7:15 PM Eastern

And then there were three.  Casey Janssen, B.J. Ryan and now Scott Rolen will all likely open the season on the disabled list after Rolen fractured his right middle finger during a fielding drill before the Jays’ loss to Philly.  It’s a non-displaced fracture, which is the best kind, if you’re grading fractures.  It’s the same fracture in the same finger as Alfonso Soriano suffered at the beginning of this month, and he only missed five days.  The Jays can only hope for the same news about Rolen, but that seems very, very optimistic.  If Rolen can’t answer the bell next Monday, Marco Scutaro will be the third baseman, which is a heck of a lot better than the options they had last year when Troy Glaus went down.

Hey, we all thought the Jays were healthy at the end of spring training last year, maybe they’re getting all the injuries out of the way early this year.

Two things stood out about the Jays’ loss that kept their record at 0-0 for the season. How badly A.J. Burnett pitched, and how badly Brandon League pitched. Results-wise, that is. For League, it was his first poor outing of the spring. After I went on the radio and raved about how well he had been pitching all spring, and how he could very well do for the Jays this season what Casey Janssen did for them last season, and how nobody was hitting the ball in the air off of him this year, he went out and gave up rope after rope.

After walking So Taguchi, Rey Olmedo hit a line-drive ground-rule double into the Phils’ pen in left, then Jason Donald took League out of the yard for a three-run homer. That was it for the hits (which was enough), but over an inning and two-thirds, League only got one batter to hit the ball on the ground. I’m looking forward to see what he has next time out.

As for Burnett, he was in remarkably good humour given the fact that he’d allowed seven runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, and the first curveball he threw all spring was deposited on the other side of the right field wall by Chase Utley. I went down to the clubhouse to talk to him before any of the other reporters (because I’d missed his scrums the last two times he’d pitched thanks to radio duties), and one of the first things he did was smack me playfully in the chest and say, “Hey, how about that first curve of the spring?” I asked him if that had been his first change-up of the spring and it got hit out, would that be it for that pitch, and he laughed.

I swear, if I hadn’t covered Burnett for the last two seasons, I would think that he’s one of the nicest pro athletes I had ever met based on his behaviour this spring. He’s been approachable, happy to talk, has poked fun at himself, he’s been great. He even showed me the fake fingernail – fine work by the anonymous Florida esthetician. I certainly hope this is the A.J. we continue to see once the bell rings, but given the past couple of seasons, I’m not holding my breath.

He obviously wasn’t happy with the results today, but he was pleased that he’d stuck to his game plan and continued to pitch, as opposed to just throw. He struck out Ryan Howard twice, on change-ups, and threw a wicked curveball to Chris Snelling in the second that he swung through. It would be amazing for the Jays if Burnett has finally “gotten it”. The sky has always been the limit for him with his stuff.

The ball found Shannon Stewart in left field twice on the day that Reed Johnson was released to make room for the weaker defensive player. Stewart had two opportunities to throw out runners at the plate – on a Pedro Feliz single in the 4th (Geoff Jenkins running from second with two out) and on a Snelling sac fly in the 5th (the very speedy Shane Victorino running). The first throw was over the cutoff man and way offline, the second was late. Yes, if Reed Johnson was playing left, neither of those runs score. Jenkins would have been thrown out, and Victorino wouldn’t even have tried to score. Still, Stewart provides more offense, and a much better option to be an everyday player if that’s needed (Frank Thomas doubters rejoice).

Lastly, in talking to J.P. Ricciardi before the game about Reed’s release, he was pretty emotional. Those of you who think he is a soulless number-crunching robot may want to take note of that. He had tears in his eyes when he explained how difficult it was to release someone who “represents everything (I) believe in.”

Ricciardi also gave us some insight into the bullpen situation. He said in deciding who’s going to come north, he doesn’t want to lose anyone. That means, welcome to the big leagues, Rule Fiver Randy Wells! The last spot will be between Brian Wolfe and John Parrish, neither of whom would be lost to the ballclub if he doesn’t make it. Parrish is out of options, though, so if he does make the team and then has to go down to make room for B.J. Ryan whenever he comes off the disabled list, they’d have to expose him to waivers then. They can send Parrish down now if they want to, though, because he’s on a minor-league contract.

11:00 AM Eastern

The Jays gave Reed Johnson his unconditional release this morning, ending the spring-long battle between him and Shannon Stewart for the last outfield spot on the roster, platooning in left with Matt Stairs.

We’ve been talking all spring about the Johnson vs. Stewart thing, and I’ve said since the get-go that the Jays didn’t sign Shannon for him not to make the team.  Reed basically agreed.  In his sit-down with reporters on Friday (while I was still in the press box watching Kevin Ahrens hit), he said that he told the Jays’ equipment guys to keep his stuff separate as they packed up for the trip home next week, so they’d have easy access to it if he was to be cut or traded.  In articles you’ll read online later this morning from thecrack media crew down here, you’ll see him talk about having figured he was gone as soon as Stewart was signed.

Frankly, I was very surprised that the Jays even tendered Johnson a contract in December.  I completely expected that, given his injury and subsequent lack of production last season combined with his expected salary level, the Jays would simply walk away and allow him to become a free agent.  Instead, they signed him while still waiting for something better to come along, knowing full well that they had pretty much the entire month of March to decide whether or not they wanted to keep him.  It turns out that Reed’s termination pay plus Shannon’s salary will still be less than 2/3 of what Johnson was going to make had he made the team.

