and Argonauts home games. In addition, service levels on the 509 Harbourfront streetcar, which runs from Union Station to Spadina, have been increased for the summer period to one every 2-4 minutes.

So Blue Jays fans headed down to the Rogers Centre by public transit this weekend and for the rest of the season can take a variety of routes:

• Subway to Union and walking to Rogers Centre (~1.2 km walk)
• Subway to St. Andrew and walking to Rogers Centre (~1.1 km walk)
• Subway to Union and taking the 509 Harbourfront streetcar to Rees Street and walk to the Rogers Centre (~410 m walk)
• Taking the 510 Spadina replacement bus to Bremner Boulevard (~250 m walk)

I personally recommend walking to St. Andrew and taking the subway from there because of the crowding at Union, but it might not work for everyone.

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion could emerge as the top slugger on trade market this summer, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, a free agent after the year, could emerge as the top slugger on the trade market.

Toronto is for the moment trying to piece together a starting rotation beset by injuries, but the depleted staff has caused them to fall back to .500 and 8 1/2 games out in the tough American League East and five out in the wild-card race), raising the possibility they will become sellers at some point.

Encarnacion, 29, has hit .285/.360/.574 this season with 22 home runs, 14 doubles and 54 RBIs. He’s owed $3.5 million this year and is set to hit free agency following the season.

Heyman believes Encarnacion’s value on the trade market would be high due to the lack of impact hitters expected to be available. Beyond Encarnacion, Heyman speculates Toronto could look to trade veterans such as second baseman Kelly Johnson, left-handed reliever Darren Oliver and outfielder Rajai Davis if they decide to become sellers this summer.

Even if the Blue Jays don’t decide to sell, Heyman could see Toronto using Encarnacion as trade bait for rotation help. Toronto recently lost starters Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchinson and Brandon Morrow to injury.

The Blue Jays have lost three consecutive games and are 8 ½ games behind the American League East-leading New York Yankees. Still, the club is playing .500 baseball, with an overall record of 38-38, and is within 3 ½ games of the final wild-card spot.

The New York Yankees have acquired right-hander Chris Schwinden off waivers from the Cleveland Indians, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

The Yankees acquired RHP Chris Schwinden off waivers from the Indians. He will report to Triple-A Scranton. RHP Danny Farquhar was DFA'd.

— Mark Feinsand (@BloggingBombers) June 29, 2012

In a corresponding roster move, the Yankees designated right-hander Danny Farquhar for assignment.

The Yankees represent Schwinden’s fourth club of the season. After starting the year with the New York Mets, the 25-year-old was designated for assignment and claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays. After one appearance with the Jays' Triple-A affiliate, Schwinden was DFA’d once again, landing with the Cleveland Indians. This time the right-hander lasted three appearances, but the end result was the same, another DFA.

Over his 13 starts this season for the Mets, Blue Jays and Indians Triple-A squads, Schwinden has maintained an ERA and WHIP of 4.16 and 1.313 with 6.4 SO/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

New York claimed Farquhar off waivers from the Oakland Athletics earlier this week. The 25-year-old did not make an appearance for any of the Yankees minor league affiliates, though he did maintain an ERA and WHIP of 4.46 and 1.409 over his 25 games with the Blue Jays (Double-A) and A’s (Triple-A).

Another interesting two weeks for the Jays. We went 7-6, surprisingly enough, considering we have roughly a dozen pitchers on the DL right now. It has been so bad Alex has been knocking on the door at the old pitcher's home, hoping someone has a mile or two left on his odometer.

Former Jay Joe Inglett turns 34 today.

Joe was a Jay from 2007 to 2009, but the season we remember is 2008. He got a lot of playing time, mostly because Aaron Hill missed most of the season with the concussion, from the collision with David Eckstein. He was great that year. The picture of the gritty infielder. He hit .297/.355/.407 and gave the team a much needed spark. He had 7 triples and stole 9 bases. Joe was fun to watch with the high socks and the all out running style. He was moved to the leadoff spot in early July and kept the job the rest of the year.

John Gibbons named him Voodoo Joe because twice he was sent down to Syracuse and then a Jay was injured the next day so Joe got to stay with the big league team.

The next year he was up and down between the Jays and Vegas. He didn't have the same impact with the team. After 2009 he signed with Milwaukee. The National league is really a better place for a utility player. He got into 102 games with the Brewers. He played a bit with the Astros, last year, but was released in late May. I don't know where he went after that.

Happy Birthday Joe. Hope you have a good one. I really enjoyed watching you play.

Angels 5 Blue Jays 7

We got a really nice start out of Carlos Villanueva, for 4 innings. He really coulda/shoulda come out after that, but he fought his way through the inning only allowing 1 run. Farrell really wanted him to have a shot at the win, I guess. I don't understand that way of thinking. I'm more interested in the team getting a win than any one pitcher.

