Kluber pitched another gem, but it was overshadowed by five-hit performances by Lonnie Chisenhall and David Murphy.

Game 40: Indians 15, Blue Jays 4

Box Score

Records: Cleveland 19-21, Toronto 20-21

It's like we've been waiting for it forever, but it finally happened: a no-doubt-about-it blowout win. Doesn't it feel good? The Indians hung a 15-spot on the Blue Jays tonight, besting their season-high by three and giving us all the chance to enjoy a stress-free evening of baseball. Corey Kluber turned in another excellent outing but for once it wasn't needed, as the bats ensured a resounding Tribe victory.

Things were pretty quiet in the early goings. the Indians knocked Dustin McGowan around a bit but found themselves clinging to a 2-0 lead that could have been bigger if not for some wasted RISP opportunities. Carlos Santana opened the game up in the fourth, putting the Indians up 4-0 on a two-run blast (maybe *this* will be the thing to snap his funk?). Kluber cruised through four perfect innings but started to struggle, giving up a run on a Bret Lawrie double in the 5th and a Jose Bautista double in the 6th. It was starting to look like the Jays might claw their way back, but that was not the case. Klubot set down the next five batters he faced, finishing his night with 9 K's, and just one walk over seven innings. From the 7th inning on, it was bombs away for the Tribe offense.

Asdrubal Cabrera led off the 7th with a double, and was driven in by David Murphy's single up the middle. The indians added another on a Mike Aviles RBI single. The tacked on two more in the 8th courtesy of an RBI single from Cabrera and a two-run double by Murphy. The game was out of reach for the Jays by then, with the Indians up 9-2. But the real fun had just begun.

Mike Aviles kicked off the 9th with a double and was driven in by Michael Bourn's league-leading fourth triple of the season. Nick Swisher - who was the only Tribe starter without a hit tonight - grounded out, but Jose Ramirez drove in Bourn with a solid single (Ramirez came on for Nyjer Morgan in the 6th - more on that later). The 11th and 12th runs of the night scored on David Murphy's fifth hit of the night, a double crushed to the gap in right-center. Yan Gomes put the icing on the cake against his former team with a laser shot three-run homer. Lonnie Chisenhall collected his fifth hit of the night against Steve Tolleson, Toronto's backup 3B, just for good measure. Carlos Carrasco would do his best to help the Jays back into it in the bottom of the 9th, but even he could only manage to give up two runs.

The Indians sent ten men to the plate in the 9th, inflating their run total to 15. That's the most they've scored in a single game this season, besting a couple of 12-run performances. They also put up a season-high 22 (!) hits, including five each (!!) from Murphy and Chisenhall. Tonight's game was the first time since 1932 that two Indians players have collected five hits each in a single game, and that affair was an 18-inning loss.

Despite fantastic performances by the offense and Kluber, there were a couple worrisome takeaways. Michael Brantley left the game in the 5th after scoring on Santana's homer. He's listed as day to day with "back tightness," which we can only hope isn't serious. Brantley has been the Indians' key offensive contributor this year, and losing him for any significant amount of time would be devastating. Brantley was replaced in the field by Nyjer Morgan, but Morgan would leave the game with a tweaked knee from an awkward play in left field thank in part to that ridiculous astroturf. Losing Morgan wouldn't be as painful as losing Dr. Smooth, but it would still sting.

Injuries aside, this was a stupid-fun game to watch. The Tribe will look to keep the mojo flowing when Danny Salazar takes the mound tomorrow against J.A. Happ.

Win-Expectancy Chart

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call

Game Thread

Total Comments: 380

Number of Commenters: 40

Wednesday night’s game against the Gwinnett Braves was cancelled due to rain so I compiled a report on a few of the important guys for the Bisons and Jays. 

The Blue Jays went into spring training with cautious optimism in regards to Ricky Romero. The former ace showed positive signs, but ultimately his lack of control doomed him. He was sent to minor league camp late in the spring, but the team certainly did not see this move as the end. Unfortunately what was meant to be an opportunity for improvement, has simply amplified his problem. Romero has allowed 23 walks in his first 27 innings posting an even 6.00 ERA coming into tonight’s start, which is more than concerning. After a few years in the minors now people have to start wondering if he will ever be able to regain his command.  

John Stilson could be just the man to remedy the problems in the Blue Jays bullpen. The 23 year old right hander has a rather unimpressive 4.41 ERA, but that number is inflated by one poor outing in the early season. In the team’s past ten games Stilson has worked 7.2 scoreless innings striking out 10 in the process. “We have tried to quicken up his delivery,” said manager Gary Allenson, “he is doing a better job of pitching it rather than throwing it”.

