The Toronto Blue Jays were dominant in today’s 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The Jays used an outstanding pitching starting pitching performance combined with stellar bullpen work and a decent offensive day to shutdown their division rivals.

Jays starter Brian Tallet was masterful, allowing one hit to lead off hitter Cesar Izturis in the top of the first than was lights out afterwards.

Tallet did not allow another runner to reach base after the Izturis single.

Tallet pitched four innings in total, allowing one hit and striking out three. Tallet mainly used his two seam fastball which in turn provided him with a lot of groundball outs.

Reliever Shawn Camp pitched a scoreless, hitless inning striking out one.

Manager Cito Gaston let the media know that today he would announce a primary closer, ruling out a closer by committee option. The battle for closer would be between Scott Downs, Jason Frasor & Kevin Gregg.

All three players got in work today against Baltimore.

Downs pitched one inning allowing one walk and striking out one. Gregg duplicated Downs line in his inning of work, while Frasor would top them both by pitching a clean inning of work, getting two groundball outs along with one flyout.

Finally, flame thrower Merkin Valdez closed out the ninth inning, allowing one run on a two out RBI to Miguel Abreu breaking up the Jays shutout nod.

The Jays offense came courtesy of a Travis Snider (2-3) solo shot to deep left centre in the fifth inning and RBI’s courtesy of Brian Dopirak (4) & Brad Emaus (6). Emaus was two for three on the day and has really been hitting the ball well in spring batting for an average of .367 after today’s game.

Alex Gonzalez also had a nice day going two for four with a run scored and Chris Lubanski added a triple to his stat line.

The Jays pitching was impeccable today as the team only allowed two Baltimore hits.

The Jays continue a home in home with Baltimore tomorrow as they host the O’s in Dunedin at 1:05pm EST.

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The Toronto Blue Jays returned to Spring Training action today after yesterday’s loss to the Atlanta Braves 8-5 in Dunedin.

Today the Jays would square off against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland with left hander Marc Rzepczynski receiving the starting nod.

The game featured a ton of offense, with Toronto holding onto the lead for most of the game, only to see the game slip from their grasps in the bottom of the eight inning as they received the loss in a 10-7 defeat.

Rzepczynski had a rough start to the contest allowing a lead-off home run to Tigers second baseman Scott Sizemore, which was followed two batters later by a Miguel Cabrera two-run home run.

Rzepczynski would calm down afterwards, retiring 11 of the next 15 hitters to end his day with a pitching line of 4IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 4SO.

The Jays would turn the ball over to the bullpen which saw a nice outing from Casey Janssen (1IP, 1BB) followed by disastrous pitching performances from Brett Cecil (2.1IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 3SO) & the games eventual loser Edward Buzachero (0.2IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB).

The Jays offensive attack came courtesy of a one home run, two RBI day from Brian Dopirak, who also whiffed three times in five plate appearances, as well as a two RBI day from Brad Emaus, pushing his spring total to five batted in.

First baseman Randy Ruiz contributed with a two for four day with a walk and two runs scored.

Every hitter in the Blue Jays starting lineup recorded a hit on the day.

Even with the offensive surge from Toronto the Jays could not pull this one out as their spring record has now fallen to 6-5 after beginning 5-1.

The Jays have tomorrow off than head to Sarasota to take on their division rival Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.

The game is scheduled to begin at 1:05pm EST.

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The Toronto Blue Jays long awaited search for their shortstop of the future may be over.

According to media sources, most notably Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated, the Jays and Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechevarria has agreed to a four year deal worth $10 million.

The Jays have been after Hechevarria as well as fellow Cuban Jose Julio Ruiz over the last month.

Hechevarria was “unblocked” by the Office of Foreign Assets Control last week, which meant that he was free to sign with any team of his choosing.

Hechevarria was originally interested in a deal with the New York Yankees, but opted to try another club when word came about of Derek Jeter’s possible extension with the Yanks.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos could not confirm nor deny of the Hechevarria signing sticking to his policy of not commenting on transactions until they are complete.

The shortstop position has been a revolving door of under-producing veterans (aside from Marco Scutaro last season) for quite some time in Toronto as their search for their shortstop of the future produced nothing notable via draft.