Why make the decision today?  Did something happen yesterday that settled it for the Jays?  Of course not – Stewart’s bloop single in the first inning of the rainout off Jonathan Albaladejo didn’t convince anyone one way or the other.  What more than likely happened was that the Jays felt as though none of their trade discussions would bear any fruit, so rather than wait three more days until Wednesday’s deadline to release players before their contracts become guaranteed, they pulled the plug today.  It certainly wasn’t out of a sense of fairness to Reed, to give him a few extra days to find a job – this is a business.

I think the Blue Jays kept the better hitter at the expense of the better fielder.  Speed is a wash, or close to it, with Johnson’s back problems contributing as much as Stewart’s hamstring problems.  I also think the Jays showed us in December, when they signed David Eckstein to play short, that they’d rather have the bat over the glove, especially when the glove is protected by neighbouring players.  Eckstein’s average play at shortstop isn’t going to stand out, because he has gold glovers on either side in Aaron Hill and Scott Rolen.  Likewise, Stewart can play his adequate defense in left because Vernon Wells and Alex Rios cover the rest of the outfield.

I’m going to miss Reed, absolutely.  He’s a terrific guy, very approachable, always accessible, always happy to take some time and talk.  He fit in very well in the back corner of the clubhouse with Wells, Hill and McDonald.  Last year they lost Catalanotto from that group, this year they lose Johnson.  I have no doubt that Johnson is going to find a job relatively quickly, though for a lot less money than the $3 million plus that he was set to make – the Mets and Cubs are looking for a guy just like him, for two quick examples off the top of my head.  If he is given the right role, he’ll have a long, solid career, no question.  Just not in Toronto.

And goshdarnit, I was going to make him my pre-game guest today!  Oh, well.  I’m off to hunt down Randy Wells, or maybe Shannon Stewart.  Not sure who I’ll come up with, maybe Johnny Mac, because his situation for his whole career has been similar to Reed’s – always underappreciated, always fighting for a job.  Regardless, make sure you tune in at 12:30 PM Eastern along the Fan Radio Network, though not in Toronto because of the Raptors game.  I’m sure that a lot of you are very savvy internetically, so you’ll be able to find the broadcast.  Talk to you after the game!

11:45 PM Eastern

We’re getting set for a broadcast here, and as I write, the Jays are coming off the field, bailing out of batting practice early because of the rain.

If it goes, and the radar doesn’t look good at all, the Jays will have a line-up that could be sent out against the occasional lefty, with Rod Barajas catching and Marco Scutaro at first with Shannon Stewart in left.  Zaun and Overbay are here, so the Jays brought everybody.  Except Dustin McGowan, that is, who is probably going to get rained out of his minor-league assignment this afternoon.  Rule Fiver Randy Wells gets the start.

We’ll have Barajas on the pre-game, and may very well have ourselves a rain delay show, so get those dialing fingers ready!

6:00 PM Eastern

I try not to get caught up in the results of Spring Training games, but when you get down close to the last week, things can take on a little more significance.  The regulars are starting to play longer and more often, starting pitchers go deeper into games, and relievers more often throw in the roles that they will in the regular season.

It’s still a little early for that, as easily seen by the fact that the Jays brought to Lakeland exactly one player who will be in the line-up on Opening Day (Alex Rios), and even though the Tigers started all their regulars save for Polanco and Renteria, it’s not like they’re used to being in action every day yet, either.

Still, there’s no way around the fact that Detroit got Litsch-slapped this afternoon.  The 23 year-old redhead had 77.8% of what’s been called the best line-up in baseball (not by me) eating out of his hand for six innings.  He made exactly two mistakes, hanging a curveball to Gary Sheffield in the first and trying to sneak a front-door cut fastball in on Ivan Rodriguez in the 6th when the no-longer-Pudgy catcher was sitting on it.  Both balls were hit very, very hard, and onto the berm in left field.

In between the homers, Litsch retired 16 straight hitters, only one of whom hit a ball that was anything more than a routine out -  the 14th in a row was Ryan Raburn, who clubbed a drive to deep left-centre that Reed Johnson ran down on the warning track.

This was the second time this spring that Litsch really showed me something significant.  He can get caught nibbling, but when he pitches ahead, the results are fantastic.  He works quickly, which I love (and his infielders do, too), and he doesn’t seem afraid to go after anybody.  Sal Fasano is a huge fan of his, and Sal Fasano knows plenty about pitching, so his endorsement alone is good enough for me.  If Litsch’s ERA goes up by three-quarters of a run this year, it’s still sitting at 4.56, which is plenty good for a 5th starter in the American League.  I’d just be a lot more comfortable with him if he shows that he can get left-handed hitters out on a regular basis, which his new sinker may help a lot with.  Today, lefties were 1-for-7 against him – and that’s two very good lefties in Curtis Granderson and Carlos Guillen, as well as Jacque Jones.

After the game, John Gibbons finally said, officially, that Litsch had made the team as the 5th starter, giving the kid the job he’d won a week and a half ago when Casey Jannsen went down for the year.  Gibbons said that he’d believed all along that Litsch was going to be in the rotation.  Remember, he was in the “keep Casey in the bullpen” camp.

So Litsch will start the finale of the home-opening series against the Red Sox.  The Jays will go Halladay-Burnett-McGowan against the Yanks, and Marcum-Halladay-Litsch against the Bosox.