The former starter has proven he has the ability to work several innings out of the pen. He went three scoreless innings against Charlotte on the fourth of this month and two more scoreless on the ninth also against Charlotte. His electric late inning caliber stuff could make him a truly versatile weapon for the Jays. “He’s got such good stuff,” said catcher Mike Nickeas, “he really doesn’t have any business being at this level. With the kind of stuff he has he should be at the next level”.

Jonathan Diaz came into the day hitless in his first 24 plate appearances with Buffalo after being sent down on the first of the month. These struggles are really a continuation of what he had done in Toronto as he was only able to work a .176 average in 22 games for the Jays.

Jared Goedert got the day off yesterday after hitting three homeruns in the previous two games. The power surge was part of a four game hitting streak that raised his season average to an impressive .307 mark. Even more impressive is his .396 on base percentage which is near the top in the IL.  He could be a reliable option if Juan Francisco cools off for the Jays.

The Bisons and Braves are hoping to get a doubleheader in on Thursday but the weather may again be uncooperative. If things go as planned Romero will start game one at 5 p.m. against Gus Schlosser and Kyle Drabek will take the mound in the night cap against Yunesky Maya. These games could prove to be critical as both teams are already in tight battles atop their respective divisions.

Sounds like the game last night was not very fun. Corey Kluber is starting to look like a pretty good pitcher for the Indians this season. In the rubber match tonight, J.A. Happ goes up against right-hander Danny Salazar. Also TODAY'S GAME IS THE MLB.TV FREE GAME OF THE DAY! Salazar is 24-years-old and made his debut last summer against the Blue Jays in a game that he dominated (6.0 IP, 7 SO and 1 ER). His season hasn't gone so well this year, but he has a BABIP of .384 so it's not all bad for the Dominican.

With a 31% K-rate last year and a 26.8% K-rate so far this year, it's pretty obvious that Salazar knows how to miss bats. His BB% has inched towards 10% this season though, which is beginning to cause problems for young Danny. Featuring a mid to high-90's fastball and a solid slider and splitter, Salazar is at times unhittable. His splitter falls directly off the table and onto the floor as you can see:

Want to know how Jose Reyes looks trying to hit Salazar's splitter? The answer is not good:

via www.fangraphs.com

He's kind of having an issue getting right-handers out, which is a large part of the reason why he's struggling so much this season.

Hopeful Lineup

If anyone is paying attention to these numbers with the Blue Jays it might behoove them to send the switch hitters up batting right-handed.

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Adam Lind DH
5. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
6. Juan Francisco 3B
7. Erik Kratz C
8. Brett Lawrie 2B
9. Kevin Pillar CF

Find The Link

Game In A Sentence

Keith Law has run a mock MLB first round draft (subscription required) and his Blue Jays picks are RHP Touki Toussaint (with the number 9 pick) and RHP Jeff Hoffman (with the 11th pick).

About Toussaint, he says:

Analysis: The Jays would love Nick Gordon, but there seems to be no way he runs the gauntlet from Minnesota to Colorado without someone taking him. They're clearly the high team on Toussaint and have been rumored all spring to be on prep arms.

I'm sure they would like Gordon but it won't happen unless we are really lucky.

Toussaint is 6'2" 195, born in Haiti. Matt Garrioch has a profile of him up at Minor League Ball. He throws 92-95, and can hit 98, a good curve and a cutter/slider. They had this video of him:

Jeff Hoffman is a college RHP, 6'3", 190. Law says:

Hoffman was one of the top three arms in the draft until he underwent Tommy John surgery recently. The hot rumor of the week has the Jays using their second first-rounder on Hoffman, signing him for a little less than the recommended bonus for this draft slot (he can't exactly go back into next year's draft, as he would barely be back on a mound by next May), and use the savings on their next pick at 50.

Again he has a fastball in the mid-90's, a curve and a change. ESPN has more on him here. Here is YouTube video:

Law has LHP Brady Aiken going first and catcher Alex Jackson going second. He sees Tyler Beede dropping to the Pirates at number 24, siteing 'makeup questions'.

Danny Salazar is not a good starting pitcher right now.

Game 41: Blue Jays 4, Indians 1

Two weeks ago I wrote that the Indians should send Danny Salazar down to Columbus to see if he could better develop his off-speed pitches (or something). Then he went out and made his best start of the year. He's now been bad in two of the three starts since then though, and tonight he was finished after only 4 innings, because he's already thrown 4 million pitches (okay, it was only 98). He gave up two home runs in those four innings, and while those were the only runs he allowed, it probably should have been worse. Even without it being worse, 2 runs in 4 innings is a lousy start, and I'm back to believing Salazar should be sent down. If his next start doesn't go better, and if Trevor Bauer rebounds from his first bad outing of the year for Columbus, I think the two of them will be swapped by Memorial Day.

