Mills to start for Blue Jays on Saturday

Brad Mills will get the start for the Toronto Blue Jays in Saturday's game against the Texas Rangers.

Mills was recalled by Toronto from Triple-A Las Vegas following a series of trades Wednesday that netted the Blue Jays four players, including talented outfielder Colby Rasmus.

Mills, 26, went 9-7 with a 3.99 ERA in 20 starts with Las Vegas. He made seven appearances (three starts) for the Blue Jays last season, going 1-0 with a 5.64 ERA in 22 1/3 innings.

He'll take over the rotation spot vacated by the release of lefthander Jo-Jo Reyes earlier this week.

3-0. Cecil throws the full path and gives victory to the Blue Jays

Brett Cecil starter worked his second set of full path in his last four starts and led the Toronto Blue Jays get a 3-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

Cecil (3-4) pitched nine episodes, allowed four hits, walked two and retired seven strikeouts for the win.

In the attack, third baseman Jose Bautista was charged with connecting RBI double in the race for the difference.

Bautista struck between the left-center to bring the register to shortstop Yunel Escobar with the winning run.

The defeat was for the opener Alexi Ogando (10-4) in six innings and two thirds, allowed seven hits, three runs, walked two and retired six strikeouts to prove triunfo

Blue Jays giving the Mariners a 12 straight loss

Rajai Davis broke a tie connecting a double in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays handed the Mariners their 12th straight loss to beat them 7-5 on Thursday.

Miguel Olivo had rallied from a 5-1 shaking the first grand slam of the season in Seattle in the top of the eighth inning, but the Mariners failed to score more.

Reliever David Pauley (5-4) got two quick outs in the bottom splice before Mike McCoy double by the left and then was walked Yunel Escobar. Then, Davis hit his double, a homer to Ichiro Suzuki bathed in right field and both runners scored.

The Mariners have not won since beating the A's in Oakland on July 5. It's the worst streak since losing 12 Seattle lined up between 11 and 22 September 2008.

The Mariners, Miguel Olivo 4-1, a run scored and four RBIs. Franklin Gutierrez 4-1.

For the Blue Jays, Jose Bautista 3-1, two RBIs, and Edwin Encarnacion 3-0, a run scored. Yunel Escobar 4-1, a run scored and RBI.

Jays Minor League Watch: PCL All-Star Brad Mills Takes No-No Into 8th Inning

Coming off his recent start at the PCL All-Star game this past Wednesday, Blue Jays pitching prospect Brad Mills continued his strong season in the hitter-friendly AAA league this afternoon, taking a no-no into the 8th inning against the Tucson Padres en route to his 8th win of the season for the Las Vegas 51′s.

Mills’ attempt at the elusive PCL no-no was thwarted in the 8th inning by Matt Clark of the Padres; although, at 108 pitches when Mills departed, it was unlikely that he would have been able to complete the game anyway. The single to Clark was the only hit that Mills allowed, and he walked 2 and struck out 6 along the way to earning the victory, lowering his season ERA to a respectable 3.71.

It was a nice recovery for the AAA All-Star, who had gone through a bit of a rough patch coming into this week, having given up 26 runs over his last 31 innings for a 7.55 ERA over his last 5 starts. It is quite difficult to maintain the numbers Mills had over the first couple of months of the season in a hitter’s league, especially as a control pitcher like Mills, but this is a nice step for the 26-year old, who is having his most successful season in AAA in his career thus far, and is perhaps just an injury (or a DFA to a certain pitcher) away from getting another shot to be a back-end guy for the Blue Jays this season.

Blue Jays kick off second half with a bang winning 16 to 7 against the Yankees !

The Blue Jays' offence kicked off the second half with a bang by pounding out a season-high 20 hits on Thursday night.

The club showed no signs of rust following a brief three-day layoff by scoring early and often against its divisional rivals, tying a franchise record with eight first-inning runs en route to a 16-7 victory over the Yankees at Rogers Centre.

"I think the All-Star break kind of refreshed everybody," said right fielder Eric Thames, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. "A lot of guys went home to see their families and kind of got a second wind.

"We were able to rest and sleep all day and get the energy back. I'm happy to see it, because we were swinging the bats well in Cleveland, and we carried it on to the second half."

Thames led the way in that fateful first with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. That frame was an all-around attack, though, one that featured 12 batters, six hits, two walks and an error.

The eight runs were the most scored in one inning by Toronto this season, and it marked the first time since Sept. 26, 2007, at Baltimore that the club put that many runners across home plate in the first.

The Blue Jays have been on the wrong end of those lopsided innings before. There were the late-inning collapses against the Mariners and Indians, and a one-sided series against the Red Sox earlier this year.

That made Thursday's outcome even more enjoyable.

MLB All-Star Game 2011 Lineup Comparison

Record number of fans set All-Star roster

With a record-setting number of votes cast via MLB.com and at ballparks nationwide, the field for the 2011 All-Star Game was set on Sunday. The Blue Jays' Jose Bautista received the most votes of any individual player ever with 7,454,753, while the system as a whole saw more than 32.5 million ballots submitted, another record. The American League East dominated that league's voting, with seven of the nine starters hailing from that division, and that included Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter returned this week from a calf strain and continued his pursuit of 3,000 hits. Also back on the field is Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols, who had a wrist injury. With the All-Star Game, of course, comes the Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint and the Home Run Derby sponsored by State Farm. In the former, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko and Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino were the latest leaders, with voting for the last spot on the All-Star rosters set to end Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. In the Home Run Derby, National League captain Prince Fielder and AL captain David Ortiz officially announced their squads, with four first-timers in the group: Bautista - the Majors' long-ball leader - Matt Kemp, Rickie Weeks and Robinson Cano. In regular-season action, the surprise second-place Pirates continued their surge and have come on the heels of the NL Central-leading Cardinals.
More news to come !