Scott Richmond came in for the 6th and had a nice quick inning. The 7th didn't go as well for Scott. A single and a home run and there went Carlos' shot at a win. Scott really shouldn't be pitching in a close game and he very much shouldn't pitch a second inning in a close game. A strikeout and a single later, Francisco Cordero was in.

Francisco gave up a single to Albert Pujols. The Jays were playing the big shift against Albert but then Codero pitched him away and he went with the pitch. Really if you play him to pull, don't throw him something he can't pull. It didn't matter, Cordero got Kendys Morales to hit into a double play to end the inning. Darren Oliver pitched a nice quick 8th. Casey Janssen got his usual nice easy save.

On offense, we got 5 runs in the 4th. Hits from everyone (except Kelly Johnson who was asked to bunt), then a 3 run homer for Adam Lind. After we let the Angels tie it again, Yunel Escobar doubled home Edwin Encarnacion to give us the lead again. And a second homer for Lind gave us an insurance run.

Lots of good plays on defense today. Colby made an terrific catch at the wall. Yunel made a great play, going to his right then making a leaping throw. Adam made a really nice play. And we turned 2 double plays.

On the bases, Edwin and Rajai each had 2 stolen bases. Rajai stole second then, a couple of pitches later, took 3rd on the catcher's throw back to the pitcher.

Jays of the Day are Lind (2 homers), Yunel (3 for 4, 2 RBI), Edwin (2 for 3, and a hit by pitch), Oliver and Cordero. Suckage goes to Richmond (-.239 WPA) and Lawrie (-.134, 0 for 5) and Rasmus (-.096, 0 for 5).

Tomorrow we have Henderson Alvarez starting, and hopefully doing a little better than he has of late. Garrett Richards starts for the Angels. 1:00 Eastern start.

Final Score in Canada: Angels 5, Blue Jays 7

What is worse:

1. A pitcher everyone knows is falling apart who, just as the fans call for his head pitches an almost perfect masterpiece and follows that up with standing ovation performances, only to turn into the tomato-tossing enabler of all good batters, patron saint of the three run homerun and destroyer of dreams.

2. A basepath snail who grounds out for a living whose only impressive attribute is keeping a gut near the size of his manager's in order to keep his cleanup spot in the batting order.

Ervin Santana had a five-run fourth inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays as bog a head start as most major league teams might need. When the Angels threatened to do more than just dramatically tie the ballgame, Kendrys Morales grounded into an inning-ending double play. The bullpen was human, though not particularly gascan, but you cannot pitch perfect every night, Not true for hitting weak ground balls right at fielders, something Morales and Howie Kendrick seem to have mastered down to the deepest detail.

Props though, to John Hester on a great two-run homer which would have been the story of the game had it not been a defeat.

Last August 30, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they signed a right handed pitcher from the Diablos Rojos del Mexico named Roberto Osuna. A glance at his birth date showed that he was born in 1995. Nineteen-freakin'-ninety-five. He is just a year older than Joey Kirby. It was enough to not only make me feel old, but it even made leaflover4ever of all people feel old. You can read this pre-signing scouting report about Osuna from Baseball Prospectus.

The 17-year old started off 2012 as a Blue Jay in rookie-level Bluefield, but after 7 games he was promoted to join the Vancouver Canadians (short season A). Last night, he made his debut for the C's against the hated Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners affiliate) at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Osuna struck out the first batter he faced (Jamodrick McGruder) then proceeded to strike out the 12 more batters, giving up just a hit and a walk, in his five-inning outing. The young Osuna faced 19 batters, with 8 whiffing and 5 being punched out. According to MjwW, he threw 75 pitches, 57 of which were strikes, causing AquaSox batters to miss 23 times on 38 swings. His velocity started at 94, peaked at 95, and had a few at 92 to go along with a sharp breaking ball. It was a performance that certainly turned a few heads and probably made a Osuna a few more fans, including Justin Nicolino:

What a performance by the young buck osuna tonight. That kid is unreal!

— Justin Nicolino (@J_Nicolino22) July 29, 2012

Roberto Osuna left in the 6th with a 5-1 lead in favour of 2012 first round pick Marcus Stroman, who added 2 more K's through 2 innings of 1-hit ball. In the 8th, Canadians manager Clayton McCullough called on the services of Bryan Longpre, a 25-year old who has been demoted from Dunedin to Lansing to Vancouver so far this season. Longpre struggled in his only inning, giving up a run on 3 hits, but he added another notch on the strikeout tally.

With the C's enjoying a comfortable 6-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th, McCullough gave the ball to Matt Johnson. Johnson was a shortstop for Vancouver to start the season, but after an impressive showing of velocity pitching in a blowout against the very same AquaSox a month ago, it was decided that he would be better served as a pitching convert. Johnson did not have a good time in his 9th professional apperance on the mound last night, being tagged with 4 runs on 3 hits after striking out 2 and getting the AquaSox down to their last strike twice. Unfortunately, the inning (and game) was extended after 2B Daniel Arcila booted a routine grounder. After a pitching change, Zack Breault gave up a game-tying 3-run homer to Mike Zunino, the 3rd overall pick in this year's draft. Unfortunately, Breault also coughed up the game-winning hit to Jamodrick McGruder (I love typing out his name) in the 10th.