The Indians certainly still had a decent shot at winning the game when Salazar was lifted, because David Murphy homered to right field in the top of the 5th, making it a one-run game. In fact, the Indians maybe even should have been ahead at that point, given that they'd had two on with one out in the 2nd and 4th innings, but they couldn't score any of those runners.

C.C. Lee came in for the 5th and immediately gave up a single to Jose Bautista, followed by Edwin Encarnacion hitting his second home run of the night, which made it a 4-1 game. With the lineup having spent a week's worth of production in Wednesday's 15-4 win, so a three-run deficit would be too much to overcome. Yan Gomes drove in an 8th-inning run with a single, and which brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Murphy couldn't repeat his earlier heroics.

The Indians didn't screw around with any false hope in the 9th inning; Mike Aviles, Michael Bourn, and Nick Swisher quickly and quietly went in order, leaving the Indians with a 4-2 loss.

On the bright side... um... Murphy hit that homer... Gomes threw out an attempted base thief... Jesus Aguilar drew a walk in his first MLB plate appearance... Asdrubal Cabrera hit his team-leading 11th double of the season... Scott Atchison pitched 1.2 scoreless innings...

This one took 3:23 to finish, which is way too long for a ho-hum 4-2 game, but Terry Francona wanted to make sure every pitcher in the organization got some work in, I guess so that they can tell their grandchildren they pitched in Canada or something.

The Indians are now 19-22, only 2.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, if you want to see the glass as half full; in last place in the AL Central, if you want to see it as half empty. They're returning home for the weekend, and they've got a nice 12-8 record so far, which is good. They're playing Oakland, who has the best run differential in baseball, which is bad.

Box Score

Win-expectancy chart:

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call:

Game Thread

Total comments: 160

Total commenters: 22

Dr. Smooth is expected back in the lineup tonight, and looks to give the offense a jolt.

In what was perhaps the most boring game of 2014, the Indians dropped the rubber match of their series in Toronto. They now face their toughest challenge of the young season, taking on the AL's three division leaders in the next three series. Will this make or break 2014? Hard to say, but it's still just May baseball, and there's a lot more to play.

Yesterday's game: Blue Jays 4, Indians 2

• LGT recap (Jason Lukehart)
• Cleveland.com recap (Paul Hoynes)
• Indians.com recap

Indians news & notes

Brantley not expected to be out long | Indians.com - Terry Francona held Michael Brantley out of the lineup for the series finale against Toronto, but says he'll likely be ready for the series opening today against the A's. Tito was taking precautions due to the stupid turf, but says he'll be "good to go" today.

Aguilar, family enjoying callup | Cleveland.com - New Indians Big Scary Monster Jesus Aguilar called his mother in Venezuela when he got word of his callup to the majors. She cried tears of joy, for she knows Jesus was sent to absolve the Indians of their baseball sins.

The roller coaster ride that is John Axford |It's Pronounced "Lajaway" - IPL's Bendan Lowery takes a look at heat makes to attempt to figure out what is the deal with Axford's struggles this year.

Cursing umpire sets off Bourn | Cleveland.com - Turns out swearing at Michael Bourn triggers his temper. He's been trying to keep it under control, but a heated exchange with home plate umpire Jerry Meals on Wednesday changed that.

Sudden Sam, Tribe's conflicted star | Waiting For Next Year - WFNY takes a look at the life of Indian pitcher Sam McDowell, whose potential Hall of Fame career was derailed by alcoholism, among other things.

Around MLB

Why are the darling Rays looking more like the Devil Rays? | Grantland - Sitting in last place in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays don't look like the team they were expected to be. Despite a decent offense, the Rays pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries and plagued by underperformance.

Rays place Zobrist on DL | Tampa Bay Times - Speaking of ravaged by injuries, the Rays placed 2B Ben Zobrist on the 15-day DL with a dislocated thumb, but he could actually be out longer.

Rangers' Perez to get TJ surgery | Twitter (Evan Grant) - Texas' Martin Perez is the latest in a long line of pitchers this year to suffer a UCL tear, necessitating Tommy John surgery. Has anyone calculated James Andrews' gross income for 2014 so far?

Baseball's little-known logo inconsistencies | Uni Watch - For all you logo and typography enthusiasts out there, Paul Lukas highlights a handful of teams whose logos differ depending on the application.

Early season overreactions | CBS Sports - Carlos Santana isn't the only one stinking up the joint this year - famed unicorn Mike Trout is also putting up some dreadful numbers. But, like Santana's, it's unlikely things continue that way.

The 30-year old decided to retire instead of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Buffalo.