The Jays did draft star second baseman Aaron Hill with the intention of him carrying that moniker, but the move to second base has been an obvious benefit for both Hill and the Jays.

Hechevarria is being compared to Jose Iglesias, the possible everyday shortstop of the Boston Red Sox future who signed for $8.2 million. Some even list Hechevarria as a better all around player than Iglesias, hence the higher contract received.

Little is known of Hechevarria as far as numbers are concerned.

The sports website “Cuban Baseball Prospects” has a sample article featuring video of Hechevarria and describes him as their seventh best Cuban prospect.

The website lists Hechevarria as 6 feet tall weighing 160lbs featuring amazing quickness, great hands and excellent footwork.

Hechevarria hits for power and has a high fielding average.

Hechevarria likes to hit behind the runners. During last season, he hit 50 times toward right field. He also hit 38 times to left field and 32 to center field.

If the Hechevarria signing pans out, the plan set out by general manager Alex Anthopoulos to improve the scouting department in hopes of adding young, controllable players to build a franchise around will have added another piece to Toronto’s future puzzle.

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The Toronto Blue Jays rebounded from two straight spring losses and a cancelled game yesterday to defeat the Atlanta Braves 3-0 today.

Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero continued his impressive spring in hopes of becoming Toronto’s Opening Day starter by picking up the win, pitching four shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out one. Romero did get himself into some trouble by walking four, but recovered well and kept the Braves off the board.

Dana Eveland also continued to pitch well in spring, pitching three solid innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. Eveland has not allowed a run in the spring as of yet for the Jays.

Waiver claim Sean Henn also got in some work for the Jays, pitching one inning, allowing zero hits and walking one.

Finally, Reidier Gonzalez got the save on the day closing out the ninth inning for Toronto, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Jays had impressive days offensively from right fielder Jeremy Reed, who continues to swing a hot bat, as he went two for three on the day with an RBI and a double. Reed is .471 through the spring so far to go along with five runs batted in.

Brad Emaus has also been hitting the ball well for Toronto and that did not stop today as Emaus was two for two with an RBI and a walk. Emaus is now hitting .400 thoughout the spring with three runs batted in.

The Jays only allowed four hits on the day in a strong team pitching effort.

In an odd twist to the game, former Blue Jays rookie of the year Eric Hinskie pitched one shutout inning of work for the Braves, walking two batters.

The Jays travel back to Dunedin tomorrow with the Braves following their lead as the two squads square off again in a 1:05pm EST contest.

The Braves plan on using a split squad on the day as the other half of the roster will be squaring off against the Houston Astros in Kissimmee.

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The rain is pouring aplenty in the state of Florida today, therefore the game scheduled to begin today between the Toronto Blue Jays & Houston Astros has been cancelled, along with most early contests across Spring Training so far.

The Jays will travel to Lake Buena Vista to play the Atlanta Braves tomorrow afternoon.

The game is set to begin at 1:05pm EST.

The Toronto Blue Jays travelled to Port Charlotte today to do battle with the Tampa Bay Rays amidst a cloudy afternoon which eventually lead to a Jays 4-1 loss.

The day started out well for Toronto as starter Shaun Marcum was impressive in three innings of work, allowing just one hit while striking out two.

The Rays countered with former rotation stalwart Andy Sonnanstine who pitched well himself, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three across four innings of work.

Reliever Shawn Camp would have the rough day for Toronto earning the loss, allowing three earned runs on six hits (one of which was a solo home run to catcher John Jaso in the bottom of the fifth inning).

Brad Mills (2IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 1SO) & Steven Register (1IP, 0ER, 0H, 0B, 0SO) would also make appearances for the Jays out of the bullpen.

Toronto’s offensive attack was stifled on the day as Sonnanstine, Dan Wheeler (the game’s eventual winner), Alexander Torres & Jake McGee would allow just one Toronto run on five hits throughout the contest.

The one run would come courtesy of a Joey Gathright RBI in the top of the fifth inning as Toronto did not see much production on the day.

Jorge Padilla was two for four on the day as one of Toronto’s only positives, aside from a sparkling defensive play courtesy of first baseman Randy Ruiz in the bottom of the first inning to rob Carlos Pena of a hit.

