TheStar.com - Sports - Litsch beats odds, Bosox: "Blue Jay rookie Jesse Litsch, who spent his previous three nights absorbing the electric atmosphere at Fenway, yesterday got to display what he'd picked up.
And, apparently, that was plenty.
Against almost all odds, the 22-year-old redhead helped beat 12-game winner Josh Beckett and the rest of the mighty Red Sox 2-1 for a split of the four-game set you'd have been pressed to bet a dollar on."
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Toronto threw everything they had at the Yankees. Ace Roy Halladay returned to dominating form with a seven-inning, one-run outing; Frank Thomas and Aaron Hill delivered key eighth-inning hits that gave the Jays a slender 2-1 lead; reliever Scott Downs battled out of the bottom of the inning by ringing up Robinson Cano."
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TheStar.com - Sports - A Bronx bummer for Jays: "While the pre-game focus was laying heavily on spontaneous screamer Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees were busy beating the Blue Jays with a light-hitting platoon player.
TheStar.com - Sports - It's not looking pretty for 'Plain Jane' Jays: "Some of the subtle shortcomings that stand in the way of the Jays' ability to compete with the big boys came to the fore again last night in what must be considered a devastating 3-2, extra-inning loss at Yankee Stadium.
'I grew up around here [in Connecticut]. A lot of my friends are Yankee fans and they wanted to see the Yankees win the ballgame,' said McDonald who, along with third baseman Howie Clark, A-Rod's 'victim,' chatted with reporters before Monday night's game about the May 30 incident in Toronto. 'They know me and they know I don't get upset too often, so I think they knew I had a reason. But it's all open to interpretation.'"
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Overbay, Litsch help Jays earn Fenway split: "Lyle Overbay had his best game since returning to the lineup and Jesse Litsch neutralized the Red Sox for much of the day as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated Boston 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Toronto starter Josh Towers and his Cleveland counterpart Paul Byrd mowed through opposing batters with off-handed efficiency. Through eight innings, the pair had allowed only five hits total in well under two hours.
Neither had allowed any runs either. That raised the spectre of time-consuming extra innings only minutes before the beginning of the all-star break, the only summer vacation baseball players enjoy."
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Rios and Albert Pujols have agreed to participate in tonight's all-star home run derby. They were the final two participants added to the field, Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said yesterday. The Derby will be held in San Francisco, site of tomorrow's all-star game."
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TheStar.com - Sports - The future's looking bleak for J.P.'s Jays: "Three days off to lick the wounds for manager John Gibbons and the Jays. The timing of the break is good. While it's true the Jays have discovered some previously untapped resources in the first half of the American League schedule, like Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo, overall it must be considered a tremendously disappointing 86 games.
Despite trying to distribute his money like Pacman Jones at a strip club, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi placed just one all-star on the American League's 32-man roster, that being Alex Rios, one of the players still making under a million dollars."
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TheStar.com - Sports - A mediocre midway point: "The Jays were adamant before the season began — second place was not good enough. Sitting at the midway mark, we understand what they mean. The 43-44 Jays still stand second in a sub-par AL East, but looking waaay up at the Red Sox. Here's a look at the storylines that have dominated the first half of Toronto's season."
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TheStar.com - Sports - Jays' Rios goes down swinging in HR Derby: "Alex Rios, the lone Blue Jay all-star, was a reluctant, last-minute entry into last night's Home Run Derby and an even more surprising finalist. After leading the way into the championship round against the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, narrowing the field of eight to just two, Rios ran out of gas, managing just two homers. Guerrero smashed his third homer for the win, with three outs left to go. Despite the loss, it was the best finish by a Blue Jay in the 23-year history of the made-for-television event."
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TheStar.com - Sports - Superstar in waiting: "He reminds folks, sometimes, of Darryl Strawberry because of the same long, lean physique; the same almost frightening potential.
Others of Devon White, because of the same effortless glide in the outfield; those six-foot-long legs that gobble up basepaths.