Toronto Blue Jays' infielder Chris Getz is retiring from baseball after being outrighted off the team's 40-man roster, multiple sources have confirmed to MLB Daily Dish. Getz expressed through a statement that he is looking forward to life outside of baseball.

"I've enjoyed every minute that I've played and will always be passionate about the game," Getz said. "I'm starting a family, and I'm interested in other endeavors both inside and outside of the game."

Getz, 30, hit .160 with one double in ten major league games with the Jays this season after being called up at the end of April. After signing a minor league deal with the Jays during the offseason, he started the year at Triple-A Buffalo and hit hit .309 with 9 RBI in eighteen games before his promotion.

In seven major league seasons with the White Sox (2008-2009), Royals (2010-2013) and Blue Jays (2014), Getz hit .250 with 3 HR and 111 RBI in 459 games. He was the Royals' primary second baseman in 2011 and also saw major league time at third base and shortstop.

The 21-21 Blue Jays visit the state of Texas today to take on the 20-21 Rangers in a three-game weekend series. Drew Hutchison takes on star right-hander Yu Darvish. Texas has been smashed by injuries and their starting pitching hasn't been so hot, so this team definitely isn't the powerhouse Rangers of past years. Naturally the one starting pitcher who has performed well for the Rangers is the one the Blue Jays have to face off against in the series opener. Also, fan favourite J.P. Arencibia is on this team:

via ESPN Depth Charts

Darvish has a 2.33 ERA and a 28.4% K-rate this year, so he's as good as he always is. He still throws a massive amount of pitches including (deep breath): a fastball, sinker, changeup, slider, cutter, curveball, splitter, and a slow curve. He's thrown each of those pitches at least 25 times this year, so they're not just mislabeled versions of other pitches. So here's what that looks like:

Hopeful Lineup

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Adam Lind DH
5. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
6. Juan Francisco 3B
7. Brett Lawrie 2B
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Anthony Gose CF

Find The Link

Game In A Sentence

MLB.com and Baseball America have each posted a mock draft. Since the Blue Jays have 2 pick in the first round, it is kind of interesting to look at them.

MLB.com has the Jays picking Touki Toussaint (RHP) 9th, just like Keith Law's draft, but has them taking SS Trea Turner with their 11th pick. 

About Toukit:

Putting a high school arm with the Blue Jays is almost expected, right? Toussaint and Sean Reid-Foley are the ones most often mentioned.

About Turner:

After a slow start, Turner has turned it up, and his plus speed at a premium position will be of interest to a number of teams.

 Baseball America has them picking the same two but Turner with the 9th and Toussaint with the 11th.

About Turner:

 If the Jays want a college position player, Turner appears to be their man thanks to his speed. They’re also in heavily on Miami prep righthander Touki Toussaint, who has the tantalizing upside the organization craves. The Mets aren’t likely to take Toussaint, so the Jays could wait to take him with their second pick (11th overall). It’s possible Toronto could go with Hoffman and Toussaint and wind up with two of the draft’s top arms when healthy, but would be an extremely risky approach.

About Toussaint: With their second pick, the Jays will get a high-upside pitcher. While the injured Hoffman is tempting, Toussaint appears to be too attractive to pass on twice. MLB has Tyler Beede going 6th while BA has him going 12th, both above Keith Law's guess of 30th. They both have Carlos Rodon as the top pick for the Astros, Law had them taking Brady Aiken, who both of these drafts had going third to the White Sox.

Ball 4! Strike 3!

This week's edition of Around The Nest, titled "Dalton Pompeii", promises to be a blast. Lansing Lugnuts radio guy Jesse Goldberg-Strassler will again be chatting it up with the broadcasters from every Blue Jays minor league affiliate this evening at 5 pm Eastern to talk about the system. As usual, they are inviting you Bluebird Banterers to ask questions about the Lugnuts, D-Jays, Fisher Cats, and Bisons down in the comments of this post, and they will try their best to answer as many as they can.

Tune in live this afternoon by clicking this link right here.

From Daren Willman's wonderful website mlbfarm.com, we see that the Toronto Blue Jays organization is doing quite well as a whole, with a .546 minor league winning percentage heading into Friday, putting them seventh overall in organizational standings.

Breaking it down, Dunedin is leading the way with a two-game lead in first with a 28-11 (.718) record, Buffalo is tied for first with a 21-15 (.583) record, Lansing is in fourth place with a 19-20 (.487) record, and New Hampshire is lagging behind at 15-23 (.395), 8.5 games out.

Just a note: the Bisons are having a "Foul Ball Night" promo tonight. Basically, every fan who catches a foul ball in the game not only gets to keep the ball, but he or she also gets a bag of chips! And if the fan catches the ball on the fly, he or she will get even more prizes. Now, because of rainouts, the Bisons are playing two games, so that just might double fans' chances of getting a prize (and a ball).