The Jays travel back to Dunedin to square off against the Houston Astros at 1:05pm EST tomorrow afternoon.

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The Toronto Blue Jays five game winning streak in Spring Training was ended today by the Philadelphia Phillies, as the Jays lost the game by a score of 4-2.

Pitching prospect Kyle Drabek got the nod for the Jays, while Cole Hamels started the game for the Phillies.

Drabek pitched well, allowing one hit and one walk over two innings of work, while Hamels pushed his innings pitched to three and two thirds, allowing one run on one hit, walking two and striking out three.

The lone hit and run against Hamels came courtesy of a fourth inning home run off the bat of lead-off hitter Jose Bautista.

Bautista has been on a home run tear this spring, pushing his total to three so far.

From a pitching standpoint the Jays had numerous members of the squad get in work.

Aside from Drabek the Jays sent Jason Frasor (1IP, 1H, 1SO), Kevin Gregg (1IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB), Scott Downs (1IP, 1H), Lance Broadway (2IP, 2H, 2ER, 1BB, 1SO) & David Purcey (2IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 2SO) to the mound.

Broadway gained the loss in the contest allowing two earned runs, while Purcey allowed a gigantic home run to Cody Ransom in the top of the ninth inning.

The Jays spring record now sits at 5-2 as they travel to Port Charlotte for a contest with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Jays will be squaring off against a split squad for the Rays at 1:05pm EST.

In other Blue Jays news, reliever and closer candidate Jason Frasor has had his name arise in trade rumours yet again.

Frasor has been linked to a deal with the Chicago Cubs on more than one occasion throughout the off-season and now his name has come up in talks with the Minnesota Twins according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.

With the loss of closer Joe Nathan for quite possibly the entire season due to the need for Tommy John surgery the Twins are in need of backend bullpen help.

Frasor saved 11 games in 14 chances for the Jays last season posting a record of 7-3 with a career best ERA of 2.50 in 57.2IP.

The Jays have an influx of arms set for bullpen spots and they could sell very high on Frasor as he has pitched well thus far in the spring.

It’s doubtful that the Jays could get a return featuring Twins top prospect in outfielder Aaron Hicks, but perhaps they could swap Frasor for shortstop prospect Miguel Jean (Sano), a Dominican born who is still raw at only 17 years old.

Jean (Sano) is listed as the number two prospect in the Twins organization which makes that kind of deal seem far fetched for the Twins.

I would estimate that the Jays could net themselves shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos, a 23 year old shortstop prospect, with more glove than bat and a decent amount of speed for Frasor if the Jays went the shortstop route, as opposed to Miguel Jean (Sano).

As of right now the “Frasor is on the move” rumours are nothing but speculation, so we shall see what the future holds for him.

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The Toronto Blue Jays luck has not changed whatsoever as their spring season continued today in Kissimmee, Florida as they squared off against the Houston Astros.

The Jays used a formidable pitching combination of starter Ricky Romero along with relievers Dana Eveland, Chad Jenkins & Zach Stewart to shutdown the Astros offensively as the Jays took home the victory 4-1.

Starter Ricky Romero was very impressive inducing ground ball after ground ball, getting seven outs via the method.

Romero pitched three innings, allowing four hits, zero runs, walking none and striking out two.

Eveland was also very impressive in three innings of work, allowing one lone hit while striking out two, walking none and allowing zero runs.

The Jays first round selection in the 2009 entry draft Chad Jenkins made an appearance pitching two innings, allowing one run on one hit, walking one while striking out two.

Finally, Zach Stewart, a crucial return piece of the deal that saw Toronto send Scott Rolen to Cincinnati last year closed the game for the save, pitching one inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Offensively, the Jays saw yet another home run off the bat of “catcher of the future” J.P Arencibia, his third of the season. Arencibia has been on a tear throughout the spring with three home runs, six runs batted in and a batting average of .429.

Lyle Overbay (2-2, 1 double, 1RBI, 1 run scored, 1 walk), Brian Dopirak (2-2), Jorge Padilla (2-3, 1 double, 1 run scored) & John McDonald (2-3, 1RBI) all had good days at the plate.