In talking to Fasano after the game, he had nothing but praise for Litsch, but nothing to say about the tete-a-tete he had in the dugout with Tony LaCava that I mentioned earlier this afternoon.  Sal said there was no news regarding his situation, and that he’s well aware that if there’s a major-league opportunity for him this year, it’s not going to be in Toronto.  The Blue Jays know it, too, and won’t stand in Fasano’s way if someone else in interested.

This isn’t exactly a new situation for Fasano.  He’s a guy who pretty much every spring is taking a shot at a back-up job somewhere with someone more highly touted looking to take it away from him.  It’s a little different this year, because he signed on in Toronto thinking that he’d only have to hold off Curtis Thigpen, and then Rod Barajas entered the picture, but it’s still familiar territory for Sal.

Thing is, usually if he doesn’t make a team, he can go down to AAA and wait until someone gets hurt, which always happens.  That won’t work this year, because both Thigpen and Robinzon Diaz are down in Syracuse, and will share the catching duties – there’s just no room for him.

Ironically, the Tigers could probably use Fasano.  Their back-up, Vance Wilson, isn’t ready to come back from the surgery that kept him out all of last season, and they’re trying Brandon Inge and Ryan Raburn back there, both of whom have spent way more time in the field than behind the plate the last few years.  I’m really hoping someone comes along and wants Fasano as their big-league back-up.  He’s truly one of the good ones, and still has the ability to play at this level.

In talking to Fasano about Jesse Litsch, I brought up the fact that there are those who think Litsch’s 2007 was a fluke, and don’t buy that the 23 year-old with barely any AAA time can continue his success in the majors, and his reply was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be.  He said that those people need to realize just how tough the game is, and that they can’t measure the size of a man’s heart.  I don’t think Sal was just talking about Litsch there, if at all.

Tomorrow, the Yankees!  In Tampa, though I don’t know if I’m going to hit the empanada stand again.  Randy Wells will start for the Jays and likely throw two, maybe three innings while Dustin McGowan is being hidden from the Evil Empire, and Kei Igawa answers for the Yanks, even though it’s Andy Pettiite’s day.  Hmmmmmm.

We’ll have the broadcast for you along the whole Fan Radio Network, so tune in at 12:30 PM Eastern.

Comments are encouraged, I’m enjoying the back-and-forth!

1:05 PM Eastern

We’re just about set to go here in Lakeland, with Jesse Litsch up against Dontrelle Willis. The Tigers have their regular line-up, with the exception of the middle infield (Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge instead of Placido Polanco and Edgar Renteria), the Jays brought both Johnson (leading off in cf) and Stewart (batting second in lf), as well as Rios, Barajas and Johnny Mac. Also here for the Jays are several intriguing youngsters, including Kevin Ahrens and Justin Jackson.

Two interesting notes about an otherwise ordinary BP session:

1 – Assistant GM Tony LaCava stopped Sal Fasano on his way to the bat rack, sat down and had a nice, long conversation. It ended with the two shaking hands, and Sal is in the line-up, catching in this game. I talked to LaCava afterwards, and while he wouldn’t share specifics, he said that Fasano is a real pro, finds himself in this situation every spring, and if there were an opportunity for him elsewhere, the Jays wouldn’t stand in the way.

I’m wondering if Fasano wasn’t being offered his release, or maybe a coaching job in the system (which he has said he wouldn’t take at this point in his career). Hopefully, we’ll find out from Sal after the game.

2 – The Tigers have berm seating in left field, and at the top of the berm in dead left-centre, they have a bouncing castle, but it’s weird and scary. It’s a giant tiger, but he’s on his back with all fours up in the air. His head is turned and he has kind of a devilish smile. The kids jump in and bounce on his stomach. Scary. The writers and I were joking about the fact that it’s a little scarily suggestive when John McDonald walked by and joined in. He said that those sorts of jokes are funny when you’re a kid, and I told him that especially now that I have young kids, I find that Tiger thing even grosser than I otherwise would. He took a second look and agreed.

1:14 PM Eastern

The D-Train chugged right through the combatants for a third of the left-field job, getting Johnson on a fly to right and Stewart on a grounder to second. Rios worked a walk, and Barajas followed with a hard line single up the middle, but DH Matt Watson grounded to first to end it.

1:22 PM Eastern

Curtis Granderson led off with a ground single into the 3-4 hole that just got past the glove of an outstretched Ryan Klosterman. Litsch then popped up Ivan Rodriguez, but Gary Sheffield got him good. One of those textbook Sheffield homers – a laser beam to left field that barely got 10 feet off the ground. Litsch recovered by getting Magglio Ordonez on an easy grounder to short, and then struck out Miguel Cabrera swinging (two pitches after Sal Fasano thought he struck him out looking). Except for the homer, Litsch looked great, first pitch strikes to everyone but Cabrera and the same old, quick-working, no messing around kid. 21 pitches, 15 strikes, but 2-0 Tigers after one.

1:39 PM Eastern

John McDonald worked Willis for a walk to lead the inning off, as he continues his spring pattern of staying patient, working counts and trying to get into better hitters’ counts and draw more walks. That’s three free passes so far this spring, but after Johnny Mac moved to second on a soft grounder by Luna, he got picked off second base – by quite a bit – by Willis’ nifty spin move. Sal Fasano continued what might wind up being a tough day for him by getting hit by a pitch, and Klosterman grounded out to short.