In a brave new world where the Rangers lose series to the Astros and are below .500, Texas must keep playing baseball and you must find a reason to care

Series Schedule:

Friday, May 16 7:05: RHP Drew Hutchison vs. RHP Yu Darvish

Michael Young Night, May 17 7:15:LHP Mark Buehrle vs. RHP Colby Lewis LHP Robbie Ross Jr.

Sunday, May 18 2:05: RHP R.A. Dickey vs. ??? (Probably Scott Baker) RHP Nick Martinez

From a fan perspective, maybe this whole mess isn't such a bad thing. If the 2013 Texas Rangers taught me anything, it's that my team can be pretty good -- better than like 90% of the other years in franchise history -- and still be unenjoyable. If the 2008 Rangers taught me anything, it's that my team can be kind of bad -- bad enough that it almost got Ron Washington fired -- but still be quite entertaining.

Maybe it's because of expectations. When the Rangers kicked open the window with the acquisition of Cliff Lee back in July of 2010, things changed. The Rangers made it to the World Series. It was glorious and the fruits of success were tasted at last. When the Rangers looked like ass-kicking baseball gods during September/October 2011, we reached the zenith of what it's like to root for the best team in baseball. (Screw Game 6. We all know who the best team was that year.) Even in 2012, we had an entire season, minus a week, where the Rangers looked like the best team in baseball.

So, yeah, of course we sort of came to expect success. Maybe we're as close to spoiled as Texas Rangers fans can get. There's nothing much wrong with that. Baseball is more fun with the promise that those rare 2010-2013 years exist. But there's something freeing to the potential of the 2014 season cratering before our eyes. From a team perspective, I hope the Rangers use this as a rallying opportunity and murder the American League. Make no mistake, the Rangers are still quite talented. They're going to win more games than they lose. They might even contend for a playoff spot in the era of expanded playoffs. Given the meager 40 something years of this franchise in Texas, you take that any chance you get.

But maybe they won't. And maybe we shouldn't expect them to. And maybe because we don't have to expect them to win, we can get back to watching baseball without worrying so much about a bad inning here or a missed opportunity there, game-to-game. It's the promise of a stress and anger (ha!) free 120 games that we haven't really had around here in a long time.

You don't have to like it, of course. We'd all rather the Rangers be eyeing another long run in October rather than just hoping they can be in the picture. But if that's not in the cards, maybe this just gives us a chance to breathe and enjoy the game.

You can watch Yu Darvish. He's a Texas Ranger, and he's pitching tonight. If Yu Darvish gives up a game-tying home run late in a 2-1 ballgame, it won't matter as much that the Rangers didn't score for him. Instead, you can just marvel at having the pleasure of getting to watch a true ace on the Texas Rangers.

You can watch Colby Lewis continue to be one of the weirdest, wildest success stories the franchise has had without worrying so much that his talent level might only be that of a No. 5 pitcher these days. You can watch bullpen reclamation projects like Aaron Poreda and Shawn Tolleson try to become 2013 Neal Cotts without concerning yourself too much when they inevitably give up a run or two.

You can just watch the Rougned Odors. It doesn't matter so much that the Roogies are maybe too raw for the Major Leagues right now. In Roogie's case in particular, he's here, as Michael Young said, to whoop your asses and it won't hurt as much if his growing pains cost the Rangers a run here or there.

Of course, where it hurts is it might not matter as much.

Here's a breakdown of the pitching match-ups against the runners-up for Yu Darvish's services:

• Yu Darvish: 3-1, 10.49 K/9, 2.53 BB/9, .297 BABIP, 84.0% LOB, 2.59 FIP, 3.32 xFIP, 1.6 WAR - Last three starts: 7 runs allowed in 18.1 innings
• Drew Hutchison: 1-3, 9.73 K/9, 2.98 BB/9, .328 BABIP, 69.9% LOB, 3.15 FIP, 3.44 xFIP, 1.1 WAR - Last three starts: 12 runs allowed in 19.1 innings

Thoughts: Yu Darvish isn't facing David Ortiz. There's no one on the Jays who can call the commissioner's office and request hits, so Yu Darvish should have his no-hitter all wrapped up.

The only time that Drew Hutchison faced the Rangers was back in 2012 when Neftali Feliz was in the Ranger rotation. By August, both of those pitchers were having Tommy John surgery because they throw baseballs with their human arms and that's what happens to people who do that. Hutchison has made his return this season and has been a nice addition to the Jays' rotation. Hopefully Martin Perez has a little more Hutchison in him than Feliz.