Canadians lose 7-6 despite a 6-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. Canadians pitchers finish with 19 strikeouts.

Here are the highlights on the offensive side for the Canadians:

• Nicholas Baligod: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI. He also showed off his canon arm a couple times from right field.
• Ian Parmley: 2-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 1 K.
• Kellen Sweeney: 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 1 RBI, 1 R

Capsules for the Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Dunedin, Lansing, Bluefield, and GCL Jays games after the jump.

Las Vegas 51s 7 Salt Lake City Bees 2

Mississaugan Shawn Hill with an impressive start, stinging the Bees with a 7-inning 5-hit shutout effort. Two David Carpenters (?!) pitched in the game, one for the 51s and one for the Bees, with both of them throwing a shutout inning. Chad Beck had a rough return to AAA, Allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in the 9th (including an RBI double to Robinzon Diaz).

Offensive highlights:

• Moises Sierra: 2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB
• Eric Thames: 2-for-3, R, 2B, RBI
• David Cooper: 1-for-4, HR
• Mike McCoy: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, 2K
• Adieny Hechavarria: 1-for-5, R, RBI, 2K

Thanks for the summary, Joey Kirby!

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5 Altoona Curve 1

Deck McGuire is in the midst of a disappointing season, but in this game he limited the Curve to 4 hits and no runs in 7 innings pitched. His 3 walks were balanced by 3 strikeouts in his 5th win of 2012. Following McGuire were Matt Daly, who had two K's in his inning of work, and Trystan Magnuson, who allowed Altoona's only run in the 9th.

Offensive highlights:

• Brad Glenn: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• John Tolisano: 2-for-4, 3B, 1 RBI
• Sean Ochinko: 2-for-4, RBI
• Ryan Goins: 1-for-5, 3B, RBI, K

Charlotte Stone Crabs 13 Dunedin Blue Jays 6

Casey Lawrence pitched 6 innings in his start for Dunedin, but the 24-year old was pinched by the Stone Crabs, giving up 6 earned runs on 9 hits despite striking out 8. Charlotte's starter Braulio Lara and reliever Alex Koronis gave up 6 runs themselves in the first 6 innings, so Lawrence escaped a loss in this one. Unfortunately, Dunedin's relievers (Cody Evans, Randy Boone, Brandon Kaye) did not fare well at all, giving up 9 runs in the top of the 7th, after Lawrence allowed the first two batters to reach.

Dunedin will hopefully get some pitching help from tomorrow's starter, Brandon Morrow, who is making his first rehab start. Morrow is expected to throw two innings.

Offensive highlights:

• Marcus Knect: 1-for-3, HR, BB
• Ryan Schimpf: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
• Oliver Dominguez, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB

South Bend Silver Hawks 5 Lansing Lugnuts 9

Anthony DeSclafani won his 9th game for the Lugnuts, giving up a single run on 6 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 1 in his 5-inning start. Philip Brua, Ian Kadish, and Aleson Escalante finished the rest of the game. Kadish, the Bear Jew, struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in his only inning, but Escalante was roughed up for 3 runs on 4 hits in the 9th.

Offensive highlights :

• K.C. Hobson: 4-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
• Kevin Patterson: 2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, K
• Kenny Wilson: 2-for-4, RBI, R, BB, K
• Khris Schaeffer: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2K

Bluefield Blue Jays 2 Princeton Rays 8

GCL Blue Jays 7 GCL Tigers 1

A bit of arithmetic shows that the Jays' minor league affiliates gave up 11 runs in the 9th inning yesterday (yelp). Only three "Blue Jays" teams (Dunedin, Bluefield, Gulf Coast League) escaped with a scoreless 9th like their big league namesake.

The Detroit Tigers salvaged the final game of their weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-1 victory, ending their 4 game losing streak. Doug Fister (5-7) tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball for win. Jose Valverde posted his 20th save of the season. Jhonny Peralta accounted for all the Tigers' scoring with 4 RBI off a pair of home runs, numbers 7 and 8 on the year.

Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (2-4) was dominant for long stretches, but one mistake pitch to Peralta was enough to give him the loss. Colby Rasmus drove in the sole Blue Jays run.

The game got off to a disconcerting start for the Tigers, the Blue Jays taking a lead without benefit of a hard hit ball. Rajai Davis led off with a broken bat single, a looper just over head of a leaping Perlata. Davis stole 2nd, advancing to 3rd when Gerald Laird's throw was not money, bouncing into center field. Davis scored on a dribbler to 3rd off the bat Rasmus.

Peralta made up for his lack of a vertical leap in the 2nd, giving the Tigers the lead in process. Delmon Young led off with his 4th walk in 5 games. (Shocking, I know!) Ryan Raburn followed with a long double to left, missing a home run by a couple of feet. Raburn may have fell short, but Peralta didn't, busting out of an 0-17 slump by blasting a 3 run home run to deep left, giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

Runs then became scarce for the next couple of hours. A pitcher's duel ensued, Britt Cecil mowing down Tigers while Doug Fister would pitch into, then out of, trouble.