By the way, forgot to mention this, but we spoke to pitching coach Brad Arnsberg today and he said that B.J. Ryan felt good enough to throw yesterday, and was scheduled to throw a bullpen this morning in Dunedin. He didn’t know if it happened, or how it went. Arnsberg went on to say that the Jays would be very cautious with Ryan, that they wouldn’t take him north if he needed two or three days off between outings, and that keeping him down here for a while would be preferable to bringing him up and then having him go on the shelf two weeks in. Arnsberg said they’d prefer to bring him north in “mid-April, Mid-May or even mid-June” if that was what was needed to have him up for the whole year once he was healthy enough to pitch in the bigs.

And while I was typing all that, Litsch got the Tigers in order in the second, on just seven pitches. He popped up Carlos Guillen, got Jacque Jones on a routine grounder to first, and struck out Ryan Raburn looking on three pitches.

1:48 PM Eastern

Reed started the inning off with a nifty bunt single down the third-base line, but couldn’t get any farther than second, as Willis popped up Stewart and Barajas around another walk for Rios, and Watson grounded to first.

1:53 PM Eastern

Very impressive inning for young Jesse, who struck out both Inge and Granderson swinging – Granderson trying to hold up a swing at a ball that darted down and in, and got Rodriguez on a weak grounder to first. 15 pitches in the inning, 10 strikes, 43/31 all told, but it’s still 2-0 Detroit.

2:25 PM Eastern

So while I was on the radio yelling at Alex Seixeiro (sorry, Alex) the Blue Jays knocked the D-Train right off the rails, and all the way to the showers. Five runs on six hits and a walk (Johnny Mac!). There was also a double steal with McDonald on the front end and Looner on the back. Klosterman had a two-run single, then stole second and scored on the first of back-to-back RBI doubles by Johnson and Stewart (playing can-you-top-this). Rios moved Stewart to third with a single to left, then got caught stealing second. Barajas finished the rally with an RBI double of his own.

In the bottom of the fourth, Litsch continued to deal, getting Sheffield and Ordonez on fly balls to Johnson in left-centre and right-centre, respectively, and Cabrera on a grounder to third. He has now retired 11 Tigers in a row.

McDonald started the 5th against Zach Miner with a single into the 5-6 hole that Inge made a nice play to grab, but couldn’t finish. Luna hit into a 5-4-3 double play, despite a nice, clean take-out slide by Mac. After a walk to Fasano, Klosterman forced him at second.

2:37 PM Eastern

Man, watching Litsch is fun today. Another 1-2-3 inning, make it 14 in a row set down, and this on just 8 pitches. He struck out Guillen on three pitches, then got Jones on a grounder to first and Raburn on a fly to deep left-centre that Reed made a very nice grab on at the warning track. The Jays have been showcasing Johnson’s versatility all soring long, using him all over the outfield hoping that some team will show interest.

2:43 PM Eastern

The Jays went in order in the sixth, with Johnson flying to right, Stewart grounding to third and Rios going down swinging. Litsch is coming out for the 6th, the deepest penetration for any Blue Jay pitcher this spring, and a couple of subs have come out – Justin Jackson at short for Klosterman (with McDonald moving to second) and Wayne Lydon in left for Stewart.

2:52 PM Eastern

Litsch’s streak came to an end when Ivan Rodriguez belted a 1-2 pitch on a line deep to left field and onto the berm with two outs – his 7th homer of the spring (don’t get excited- he hit 9 last spring). Before the blast, Litsch had popped up Inge and gotten Granderson on a shallow fly to left. After the homer, Sheffield flied out to left. Overall for Litsch: 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs (all earned), no walks, 5 Ks, 2 HR – at one point retiring 16 in a row. A very efficient 79 pitches, 56 of them strikes. If he hadn’t won the 5th starter’s job a week and a half ago when Casey Janssen got hurt, he would have today.

3:05 PM Eastern

The seventh inning was six batters long.  Bobby Seay came on and got the Jays in order – a shallow fly to centre by Barajas, a routine fly to centre by Watson, and a called third strike on Johnny Mac.  In the bottom of the frame, Jesse Carlson picked up where Litsch leftoff, popping up Marcus Thames, getting some help from Wayne Lydon with a pretty sliding catch of a Cabrera liner in shallow centre, a striking out Mike Hessman by dropping down to slip strike three past him.

It’s almost time to run downstairs and talk to Litsch, Fasano et al, I’m just staying up here one more batter, because Kevin Ahrens is coming to the plate to try his luck against Aquilino Lopez.  I’ll tell you about it when I get back.

10:00 PM Eastern

Just got back from the local Purim festivities – kinda weird the way they do things down here, but cool in its own way. Peanut butter-filled hamentashen are a little too much, if you ask me. It’s the first time I’ve hit a shul down here for Purim, not sure if I’d do it again.

Anyway, this afternoon’s game was another one whose outcome really proves nothing. The highlights were the work of Brandon League, the terrific debut of Brett Cecil and Aaron Hill just being Aaron Hill, and the lowlight was Jeremy Accardo’s five-hit inning.

Accardo first, because he’s the closer again now that B.J. Ryan has been shut down, however briefly. Ryan may pitch again before the end of the Grapefruit season, but he may not. J.P. Ricciardi said they’re not taking him north unless he can be used three or four times a week, and that means they’re not taking him north on March 31st. There’s a chance he may spend the first four to six weeks of the regular season down here in Florida, but I wouldn’t say it’s even a 50-50 chance.