• Colby Lewis: 3-2, 8.51 K/9, 2.05 BB/9, .414 BABIP, 76.9% LOB, 3.89 FIP, 3.81 xFIP, 0.6 WAR - Last three starts: 9 runs allowed in 15.0 innings The Rangers have opted for Robbie Ross, instead
• Mark Buehrle: 7-1, 5.26 K/9, 2.89 BB/9, .287 BABIP, 81.1% LOB, 3.26 FIP, 4.31 xFIP, 1.2 WAR - Last three starts: 4 runs allowed in 19.2 innings

Thoughts: Mark Buehrle leads baseball in wins. I know no one but Cy Young voters care about pitcher wins anymore but Buehrle has seven wins so far this year. That's a third of the Blue Jays' wins. Mark Buehrle makes me sad because he (like everything else, apparently) reminds me of Martin Perez. Buehrle has long been my post-Johan Santana comp for Perez.

Colby Lewis topped out at 93 MPH on his fastball last time out. 93! I'm sure he's going to shatter a dozen hips just because I'm acknowledging his health, but the Rangers could really use a medical success story this season. Besides pumping out that low 90s heat, Lewis had his best start since 2012 on Monday and is looking to build on that outing. The Rangers have juggled things around and now Robbie Ross Jr. will make this start with Colby bumped until Tuesday.

• (Probably) Scott Baker.: 0-0, 3.38 K/9, 1.69 BB/9, .222 BABIP, 66.7% LOB, 3.47 FIP, 5.92 xFIP, 0.1 WAR - One relief appearance: 2 runs allowed in 5.1 innings Nick Martinez will make the start.
• R.A. Dickey: 4-3, 7.88 K/9, 4.53 BB/9, .299 BABIP, 66.4% LOB, 3.80 FIP, 4.56 xFIP, 0.9 WAR - Last three starts: 7 runs allowed in 18.1 innings

Thoughts: R.A. Dickey was drafted in the first round by the Rangers in 1996. Dickey was about to sign for a nice bonus when his physical revealed he didn't have a UCL in his right elbow. The Rangers signed Dickey anyway at a drastically reduced rate. Turns out, 18 years later, being born without a UCL in your elbow might just be optimal conditions for a pitcher.

This is Matt Harrison's spot in the rotation. Because Matt Harrison is off seeing how his quality of life will be affected by back surgeries, and because Perez is about to go under the knife for having one of those pesky UCLs, the Rangers had originally intended to use Nick Martinez in this spot. However, Nick Martinez pitched on Wednesday because the bullpen was taxed. So now this start will probably go to Scott Baker who a week ago was designated for assignment. There is, however, still time for the Rangers to trade for Cliff Lee. It's Nick Martinez, after all.

Toronto Blue Jays (21-21, 4th Place in AL East)

Rangers' 2013 Record vs. Toronto: 1-6 (0-4 at The Ballpark)

Toronto's Recent Results: 2-1 home series win over the Cleveland Indians

Toronto's Road Record: 11-10

Ballpark in Arlington Park Factors (LHB/RHB): HR: 106/95 - Runs: 112/109

SB Nation Blue Jays Blog: Bluebird Banter

Questions to Answer:

• Are you going to continue joining me in the Game Day Threads if the Rangers are super bad by July?
• Who is your Return of the McLemore Approved Player to Watch in this series? (Yu Darvish. If we're the Seattle Mariners now, at least we have our Felix Hernandez.)
• Over/Under: 2.5 Paintings crafted by Vernon Wells' dad and gifted to Michael Young during his on-field ceremony on Saturday?
• What's your guess for line (IP/H/K/BB/ER) by whomever starts for the Rangers on Sunday in the series finale (probably Scott Baker Definitely Nick Martinez)?
• Yea or Nay: The Rangers put the latest blows to their season behind them and win this series against Toronto?

Meant to post this yesterday, but with all the roster moves, it got pushed back a day.

Over the last two weeks the Blue Jays were 8-5. The pitchers had an ERA of 4.46.

Neil Wagner also pitched once and it went badly, he faced 11 batters, allowed 6 hits, including 3 doubles, 1 triple and 1 homer and a walk.

Chad Jenkins pitched twice in between call ups and banishments. He faced 4 batters and got all 4 out. Pretty good really.

And Steve Tolleson pitched. He faced 2 batters and got 1 outs. 

A quick post before the long weekend

Down at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo today, Bisons manager Gary Allenson did something very strange. He took out starter Ricky Romero after he threw 2.2 innings of no-hit ball in his start against the Gwinnett Braves in game 1 of a doubleheader. Why the hell would Allenson do that?

Romero walked nine batters -- a new modern era record for the #Bisons. And he did it in 2 2/3 innings.

— Amy Moritz (@amymoritz) May 16, 2014

Oh.