After setting down 8 consecutive Tigers, Cecil pitched out of a 2 on, 1 out jam in the 5th, striking out Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder popping out. After 7 more Tigers had been set down, Austin Jackson worked a base on balls with 2 out in the 7th. He was quickly dispatched back to the dugout, thrown out trying to steal.

The Blue Jays were slightly more successful against Fister, but couldn't close the deal for the want of a 2 out hit. With runners in scoring position with 2 out in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings, the Blue Jays couldn't deal the death blow, each threat ending in frustration with an easy put out.

Fister got better as the game progressed, allowing just 1 base runner in his final 3 innings of work. Fister's workday ended after 8 innings, posting his 4th straight quality start.

Peralta added an insurance run in the 9th, going yard off of Blue Jays reliever Joel Carreno with 2 out in the 9th. Those 2 out RBI are killer....

Called on to close out the Blue Jays, Valverde's fastball was on, meaning there were no need for antacids or defibrillators. Potato ended the game in most undramatic 1-2-3 fashion.

Cue the end of a 4 game losing streak and the Big Potato dancing!

The Tigers now head to off to Boston for 3 games with under .500 Red Sox.

Bullets:

• Perspective is a good thing. Despite their recent losing streak and lousy road trip, the Tigers are still 6-4 in last 10 games and 14-6 in their last 20.
• The Tigers are 54-48, just 1 1/2 games back of the White Sox, winners of 5 straight. The Rangers could do the Tigers a huge solid by playing like a team with the 2nd best record in the AL instead of being the White Sox's personal punching bag.
• Doug Fister since the All-Star break: 3-1, 1.80 ERA. 2nd half Fister is back!
  
• 4 walks in 5 games? Is it possible Delmon Young is learning plate discipline? Nah...
• Austin Jackson's single in the 5th was his 100th base hit of the season. The only other Tigers over 100 are the usual suspects, Miguel Cabrera (131) and Prince Fielder (115).
• Who is next on the Tigers' hit parade? Amazingly, it's Delmon Young with 96.
• Stat via the ever informative Oakland Press beat writer, Matthew B. Mowery: On July 22, 2011, Jhonny Peralta hit his 16th home run and had 62 RBI by end of July. Today he hit home run number 8 and has 37 RBI.
• This was Peralta's 7th career 2 home run game and 3rd as a Tiger. He's been catching quite a bit of heat in the BYB comments as of late. But even though he's having an off year, going into today Peralta was still 5th in AL and 10th in MLB with a .725 OPS. We all know he's capable of better, as we saw today. I have a sneaking feeling he's only going up in those rankings from here on out.
  
• Speaking of milestones, Jose Valverde now has 6th straight seasons of 20 plus saves.
• We're still not getting game photos on a timely basis, so you get a close up of Leyland from last night in the lede.
• Olympics bullet of the day: Note to NBC, in a world with Twiter, Facebook, internet access nearly everywhere and a 24/7 news cycle, tape delaying events until prime time makes you look like technological nitwits.

Screencap of the day:

I'm guessing these are Tigers fans on the edge of CN Tower after the cats lost the first 2 games of the series. DOOOOOM.

In case you missed it: The White Sox countered the Tigers big trade by acquiring -- drum roll, please -- Francisco Liriano from the Twins. Odds are Liriano works out as well for them as the Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn deals did for the Tigers in 2009.

3 ROARS:

Doug Fister: How do you win games when the offense is in a deep funk? Your starting pitcher throwing an 8 inning, 7 hit, 1 run, 9 K gem.

Jhonny Peralta: Peralta was having a God awful series and in a massive slump. Hitting a 3 run bomb in the 2nd inning and solo shot in the 9th is one Hell of a way to bust out.

Jose Valverde: Uneventful saves are much appreciated. So Papa Grande gets a roar, but easy saves will not get you a shot at BYB PotG.

BONUS ROAR:

Ryan Rabrun: He doubled. YAY! Good job! We all need positive reinforcement, even the much derided Ray-bum.

3 HISSES:

Brennan Boesch: 0-3 with 3 strike outs. Remember when Boesch finally came alive and was hitting the cover off the ball? Bad Boesch is back.

Gerald Laird: 0-3, throwing error. G$ was not $.

Prince Fielder: The big men of the Tigers' batting order went hitless, but at least Cabrera walked once. So Prince gets the nod.

GAME 101 PLAYER OF THE GAME:

With 2 hits and the Tigers' only RBI, Brennan Boesch was rewarded as PotG with 77% of the BYB vote.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was at his best yesterday, shutting out the division leading Giants in San Francisco for his 8th win of the season. He is now 8-6 with a 2.95 ERA, 2.96 FIP and 3.34 xFIP, 1.06 WHIP and a 143-39 strikeout to walk ratio in 139.1 innings pitched. His K rate is down almost a full strikeout per nine innings this season, and his walk rate is up slightly, but his ground ball rate is hovering around 46% this season, up from 43% in 2011. He bounced back from his worst outing in quite awhile, giving up 8 runs in St. Louis earlier in the week.