Blue Jays enter break on high: "Their most maligned pitcher did the heavy hauling. Their long-absent left-fielder set the table in the ninth inning. And their only all-star took the final swing to send the Toronto Blue Jays happily into their mid-summer break.
Alex Rios will take his next cuts tonight in the Home Run Derby during all-star festivities in San Francisco. But Sunday, his RBI single in the ninth inning gave the Jays a 1-0 win over Cleveland.
'It's the perfect way to send him off to the All-Star Game,' said manager John Gibbons, referring to Rios, who received a call just before the game asking him to participate in the long-ball contest."
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Reed Johnson returned from an absence of nearly three months and made a diving catch in the ninth inning, and Vernon Wells homered and drove in three runs to help the Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians 8-6 on Friday night."
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Matt Stairs, at 39-years old, was considered by many fans to be too far past his prime to help Canada's lone ball club. Admit it, at first blush when you heard Stairs was coming to the Jays you thought, 'OK, bring the Canuck here to end his career ... a symbolic gesture at best.' Like me you never dreamt that by the break he would be one of the key free -agent acquisitions by the Blue Jays."
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The 31-year-old Zambrano appeared in eight games with Toronto, including two starts, this season, going 0-2 with a 10.97 ERA.
Zambrano, who signed as a free agent on Jan. 30, underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time last season but pitched well enough in spring training to earn a spot on Toronto's opening day roster."
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Litsch, the tough-minded 22-year-old called up from Syracuse to replace the injured A.J. Burnett, proved he's just that – tough minded – in holding down Oakland to a pair of runs over his seven innings pitched.
They may be thinking about next year's starting rotation – a foursome that appears set, right here and now, with Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Shaun Marcum and a dominating McGowan."
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Jays’ Burnett avoids surgery: "A.J. Burnett does not need surgery, the Toronto Blue Jays said on Monday, but questions remain about his wonky shoulder.
After the right-hander was examined by a prominent arm specialist, the Jays said Burnett is suffering from a “mild shoulder strain.” That is the same diagnosis their own medical staff made twice in the past three weeks."
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San Jose Mercury News - Bad start dooms the A's in loss to Toronto: "Joe Kennedy took the mound Wednesday for the 200th appearance of his major league career, not that any big fuss was made to mark the occasion. Surely that's OK with Kennedy, who will want to forget this outing as quickly as possible.
Blue Jays Drummer Brings Tha Noise - Sports Blog - The FanHouse: "The Blue Jays may not have the arms to challenge the Red Sox in the AL East, but they do have the division's coolest one-man percussion section. Check this video of Rick Donaldson, AKA 'The Blue Jays Drummer', who's been a cap-and-jersey-clad fixture outside Jays games for more than a decade. "
Blue Jays trounce Oakland, 10-3: "Matt Stairs and Dustin McGowan did their best to make sure the Toronto Blue Jays would have a pleasant flight home from their longest road trip of the season.
Stairs homered and drove in four runs, McGowan pitched seven scoreless innings and the Blue Jays wrapped up their 10-game trip with a 10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
'It's nice on a getaway day when you jump to a big lead early and know that you'll have a pretty good flight home,' said Stairs, a native of Fredericton. 'Going 4-6 isn't too bad for a West Coast trip.' "
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Blue Jays Batter Athletics 10-3 - Forbes.com: "Matt Stairs homered and drove in four runs, Dustin McGowan pitched seven scoreless innings and the Toronto Blue Jays wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a 10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
McGowan (5-4) got all the support he needed in the first inning when Stairs hit a two-run double and the Blue Jays took advantage of four walks to chase a wild Joe Kennedy (2-7) with four runs."
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TheStar.com - Sports - Jays power past Oakland: "When he strides to the plate to lead off a game for the Blue Jays, Vernon Wells more resembles the power hitter he has become over his career rather than the prototypical leadoff hitter.
Wells, though, continued to prove last night that he can easily adapt to the leadoff spot, and maybe learn to love it too.
Thanks to the power Wells provided out of that spot in the Jays batting order, Toronto snapped its four-game losing streak, flattening the Oakland A's 11-7 before 13,281 at McAfee Coliseum."
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