The game also featured the return of a acouple of familiar faces for Jays fans, albeit for the opposing team.

Former rotation stalwart Gustavo Chacin pitched one inning for the Astros, allowing three hits and one earned run, while former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was in attendance in his new role as Astros pitching coach.

The Jays spring record is now 5-1, surprising many baseball onlookers thus far.

The Blue Jays have Tuesday off, continuing play on Wednesday in Dunedin as the Philadelphia Phillies visit.

Also, the Jays made a few transactions yesterday assigning catchers Travis D’Arnaud, Matt Liuzza & pitcher Daniel Farquhar to minor league camp. The roster now sits at 64 players in total.

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The Toronto Blue Jays continued their winning ways yesterday as they defeated the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in Dunedin, Florida.

The victory marks the fourth in a row for a Jays squad that now sits 4-1 in Spring Training.

The Jays rebounded from an early collapse in the first inning, allowing three early Tigers runs to score six first inning runs of their own.

The six run outburst featured another lead off from Jose Bautista as well as a grand slam off the bat of the heavy hitting Randy Ruiz. Ruiz ended up two for three on the day with four RBI’s.

Aaron Hill went two for two on the day pushing his batting average to .800. Hill has reached base on 10 of his 11 at bats this spring.

Vernon Wells also connected on a two run home run in the second inning.

The Jays used eight different pitchers on the day, beginning with Brian Tallet, who struggled. Tallet allowed four earned runs on four hits, two of which were long balls. He also walked two and struck out two in his two innings of work.

Pitchers to appear for the Jays after Tallet included Jason Frasor, Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs, Shawn Camp, Josh Roenicke, Daniel Farquhar & Rommie Lewis in that respective order.

Gregg was the only member of the seven that allowed a run, a fourth inning home run to Gerald Laird.

Rommie Lewis recorded the save, his second of the spring.

It was a solid day offensively as well as from a pitching standpoint as the Jays stuck together despite an early inning deficit and came out on top.

The bullpen was great and manager Cito Gaston got to take a look at quite a number of individuals on the day.

The Jays travel to Kissimmee to take on the National League’s Houston Astros.

Ricky Romero will get the start on the day as the game begins at 1:05pm EST.

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The Toronto Blue Jays travelled to Tampa to do battle with the defending World Series champion New York Yankees today in their third contest of the spring.

The Jays absolutely dismantled the champs, winning the contest 9-1.

Excitement was abound for the return of Toronto starter Shaun Marcum, who has not pitched a Major League game since September of 2008.

Marcum pitching two scoreless innings, allowing zero hits, one walk and two strikeouts in a solid return.

The Jays actually had an outstanding pitching performance from every pitcher on the day.

The Jays sent numerous pitchers to the mound including Marcum such as Zech Zinicola (1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB), Merkin Valdez (1IP, 0H,0R, 1BB, 1SO), Steven Register (2IP, 2H, 1BB, 1SO), Robert Ray (1IP, 2H, 2BB) & Willie Collazo (2IP, 1H).

Marcum walked away as the game winner while the Jays roughed up former Jay AJ Burnett and company.

Burnett, trying to perfect a changeup had a pretty terrible day against his former squad, allowing five hits and two earned runs over an inning and third to receive the loss.

The real damage was done against Yankees reliever Jonathan Albaladejo, who allowed seven hits and five earned runs over a third of an inning, one of the hits being a three run blast off the bat of Jays slugger Adam Lind.

Jose Bautista continued his dominant spring out of Toronto’s lead-off spot, going two for three with a run scored and an RBI, pushing his spring average to .750

Vernon Wells had a three for three day, while catching prospect J.P Arencibia added his second homer of the spring, with a two run blast in the top of the seventh inning.

The Jays were both an offensive and pitching force on the day which in turn made for an excellent continuation to their winning ways of spring.

The Jays spring record is now 3-1 as they sit atop the AL East leaders.

The Jays travel back to Dunedin for a Sunday match up against the Detroit Tigers at 1:05pm EST.

The Jays scheduled starter for tomorrow is big lefty Brian Tallet.