Here's something I haven't seen all year: Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis played the whole game for the Dodgers yesterday with the hitting line of 0-0, 4 BBs.

Tigers starter Doug Fister is doing his best to repeat his second half streak from 2011. He limited the Blue Jays to one run on 7 hits, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts in 8 innings of work yesterday. He is now 5-7 on the season with a 3.77 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 79-20 strikeout to walk ratio in 90.2 innings pitched. He has given up just 6 earned runs, with a 31-5 K-BB rate in his last 4 starts, covering 30 innings.

I have to admit, I am totally surprised with the performance of Wei-Yin Chen this season. Chen went out and struck out 12 Oakland A's yesterday in just 5.2 innings, giving up one unearned run on 3 hits, and 4 walks to win for the 9th time this season. Chen hasn't struck out more than 10 batters all season, and struck out just 19 in his 4 April starts, so that tells you how out of left field his performance was yesterday.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Between the Olympics, my 9am Target Report, and Twitter, this may be a short one today.

I traded for Roy Halladay in one of my NL only keeper leagues before he came off the DL, as I needed an ace starting pitcher under the asssumption that Zack Greinke could be traded to the AL, and that worked out as planned. What hasn't worked out as planned is Halladay. He is certainly not the Halladay from 2011, and I wonder if he is still hurt. He pitched fairly well yesterday, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, a walk and 7 strikeouts in 6 innings yesterday, but since his return from the DL, he has given up 11 runs on 19 hits and 2 walks in 17 innings. Looking back to his last 10 starts dating back to April 27th, he has given up 35 runs in 59.1 innings of work. He was drafted in the first round in some drafts this season, and has been nothing short of a bust to date.

Mat Latos is doing what Mat Latos normally does in the second half of the season. He limited the Rockies to just two runs on 4 hits, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts in 8 innings yesterday to win his 9th game of the season. He is now 9-3 with a 4.17 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, a 1.24 WHIP and a 117-40 strikeout to walk rate in 127.1 innings pitched. He has given up 2 runs or less in 7 of his last 9 starts, lowering his ERA from 5.20 to 4.17 over that stretch.

Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson just continues to surprise me with his performance on the mound. His advanced stats say he is one of the worst starters in the AL, but that has not been the case this season. Hellickson shut out the Angels for 6 innings yesterday, giving up just 2 hits, no walks and striking out 5 to win his 6th game of the season. He is now 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 4.79 xFIP, a 1.25 WHIP, and a 72-40 strikeout to walk ratio in 111.1 innings. He has given up 3 runs or less in all but two of his 19 starts this season, somehow doing so while giving up 19 home runs.

One guy who I failed to include in my hitters to target in the second half, and should have included, was Nationals outfielder Michael Morse. Morse had returned from the DL at the beginning of June, but hadn't shown much power. He went 2-4 with a HR, 2 runs and 4 RBI yesterday and is now hitting .303-.330-.466 with 8 HRs and 32 RBI this season, but has hit 5 of his 8 HRs and driven in 19 of his 32 runs in July. Like last season, he has hit well in each month he has played this season, hitting .299 in June and .299 in July, so the guy can hit. It will be interesting to see what the Nationals do with him next season. I assume he moved to first base with Adam Laroche in the last of a two year contract.

The JAys have put Adam Lind on the DL, retroactive to Jule 26, with a mild back strain (if it is mild, why isn't he just day to day?). David Cooper gets the call from Las Vegas.

It is Cooper's second time up with the Jays this season. He hit .292, with 2 home runs ni 24 game earlier this season. He is htting .314 with 10 home runs and 27 doubles with the 51's.

I wonder if the back problems caused Lind's bat to cool off over the last couple of weeks. He started off great, when he was recalled, but slowed. Since being called back up Adam has hit .288 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI in 24 games,For th season he is .227 with 8 home runs and 27 RBI.

Nice that Cooper gets another chance to show what he can do. I'd guess he'll mostly DH against RHP and spell Edwin Encarnacion at first base occasionally.

Witht he Trade deadline just a day away I thought I'd put up an open thread so we can share rumors, thoughts, trade ideas or whatever you want.

I'm doubtful that the Jays will do much, but you never know.

Ken Rosenthal had this:

The A's, at the moment, also are reluctant to meet the Toronto Blue Jays' price for shortstop Yunel Escobar, sources said.

I can't see the Jays Trading Yunel unless they get a really good return on him. I don't think the Jays want to sell low on the guys.

We also have some bullpen arms that might draw some interest, relievers always are valuable trade pieces at this time of year, but then I'd like them to keep some of the better arms for next year. Darren Oliver might be worth a fair bit on the trade market. Much as I'd miss him.