The final line is pitiful: 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 9 BB, 2 K, 74 pitches, 25 strikes. That's nine walks on eight outs. Romero started the game with a leadoff walk, but got out of it by inducing Joey Terdoslavich (teehee) to ground into a double play. But in the second inning, Romero gave up five straight two-out walks, and was taken out after walking two straight (also with two outs) in the third.

I don't know what can be done with Romero. This season he has worked with a new manager and pitching coach in Buffalo and yet he still looks like the woeful figure we saw last year. Entering today's game, he owned a 6.00 ERA through six games, walking 17.6% of the batters he's faced (a little arithmetic shows that after this evening's appearance, that number has jumped to 21.6%) . Remember, this is triple-A. I think we've mentioned it for a long time now, but perhaps truly this is the time for him to just leave the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Maybe go home for a breather. Maybe go to another place to pitch. Maybe start throwing with his right hand Maybe start taking batting practice or something. As a human, it's been hard to see him struggle like this.

Other Notes

• According to the Blue Jays beat, John Gibbons has announced that Dioner Navarro will return from his emergency leave on Saturday, meaning that Erik Kratz will likely be looking for a Dallas-to-Buffalo flight after tonight's game.
• Just a few weeks after discussing the possible use of a six-man rotation, the Blue Jays will actually be using just four starters in the next week. The off day on Monday (between the Rangers and Red Sox series) allows them to just skip Dustin McGowan's spot. With McGowan added to the relief corps (and he should be ready to pitch by Tuesday), the Blue Jays have nine relievers on the roster right now, so expect another roster move soon.
• Chris Getzhad discussed retirement with John Gibbons shortly after his DFA after completing his degree (I wonder what he majored in). Earlier, MLB Daily Dish reported a statement from Getz, who announced that he wanted to start a family, Gibbons mentioned this afternoon that a child is indeed on its way.

Step into my time machine: "Yu Darvish dominates but the Rangers don't score any runs"

After finding out that half the rotation will miss the foreseeable future over the last few days, and with their ace on the mound dealing, you'd like to see your offense put some runs on the board and make a statement. The Ranger bats made a statement, indeed. That statement reads: "We're done."

Player of the Game: Yu Darvish is really rad. I'm glad I got to watch him pitch tonight. It's a shame there has to be two halves to an inning.

After Drew Hutchison outdueled Yu Darvish last night, Mark Buehrle tries to do the same against Robbie Ross. Ross is a 24-year-old left-hander who was drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft out of high school in Kentucky. He was a fairly effective reliever in 2012 and 2013, but was pushed into a rotation role this season due to all of the injuries to the Rangers pitching staff. It started out alright, but the last handful of starts have been pretty bad, which gives him an ERA of 5.04 currently.

Ross throws a fastball (which has a cutting action), sinker, changeup, curveball, and slider. He just throws a lot of fastballs if we're being honest:

I can't help but see a lot of J.A. Happ in Robbie Ross and his pitching style. Ross tends to leave his fastball up in the zone against right-handed hitters, which is always a good thing for Blue Jays sluggers:

via www.fangraphs.com

Hopeful Lineup

Robbie Ross has reverse splits, so you might as well just leave Adam Lind in there with the way the bench is at this point.

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Juan Francisco 3B
6. Dioner Navarro C
7. Brett Lawrie 2B
8. Adam Lind DH
9. Kevin Pillar CF

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Game In A Sentence

The Tigers of Quintana Roo (Los Tigres de Quintana Roo) of the unaffiliated triple-A Mexican League (Liga Mexicana de Béisbol) received a loan of one Ricardo Nanita from the Toronto Blue Jays (Los Azulejos de Toronto) according to a team announcement this Saturday. The Tigers were the 2013 Mexican League champions and are currently tied for first place in the South Division (Zona Sur) with a 21-18 record.

Ricardo Nanita se prepara para su primer juego enfundado con el jersey de los @tigresqroficialpic.twitter.com/QA4pUYId0x

— Bola Caliente ⚾MEX⚾ (@BolaCaliente) May 17, 2014

Player loans between teams in the major leagues are prohibited (although that time John McDonald was conditionally traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2005 was pretty close to a loan), but Rule 11(i)(2) permits players to be loaned at the minor league level. All they need is an OK from the Commissioner's Office, and all players must be duly returned to the original club by September 30.

Nanita, 32, has played in the minors since 2003 but has never played in the major leagues. He re-signed with the Blue Jays this January after Toronto offered him a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training. Nanita had limited action with the Buffalo Bisons this seasons (only appearing in six games) after he was placed on the disabled list on April 5 to make room for Juan Francisco. He was activated in mid-April but had been on the Bisons' temporary inactive list since May 7, when Shawn Hill was promoted to triple-A.