Anyway, Accardo gave up five hits in his one inning of work today, only one of which – the Betemit homer – was hit hard. Last spring, Accardo was here fighting for a job, one I didn’t think he’d get, and he was solid (1o baserunners, 10 K in 8 2/3 innings). This spring, different animal. He has a job assured, and a very important one, and he has used this month to work on developing some additions to the repertoire. Today, all he did was throw cutters, regardless of the outcome. The outcome wasn’t good, but it’s not time to worry yet.

To the good – League was at his power-sinker best again today. Four hitters, four groundballs, though one got past Rolen for a double. He has been so much fun to watch this spring. Confident, throwing gas, keeping the ball down. I’m really excited about his potential this season.

And Cecil – wow. I thought his first inning was better than his second, but he and Brad Arnsberg disagreed. Talking to him after the game, he was calm and collected, and said that he was worried before the game that he’d be nervous and scared when he got out there, especially since he was facing his childhood favourites, the Yankees, who won their last World Series title when he was 14. But he said that he felt as though he belonged, that he wasn’t nervous or scared, just excited. The kid’s make-up is off the charts (check out how he was moving right-handed hitters off the plate – gorgeous), and his stuff is pretty good, too. He might even make it all the way up before this year is out.

Roy Halladay, being hidden from the evil Yankees, threw six shutout innings against the Rays’ AAA team, allowing four hits, walking one (first of the spring!) and striking out four. He has a chance to make an impact on this team this year.

Tomorrow, to Lakeland, where Jesse Litsch will continue to battle for the 5th starter’s spot that he won when Casey Janssen got hurt last week. Dontrelle Willis will oppose. Beyond Litsch, the Jays aren’t taking much, but Alex Rios, Shannon Stewart and Reed Johnson will be along for the ride, as will Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas and Sal Fasano.

Comments continue to be encouraged, and I’m not only answering most, but getting into some solid conversation down there, so make sure you check ‘em out, and please contribute!

12:55 PM Eastern

After a dark, cloudy, windy morning, the sun is out, and there will be baseball between the Jays and Yanks this afternoon, with Ian Kennedy starting for New York against Kane Davis, because the Jays are hiding Roy Halladay from the team he’ll face for real in 11 days.

Lots of news before the game – B.J. Ryan is being shut down, but only on a day to day basis, because of soreness above and below his left elbow. Ryan said it’s normal soreness from throwing so much, and from taking it up a notch (even unconsciously) by throwing in real fake games. Kind of like the dead arm a lot of pitchers go through in the middle of Spring Training, he told me. Still, he’s not going to throw again until ther soreness is gone, which puts his likelihood of breaking with the team in serious doubt, since we’re so close to go time.

If Ryan can’t go, then Accardo becomes the closer, with help from Downs and League setting up. Frasor and Tallet help fill out the ‘pen, along with, probably, Brian Wolfe and John Parrish. Armando Benitez has a shot at a spot, but they’re going to have to get him a work visa.

The live blog begins below in minutes!

1:12 PM Eastern

Good first inning for Kane Davis, after starting off by walking Johnny Damon, who stood in the batters’ box for about 3 minutes until ESPN gave everybody the green light to start playing. Melky Cabrera followed with a grounder to short, not hit especially hard, but the Jays turned the 6-4-3 because of that Aaron Hill cannon over at second. Robinson Cano ended the inning with a grounder to first.

1:22 PM Eastern

Eckstein led off with a soft liner that landed just inside the right-field line – couldn’t have put it in a better place if he’d walked over and dropped it there. But Eck’s grittitude and hustleness got the better of it, and he tried to stretch the easy double into a triple, and was thrown out by about four feet. A shame, because after Rios flied out to right, Vernon Wells ripped a single over short that would have scored Eckstein easily from second. Rolen worked a full count, then flied to right to end it.

1:32 PM Eastern

The Yanks broke through in the top of the second once the regulars were out of the way. Shelley Duncan blooped a one-out single into the no-man’s-land between Eckstein, Wells and Stairs, and he scored when Wilson Betemit followed with a double to left-centre that hit the wall on a hop. Eckstein’s relay throw came close to making it interesting at the plate, but Duncan didn’t try to bowl over Zaun. He kind of did some sort of reach-flip-dive thing, head-first, and touched the plate before Zaun even had a chance to tag him. Cody Ransom then doubled down the line, just out of the reach of Rolen, to drive in Betemit. A groundout and a pop-up later, the inning was over.

1:40 PM Eastern

A pretty easy inning for Kennedy – Thomas popped to second, then Stairs and Overbay struck out swinging. To the third we go, 2-0 Yanks.

1:52 PM Eastern

The Yankees doubled their lead in the third, thanks to a two-run double by Duncan that, from my vantage point here in the Knology press box, I could have sworn that Vernon caught at the wall. After I looked down to write F8 on my scorecard, I looked up and saw Matsui crossing the plate and Duncan standing at second. Still not sure how that happened. Matsui was on first, having been walked after Cano grounded a two-out single to left under the glove of a diving and stole second. Davis’ day is likely done – 3IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, all earned, 3 walks, 1 K.