Anyway, share your favorite rumors here?

In a brief column posted a couple of hours ago, Jon Heyman reports that the Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Giants "have some interest" in Justin Morneau. He also mentions that San Francisco is focused on the outfield, which makes me wonder how curious they'd be about Denard Span. But I'll try to stay focused.

How does first base look for these three teams?

Dodgers (56-47, 1st place tie in NL West)

James Loney's offensive value was tied up in his batting average and on-base percentage. This season, Loney is batting .257/.309/.338, effectively making him one of the worst first basemen in the league at the plate. Juan Rivera has seen more time there recently, and is getting all the starts against left-handed pitchers, but he isn't necessarily doing all that well against southpaws either. Adding Morneau, even if he only starts against right-handed pitchers, would be a huge gain for LA. Having a middle of the order that includes Matt Kemp, Andre Eithier, Hanley Ramirez AND Morneau would be a vast improvement over where they were last week.

Blue Jays (51-50, 3.5 games out in Wild Card)

Juan Encarnacion has had some kind of a rebirth, hitting .299/.393/.592 this season with 28 bombs. His shift to first base means that Adam Lind, new and improved since his return to the Majors (.288/.337/.513 in that time frame), has been getting most of the designated hitter plate appearances. While Jose Bautista is out, perhaps Lind would shift back into the outfield so Justin could DH. I'm not sure what the plan is, but they'd have to shift something around to get Morneau into the lineup.

Giants (55-46, 1st place tie in NL West)

Brandon Belt continues to struggle at first base, hitting just .237/.342/.375. In spite of that overall line he's posting an OPS of .900 against left-handed pitchers, which makes Morneau an idea platoon partner. Buster Posey gets a rest by playing first from time to time, and Pablo Sandoval has made appearances there as well, but the Giants are starved for offense and could use help to keep pace with the Dodgers.

I'm still not really a fan of moving Morneau, albeit that's more for sentimental reasons than anything else. He's part of the core of this team, and it would be sad to see him go. If it happens, and it might, hopefully the return can help dull the pain.

Winning is fun. Winning is entertaining. Winning solely for the sake of winning isn't all the important for the Mariners at the moment as their record is largely irrelevant. It's not completely meaningless since the overall record still drives a large portion of people's narrative about the state of the team, but for those of us here, who'd be paying attention no matter, it's of lesser importance. I'd rather the Mariners lose 4-3 with good games from Kyle Seager and John Jaso than win 6-2 on the back of good performances from Miguel Olivo and Hisashi Iwakuma.

Lately, the winning has coincided with good results from the right players though which is a double bonus. Casper Wells has cemented himself a starting job both with the availability of a spot and his quality play. John Jaso has done almost everything possible to earn a regular job and Jesus Montero's bat has been productive. Mike Carp isn't Justin Smoak. I am back to being interested in the games. Now I wait to see what further changes, if any, await over the next 24 hours.

P/PA = pitches per PA [avg~3.8], nBB = uBB + HBP, Sw = swinging [avg~45%], Ct = contact [avg~81%], Qual+ = a measure of quality of batted balls [avg=100, higher is better]

Carlos Peguero is Miguel Olivo, but more so. Amazing.

The team's batting average is still depressingly low, but the walks and extra base hits are starting to pop up some more. That makes watching those half-innings far more tolerable.

Over seven Major League seasons, Edwin Encarnacion's OPS+ ranged between 91 and 110. He was more above average than below with the bat, but his defense at third base was also a major liability. The Blue Jays have had him split time between first base and DH most of this year, shielding them (successfully it seems, see below) from the worst of Edwin's drawbacks.

More than just hiding his glove though, Edwin's bat has exploded in the sense of becoming amazing and not in the literal sense, which would make for a poor bat and probably not very good hitting. Remember when Jose Bautista was having those super amazing seasons? They were just last year, and the year before so I hope you remember. Well, Encarnacion's 2012 season ranks in line with Bautista's 2010 and 2011.

It is difficult to find a team with a better infield defense than the Mariners. There are only two, and the Blue Jays happen to be one of them. Brett Lawrie is creating a reputation for good glove play in addition to a lively bat and Yunel Escobar has long been well regarded as well. And the Blue Jays have used Omar Vizquel as well. Omar Vizquel is still a player! Omar's bat fell off the cliff six years ago and he still has a job.

Ricky Romero broke into the Major Leagues in 2009 and with two full and one almost full season to his credit as a starter, he's been roughly league average. That was before 2012. This year, Romero's strikeout rate has dropped by 3 points and his walk rate has risen by 3 points. Most pitchers do not have a margin of error that can successfully handle that kind of swing. Romero is not an exception. He's pitched like a replacement-level player this year. In his last start, against the Athletics, Romero faced 14 batters and walked six of them.

Aaron Laffey you guys! He's back.

For what it's worth, I think that tandem starting with Jason Vargas in Tacoma is D.J. Mitchell, who is also already on the 40-man roster. In the case of a Vargas trade, that is who I'd initially expect to make this start in his place.