Of course, Blue Jays fans know Ricardo Nanita best for his clutch ninth-inning single that walked-off the Mets in game 1 of the pre-season Montreal series.

The Mexican League is not new for Nanita--he played for Veracruz, Monterrey, and Tabasco in 2009 and 2010 before returning to affiliated baseball in late August 2010 to help the Fisher Cats' pennant run. With the Tigres, Nanita will join the likes of Alfredo Amezaga, Fabio Castro, Karim Garcia (still playing!), and Victor Marte.

Although I've loved watching Nanita play in the past and would've liked to see him with the Bisons, if I had a choice to play a small role in Buffalo or a larger role in Cancún, I probably would have made the same decision.

@benwag247 will see you! pic.twitter.com/jYCKzQj2GV

— Ricardo Nanita (@rnanita3) May 15, 2014

That tweet suggests that Nanita might just return to Buffalo sometime this season--if the Bisons have hurtin' outfielders that need some healin', hopefully Ricardo will be there to take the their hand with his glove of love.

In the less interesting of the two roster transactions of the day, the Blue Jays announced that catcher Dioner Navarro has been re-activated after missing the minimum three games to tend to a private family issue. To make room for Navarro, Sportsnet's Barry Davis reported that the Blue Jays optioned reliever Neil Wagner to triple-A Buffalo, making the choice to keep three catchers rather than nine relievers.

Navarro is in the starting lineup and catching, probably to the relief of starter Mark Buehrle. The two have developed quite a rapport this season with Buehrle completely trusting Navarro's game calling (note also Brendan Kennedy's swipe at Navarro's predecessor at the end of that piece).

#bluejays RH-heavy lineup vs LHP Ross &#rangers: pic.twitter.com/bYvE1dWcx5

— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) May 17, 2014

Going the other way is Reliever With Options Neil Wagner, who had a single forgettable outing in his latest stint with the big club. On Wednesday, Wagner faced 11 Cleveland batters and managed to retire just four of them, giving up six runs on six hits and a walk on the way. He will likely resume his role as the Bisons' closer.

UPDATE

Ouch, this must hurt the ego:

Gibby explained that with McGowan back in bullpen, Wagner became redundant. Also, like keeping Kratz to spell Navarro & provide RH option.

— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) May 17, 2014

It's hard not to get carried away with this one. Daniel Carbonell recently defected from Cuba, and he's looking for a place to play. He's a five-tool switch-hitting center fielder, and the Mariners reportedly have a shot at signing him. This comes today from Ken Rosenthal:

Told #Yankees, #Mariners are two of five finalists for Cuban free-agent OF Daniel Carbonell. Neither team has confirmed.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 17, 2014

If you want to see what he's like, watch the video above of him practicing baseball in his underwear. Here's the description on that video:

The 22 year-old (23 on March 29, 2014), is a legit five tool player: exceptional speed (sub 6.5 - 60), quick hands, and a rifle for an arm. The ability...

Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder will miss time with a herniated disk in his neck, ending his consecutive games streak at 546 in the process.

After dealing with pain for what may have been the better part of a calendar year, struggling Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his neck, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.

While the injury doesn't look like it will keep the five-time All-Star out of action for an extended period of time, the Rangers felt it was important for Fielder to take time off -- starting with Saturday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays -- to heal the injury. He'll be treated with a nerve-blocking injection and hopes to be back in the lineup by Tuesday.

The two games between then and now will be the first Fielder has missed since 2010. That will conclude his current consecutive games played streak at 546, which was the longest active streak in the majors. In fact, in his eight full years in MLB, he's missed just 13 games total before Saturday. That's possibly why he waited over a month after telling the team that he was in pain -- and using oral anti-inflammatory medicine -- before taking time off. It might also be why this is the first we've heard of it, despite the pain potentially going back as far as his last season with the Tigers in 2013.

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At least, that's what Texas general manager Jon Daniels believes, telling reporters, "He takes a lot of pride in being there for his teammates. We told him that he is not letting anybody down, we've just got to get this right."

Daniels also believes that the injury -- which Fielder didn't tell the team about until after the season started -- may help explain his .247 batting average and .360 slugging percentage. The latter is 160 points below Prince's career average.

"It's hard to say exactly, but it makes some sense," Daniels told reporters regarding whatever effect the injury may have had on Fielder's normally prodigious production. "If you put two and two together, it stands to reason it affected him some. He said there was a lack of strength in his left arm that may have impacted his ability to hit for power."

I think I'm most embarrassed that Dirk was there watching this

Michael Young saw a ton of games like tonight's contest over the length of his Ranger career. It's a shame he had to see another one on the night the team honored him.

Player of the Game: Vernon Wells Sr. is pretty good at painting portraits.