2:13 PM Eastern

The Jays broke through in the bottom of the third – leadoff double down the left-field line by Aaron Hill, who scored on back to back groundouts to short by Zaun and Eckstein. Rios then ripped a double into the left-field corner, with Johnny Damon doing a nice job to cut it off then throwing wildly to second, but he was stranded when Wells struck out swinging on a full-count pitch.

In the top of the fourth, more League being League – have I mentioned how impressed I have been with him this spring? Four batters, four ground balls, though one of them got past Rolen for a single as he slid to his right to try to grab it. Know that this truth is being told: League is going to do for the Jays this year what Casey Janssen did last year.

2:25 PM Eastern

Another lead-off double for the Jays, but this time, no paydirt. Rolen lined one over the head of shortstop Cody Ransom that split the outfielders and rolled all the way to the wall. But Thomas popped foul to catcher, Stairs struck out looking and Overbay broke his bat and grounded weakly to short. Jeremy Accardo has come on for the 5th.

2:35 PM Eastern

Accardo gave up five hits in his one inning of work, only one of which was hit hard. And man, was that one hit hard. Wilson Betemit barreled up a first-pitch heater and deposited it atop the roof of the Jays’ batting cage that sits across a walkway from the Jays’ bullpen that’s behind the right-field wall. It’s the third homer Accardo has allowed this spring, which I’m sure doesn’t give a lot of you Jays watchers the warm and fuzzies, but I wouldn’t worry yet. Accardo will be the closer for at least the first month of the season. Elsewise, there were three bloops (one of which saw Stairs throw out Cano at second trying to stretch) and an infield single to third. Certainly not a productive inning, but not as bad as the scoresheet looks.

2:56 PM Eastern

A long inning for the Jays, but it bore no fruit. After Hill grounded out to short, Zaun sent Kennedy to the showers with a blooper down the left-field line that ticked off the glove off Ransom, who was running full out, and dropped for a single. On came Dan Giese, who popped up Eckstein, but then walked Rios and Wells – a tremendously difficult feat for which the youngster should be applauded – before getting Rolen to ground to third for a 5-4 force. On comes Frason Jasor!

3:09 PM Eastern

Typical inning for FJ – get in trouble, try to get out. He gave up back-to-back singles to Damon and the Melkman to put runners on the corners with nobody out, a groundout to second by Cano scored one run, and then hit Matt Carson. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with just one out. But he wriggled out of it, slowing the game to a crawl but getting Duncan on a weak grounder to third and striking out Betemit.

3:27 PM Eastern

The Jays scored again in the 6th – Matt Stairs with an infield single on a grounder right up the middle that Cano made a nice play on but couldn’t spin and get a good throw to first. Overbay then walked, and Hill doubled over the head of Cabrera in centre. Overbay had to hold up to see if Cabrera would catch it, so he only got to third. With second and third and one out, Zaun struck out looking on a pitch he thought was inside, and Eckstein grounded to short. Now quiet – I gotta watch me some Brett Cecil!

3:34 PM Eastern

Nice debut for Cecil. Seems as though the kid can pitch. He was strike one to each of the five batters he faced, and showed some serious heat (98, sayeth ESPN) and a nice slider that only got away a couple of times. He got Alberto Gonzalez on a grounder to third and blew away Jose Molina before walking Morgan Ensberg. Jason Lane followed with a hard line single to centre, but Cecil broke Melky Cabrera’s bat with the next pitch, inducing a 5-4 forceout to end the inning. Impressive, indeed, it’s easy to see why the Jays are so excited about him. He may not have faced any “real” Yankees (save for Melky), but four of the five guys were legit big-leaguers and he didn’t look out of place at all. Now, from one young phenom to another – it’s Joba time.

3:40 PM Eastern

Three young Blue Jays were just completely overmatched by Joba Chamberlain. Each of Ryan Patterson, Shawn Shoffit and Anthony Hatch struck out swinging, and not a one of them looked even half-way good doing it. It’s hard to believe that Joba was in A-ball less than a year ago. There’s your bridge to Mo in the Bronx, good as it ever was.

3:51 PM Eastern

Cecil came out for a second inning of work and wasn’t as successful as he was in his first, but he still didn’t give up a run. Bernie Castro (I’m a huge fan, I don’t know why) led off by ripping a line single up the middle, and Cecil then walked Carson. The young lefty then steeled himself, struck out Duncan looking and got Betemit on a pop foul to first (very nice running/diving/falling catch by Chip Cannon). A passed ball by Brian Jeroloman moved the runners to second and third, but Cecil got Gonzalez on a weak grounder to second to end the inning. Cecil’s line (assuming he doesn’t come back out for the 9th): 2 IP, 2 hits, no runs, 2 BB, 2 K. Welcome to the real fake big leagues, kid.

4:04 PM Eastern

Going to the bottom of the 9th, and I’m going downstairs to talk to Cecil and Halladay.  Be back when it’s over!

1:20 PM Eastern

I figured it’d probably be best to start a whole new post with the live blog of the actual game. It started 66 minutes late (labour dispute), and when it did, the Sox had made three changes. Out were Daisuke Matsuzaka, Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek, in are David Aardsma, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Cash.

Aardsma got through the Jays in the top of the first, walking Shannon Stewart around a groundout by Eckstein, an Alex Rios pop foul and a routine fly to centre. The scoreboard operator must be working off the Jays’ roster from the end of last season or something (though Eckstein’s name was right). When Shannon was at the plate, the scoreboard displayed “Rey Olmedo.” Shannon just can’t get no respect.