When the Mariners last faced the Blue Jays, Carlos Villanueva was in their bullpen, but with injuries, including Brandon Morrow's, to the rotation, Villaneuva has shifted to starting.

Str% = strike rate [avg~63%], Ct% = contact rate [avg~78%], GB% = groundball rate [avg~45%], Qual- = a measure of quality of batted balls [avg=100, lower is better], LI = leverage [avg~1.2]

Oh, you're still here? Huh.

The Toronto bullpen has been a disaster as a whole, but they've improved of late. Darren Oliver and Casey Janssen are solid contributors and newly arrived Aaron Loup has yet to walk a batter.

Series Beer: Schneider Tap 6 Unser Aventinus
A wheat beer with a bit more heft behind it for when you get tired of drinking light beers in the summer. Personally, I like to start off with something more substantial and then taper off to lighter when I'm hanging out on the patio

Blue Jays 4 A's 5 (15 innings)

It is late, so we aren't going to have a real recap. That was a fun game, even if we lost. Some quick points:

• Brett Lawrie left the game in the first inning with some sort of injury to his side.
• Colby Rasmus left the game, I think in the 13th, with what looked to be a groin or leg injury.
• Brett Cecil wasn't good, he gave up 9 hits, 4 earned, 1 walk, 1 k, 2 home runs in 5 innings.
• The bullpen did a good job, giving up 9 scoreless innings before the A's scored with 1 out in the 15th.
• Jeff Mathis hit a game tying 3 run homer in the 9th, on a full count pitch.
• Omar Vizquel was thrown out trying to score from first on a Colby Rasmus double. Man is he slow, but you had to give it a try.
• Rajai Davis was picked off 1st in the 13th.
• With the injuries and Moises Sierra used as a pinch runner in the 9th, we had to move Edwin from DH to first base. Aaron Loup became the first Blue Jay pitcher to hit in an AL game in the history of the team. (h/t Minor Leaguer). He ground out.
• We used a 5 man infield, with Rajai coming in from the outfield to play third base (or around third base), in the 10th with the bases loaded and 1 out. Brad Lincoln got a strikeout so we didn't have to see the infield at work and he got a ground out to end the inning.
• Jays of the Day: Lincoln (.435 WPA), Mathis (.223), Janssen (.131) and Edwin (.131).
• Suckage: Cecil (-.227), Loup (-.173), Johnson (-.263, 1 for 6), Gomes (-.243, 0 for 3), Davis (-.201, 1 for 5, picked off), Gose (-.187, 0 for 6, 3 k).

.Tomorrow we try, once again, to end the losing streak. 4:00 Eastern start. Ricky Romero vs. A.J. Griffin. I hope Lawrie and Rasmus are ok, if they have to sit tomorrow we'll be down to 1 guy on the bench.

I remember watching a Blue Jays game way back when Alex Rios was brand new to the league. Everybody's favorite announcer, Joe Morgan, said that Rios reminds him of Dave Winfield. Those comments stuck with me. I went on to pick Rios in my fantasy league for years in a row. I always liked Rios. I always waited for him to reach his potential.

His potential has always been there. He was the 1st round pick (19th overall) of the Blue Jays back in 1999. He was a two time all star for Toronto in 2006 and 2007. Heck, we've even seen him play well at times here. May of 2010 and September of 2011 stick out.

There was always something though. In his 2006 All Star season, Rios hit .330/.383/.585 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI in the first half. Then Rios fouled a ball off of his toe and somehow contracted a staph infection. The infection cost him a chance to play in the All Star game, and Rios hit .261/.297/.411 with 2 homers and 29 RBI the rest of the way.

Alex got back on track in 2007 and turned in his finest complete season to date. He hit .297/.354/.498 with 24 homers, 85 RBI, another all star birth and even an impressive HR derby performance before losing out to Vladimir Guerrero in San Francisco. Rios was seemingly right back where he was before the staph infection hampered him the year before.

In 2008, Jays management decided they needed to lock down this five tool player. He signed his current 7 year $69 million dollar contract in April. Once Rios got paid though, he started to fall out of favor in Toronto. Instead of building on his impressive 2007, Rios took a bit of a step back. Alex struggled out of the gate, connecting for only 4 homers in the first half. He finished the year with 15 homers and a .798 OPS, both down from the previous year. He did hit 47 doubles and stole 32 bases, but questions started popping up if he'd ever reach his outstanding potential.

Then 2009 came. The Blue Jays had been stuck in a rut of having a winning record, but never good enough to wind up playing ball in October. Rios, as one of the teams highest paid players, started to feel the wrath of a frustrated fan base. In late May and early June, the Jays dropped 11 of 14 games, including an 8 game losing streak, and on June 4th, Alex was 0-5 with 5 strikeouts against the Angels. That night, he attended a Charity function and had a run in with a fan after refusing to sign a kids autograph. You can view it on Youtube here. The fact that the incident was caught on video, drew the ire of Toronto fans and media alike. Here is what Toronto Star writer Steve Simmons had to say about him after that game:

Alex Rios has turned into a $10-million embarrassment for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Never mind that he plays the outfield with a not-so-reckless indifference. Never mind that he has taken his five-tool gifts and squandered them with his lack of passion and apathy. Never mind that the hitting numbers aren't anywhere near where they are supposed to be.