1:25 PM Eastern

To the labour dispute – it’s just been announced that there has been a resolution, which we kinda knew since, you know, there’s a game going on. We’ll find out what that resolution is later, when Sox player rep Kevin Youkilis speaks to us after the game.

Youkilis can’t talk now, because he’s on first base, having been hit by a pitch after Dustin Pedroia grounded out on a nice play up the middle by Eckstein. Tallet just struck out David Ortiz.

1:37 PM Eastern

After Tallet got Ellsbury on a little humpback liner to third, the Jays started their half of the second with promise – back-to-back singles by Rolen (hard liner over a leaping Lugo at short) and Overbay (hard grounder up the middle), but it went a-glimmering. Hill hit Aardsma’s next pitch to left, just a routine fly ball, and Zaun bounced into a 4-6-3 double play on an 0-2 pitch.

1:41 PM Eastern

Tallet came within a pitch of setting a record in the bottom of the second. Well, he would have if it wasn’t a fake game. Tallet struck out Mike Lowell looking on three pitches, then got J.D. Drew swinging on three pitches, then went 0-2 on Kevin Cash, causing massive ripples of excitement to move through the press box here at City Of Palms Park. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’m not sure anybody noticed, to tell you the truth, though in my giddiness I told Rich Griffin, who’s sitting beside me, that we might be witness to history.

Sadly, Tallet missed down and in with the 0-2, then got Cash swinging on the next pitch. Still, pretty good – three strikeouts on 10 pitches. He’s done, Shawn Camp will follow. Bryan Corey is in to pitch for Boston.

1:48 PM Eastern

The Jays were retired in order on fly balls, each a little shallower than the next. Reed Johnson started by giving his a ride to deep left-centre, Eckstein sent one to medium left, and Stewart hit his to slightly-less-medium centre. On to Shawn Camp!

2:48 PM Eastern

Sorry for disappearing with no warning, the laptop died and then I had to run downstairs to hear the Youkilis news conference.  I got back up and it was the bottom of the 6th, still 3-0.  I haven’t seen much of it, but I get the feeling this game is being played like the ultimate getaway day game.  None of the Red Sox want to be here, and most of the starters are out now.  Most of the Jays starters are out as well, which means I’m heading downstairs in another second to talk to a few of them.

Youkilis said that the whole thing was more miscommunication than anything else, and the players now know that you have to get things in writing.  He wouldn’t go so far as to say the coaches and support staff will be getting the same per diem as the players, which is what they were apparently fighting for, but that they’ll get a lot more than they were going to.  He also mentioned that the Players’ Association supported them, but someone from there also told him that there was a lot at stake, and seemed to me to say that you can cancel today’s game if you want, but you’d better go to Japan.  Still, it’s settled, kind of.  After all, they don’t have anything in writing this time, either.

Off to the clubhouse, more after the game!

UPDATE – 12:50 PM Eastern – Baseball is afoot! It appears as though the game will go. Several Red Sox players have come out of the dugout with bats and gloves and are running on the field and stretching and the like. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:10 – David Aardsma vs. Brian Tallet.

UPDATE – 12:45 PM Eastern – Man, updating nothing is fun. The players only hung out in the dugouts for about 10 or 15 minutes, with the Jays leaning over the railing and some of the Sox signing autographs.

The 12:30 “deadline” came and………………nothing happened. No more announcements, no Bostons emerging to sign autographs, no nothing. Yee-ha.

UPDATE – 12:10 PM Eastern - All the players are in the dugouts, but there’s been no resolution yet. The Red Sox players have informed us that if the game doesn’t start by 12:30, they’ll come out of the dugout and sign autographs for fans along both base lines.

The PA announcer just informed the fans that the start of the game has been delayed “due to a dispute between the Red Sox players, the MLB Players’ Association and Major League Baseball.” The announcement was met with a chorus of boos, but the announcement about the autographs followed, so everybody is happy.

Diasuke Matsuzaka is moving to the minor-league complex to pitch in a AAA game.

UPDATE – 11:50 PM Eastern - Coco Crisp and DustinPedroia came out onto the field, did some sprints, then ran back into the dugout. Not sure what that means, but I thought you might like to know.

11:40 PM

The Blue Jays are here and so are the Red Sox, but there may be no baseball played on this beautiful Wednesday afternoon in Fort Myers.

Just a quick note here, because I’m also cutting up tape to get to Barb DiGiulio for the updates, but the Red Sox are furious with Major League Baseball’s decision not to pay their manager, coaches and trainers the same $40,000 that the players are getting for their season-opening trip to Japan, on which they’re supposed to be leaving this afternoon. Curt Schilling said that a promise was made, verbally, to pay the staff the same as the players.

When the Jays got here, Sox player rep Kevin Youkilis went over to Jays rep Vernon Wells to fill him in on the situation, and the deal evidently is that the Red Sox players are refusing to play this game AND to get on the plane to Tokyo unless MLB ponies up the dough.

Right now, the scheduled first pitch is 25 minutes away. No word yet on whether it will fly.

Oh, and also – Armando Benitez can’t pitch. In a game, that is, until he gets a work visa. He’s in the country on a visitor’s visa, because he didn’t have a job when he came up to do the tour of Spring Trainings looking for work. Benitez was scheduled to throw Grapefruitically either tomorrow or Friday, but that’s not going to happen now.

B.J. Ryan is another story. Bruce Walton (here while Brad Arnsberg stays behind in Dunedin with Shaun Marcum) said that Ryan felt fine yesterday after being sore following his outing in Bradenton on Monday, but couldn’t say whether or not he’d pitch as scheduled tomorrow.

More when more happens!

5:15 PM Eastern

The Blue Jays lost another one, and again the offense went missing. As I said in one of my answers in the comments section, big deal.

What is, in fact, a big deal, is that B.J. Ryan had a bad day. He threw the 6th inning, striking out Ronny Paulino looking on a fastball that had a bit of cut to it, but not too much, then allowing a line single to Jose Bautista before getting Luis Rivas on a grounder to second and having Marco Scutaro bail him out with a terrific leaping grab of a Nate McLouth liner that was headed up the middle. In all, 17 pitches, 12 strikes, nice day’s work.

But when Ryan spoke to the gathered throng after the game, he said that he didn’t feel right. He was sore, and it wasn’t the old, pre-surgery soreness that he might feel after an outing, it was something different. He didn’t seem worried, or scared, and made a point to say that he wasn’t going to be a hero or do anything stupid, though he did continue to pitch once he realized that he wasn’t feeling right.

The truth will come out in the next couple of days. Tomorrow morning, if he’s still sore, he might go get re-examined. Right now, Ryan is still scheduled to pitch on Thursday – either against the Yankees in Dunedin or at the same minor-league game that Roy Halladay will pitch so those evil Yankees don’t see him. But that very well could change.

This would appear to be the first bump in the road in what’s so far been a remarkable recovery from Tommy John surgery by the big closer. After the 1-2-3 inning against the Rays on Friday, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg said, “we’ve had nothing but steps forward. There’s been no regression, no steps backwards, so we’ll just keep our fingers crossed and keep putting him out there.” If today wasn’t the first step backwards, it absolutely wasn’t a step forward. Is it time to panic? No. Maybe this means nothing, maybe this means that Ryan gets backed up and stays down here in Florida to rehab for a while, which seems to be what a lot of you out there thought should have been done in the first place.

If he can’t answer the bell, this is where the depth gets tested, and this is where Brandon League is going to have to step up and do what Casey Janssen did last year – be that dependable third guy to team with Accardo and Downs at the back of the bullpen. I think League can do it – he threw another shutout inning today, with a strikeout and two ground ball outs. The power sinker has been working to perfection, and I think this is the guy we all thought we were going to see last year. League gave up a hit, as well, but it was a little flare-looper that John McDonald almost chased down in right-centre.

A.J. Burnett wasn’t spectacular – he couldn’t throw his change-up for strikes with any consistency, and as a result had trouble putting hitters away and walked four. The wind cost him, though, turning a routine fly out into a double in the third – that led to two runs. Luis Rivas’ double to lead off the 5th was a ground ball in exactly the right place down the third-base line, but there was nothing cheap about the Nate McLouth triple that followed. And Burnett showed some of his frustration by not covering the plate on the wild pitch he threw a couple of pitches later.

After the game, he said that he’s trying to become a pitcher, not a thrower, whether he wants to or not. He said, as he has before, that he’s taking a page from Roy Halladay’s book and trying to throw every pitch with a purpose. He also said that he really wants to incorporate the change-up into his repertoire this year, and that he won’t just scrap it once he throws one bad one in the regular season. After hearing that, the intrepid Jordan Bastian had the stones to ask the question that was on everyone’s mind – “how many times have you said that before?” A.J. was self-depricating with his answer: “Seven out of seven springs – when I haven’t been hurt.” At least he’s aware that he’s been down this road before, and never followed through.

To his credit, though, Burnett added that his right index fingernail has been long enough for him to have put on an artificial nail for a week and a half to two weeks, but he hasn’t done so in order to force himself to keep working on the change-up. He’ll have the hook the next time out, though. He also said that learning to be a four-pitch pitcher (with a slider and change in addition to his sinking fastball and curveball) will keep him healthy, and that’s what got to me. If he thinks he can stay healthy and make 30-32 starts by utilizing the change, and therefore get himself a big, giant contract in the off-season (and, secondarily, feels as though he actually contributed to a team that could win a bunch of games), then he just might stick with it this time.

Tomorrow is the Jays’ lone off-day of the spring, and mine, too, though VP of communications Jay Stenhouse asked cryptically if we’d all be around tomorrow in case something happens (a long-term contract for Aaron Hill or Alex Rios, perhaps? Please, something bigger than Bill Murphy!). My answer was no. I’m leaving the ballpark in Bradenton in a few minutes and heading over to the other coast to spend tomorrow in Miami – family medical reasons, nothing bad. If something happens, I’ll find out about it and you can find out right here what I think about it!

The pre-season resumes Wednesday at noon (!) Eastern for an ESPN game against the Red Sox at Fort Myers. Brian Tallet will start for the Jays against Daisuke Matsuzaka, the last game the Sox play before jumping on a plane to Tokyo, where they’ll open the season against Oakland. Don’t read anything into Tallet starting – Shaun Marcum is staying behind, throwing in a minor-league game, so the Jays can hide him from the BoSox. Most of the regular position players are scheduled to make the trip, though.

Comments are encouraged, as always, and I feel like I’m doing more answering of them than I thought I would, it’s fun!