All that pales when compared with his foolish act of the other night, exchanging swear words with a fan after turning down an autograph request from a kid, at a charity event no less. Available in today's technology for all to see on YouTube.

Whether management will see it this way or not, Rios essentially is done as a Blue Jay. Failing on the field can be accepted. Failing off the field reflects a certain lack of character. All the apologies in the world may not be able to correct that.

A couple of months after this, Rios was put on waivers and claimed by the White Sox. The Blue Jays took the opportunity to just let the White Sox have Rios and his contract. Because of the White Sox long standing problems in centerfield, Rios was switched from his usual right field to center. Rios acquisition also didn't sit well with 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye, who after having a good first half was mired in a terrible second half slump. With the Rios acquisition, Dye saw the writing on the wall that his White Sox career was coming to an end. Meanwhile, Rios was also struggling badly. He hit .199/.229/.301 in 41 games for the 2009 Sox, and fans hearing of his Toronto escapades were quick to jump on the belief he didn't care about baseball.

In early 2010, Rios looked like the guy the Sox were paying all that money for. He hit a homer on opening day, and ended the 6-0 win with a remarkable diving play in the left centerfield gap. In May of 2010, Rios looked like someone who had figured it all out. He hit .344/.406/.700 that month, but his stats started to fall the rest of the season, especially in August and September when the Sox were fighting for a playoff berth. He finished the year hitting a respectable .284/.334/.457, but a lot of that was due to his amazing May.

We all remember what happened in 2011. Rios had a terrible season. His final line of .227/.265/.348 with 13 homers was saved by a September where he hit .307/.341/.533 and 5 homers. A lot of fans chalked it up to Rios performing when the season was already over with. What was clear though, was that Rios' albatross of a contract was going to handcuff the White Sox for years.

All that has turned around though here in 2012. Alex Rios is one of the American Leagues best players after switching form centerfield back to right. According to fangraphs, as of yesterday he has the 9th highest WAR among American League outfielders at 3.1. He is now hitting .318/.351/.545 with 18 homers, 26 doubles, 5 triples, 15/20 in stolen bases and 126 hits. It seems like every time he takes a swing the result is solid contact. I was at the game last night, and multiple people around me said when Rios was due up third in the 10th inning, "Rios will win it". And then he did. And it was awesome.

By the way, Alex's OPS of .896 would have ranked fourth in Dave Winfield's 22 seasons. Rios has always had the talent. He's always had the pretty home run swing. He's always had "the look". Rios has finally reached his potential, and the final result could be the White Sox playing deep into October.

The Toronto Blue Jays have designated right-handed pitcher Andrew Carpenter for assignment, as reported by Barry Davis of Sportsnet. The team also made a few other roster moves following their extra innings loss on Friday night, including demoting southpaw Brett Cecil to Class Triple-A Las Vegas. The two moves opened up a pair of roster spots on Toronto's roster for the recalls of prospect Adeiny Hechavarria and right-handed pitcher Jesse Chavez.

Cecil to Vegas. Carpenter DFA. Hechavarria and Chavez recalled. #bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) August 4, 2012

The 27-year-old Carpenter appeared in just six games for the Jays this season while posting a 5.00 ERA across 9 innings of work along with a 9.0 K/9, 6.0 BB/9 and 4.0 HR/9.

The big news here is the call up of Hechavarria. The 23-year-old is known for his defense at the shortstop position, but could also play third base because of his great arm.

Our manager John Farrell turns 50 today. I wonder what he'll be wishing for when he blows out his candles. Likely that he doesn't have to talk to the team trainer for a few days.

John was a pretty good pitcher with the Indians until an elbow injury put him out for 2 seasons and, when he came back, he wasn't the same pitcher. His first season back, 1993, he went 3-12 with a 7.35 ERA in 17 starts. His pitching career was pretty much over.

He became the Director of Player Development for the Indians in 2001. In 2007 he became the Red Sox pitching coach and, well, you know the rest.

Farrell had been a .500 manager for us, until this week brought everything crashing down.

Also turning 50 today is former Blue Jay pitcher Roger Clemens. Roger won 41 games and 2 Cy Youngs, in his 2 seasons with Toronto. He'll tell you that he did it all without the help of PEDs. It must be true, a jury believed him.

And turning 30 today, another former Jay pitcher, Josh Roenicke. Josh is having a good season with the Colorado Rockies. He has a 2.40 ERA win 43 games there. Much better than the 6.38 ERA he had with us. Maybe we should have been a bit more patient with him.

So Happy Birthday John (and Roger and Josh). It would be ok to celebrate it with a victory.