Blue Jays Notebook: Hits and Misses

DUNEDIN, Fla.-The Jays lost a pair of exhibition games on Friday in their only split-squad action of the season, dropping the spring record to 9-11 with eight games remaining.

At home against the Rays, the Jays lost 14-10, with opening day starter Shaun Marcum allowing nine runs in five innings of work.

“It was just a bad day locating pitches,” Marcum said in the wake of his penultimate spring start. “Everything I threw seemed like it stayed on the middle third instead of out on the corners.”

Marcum refused to use the excuse that he had not faced a major-league opponent in 10 days, going first to a minor-league game, followed by a rainout that forcedhim to an indoor mound throwing 81 pitches against Jays' hitters that did not swing the bats.

“No, that wasn't it,” Marcum said. “Some of those pitch selections I probably wouldn't have thrown in a normal season, but I wanted to try and work on hitting that spot down and away that I was struggling with. Then again, we still have some time and I would rather it be now than April 5. It's a good thing to get that out of the way and move on.”

HITS: Aaron Hill continued his solid spring. Hill's three hits rraised his average to .417, his on-base to .667 and his OPS to 1.414...Kyle Phillips, filling in for an injured Lyle Overbay, slammed a three-run homer and an RBI double among three hits...Jose Molina slammed his first homer of the spring in the ninth inning.

MISSES: Joey Gathright chopped a sure hit off the plate over the mound. When Raul Chavez inexplicably stopped in the baseline to stay out of a double play, the second baseman flipped to short for the force...Catcher John Buck left the game in Fort Myers following his first at-bat, returning home for a family emergency. ..Steve Register cashed out with five runs allowed in two-thirds of an inning.

At Fort Myers, the Jays lost to the Red Sox 3-2 despite a solid performance by starter Brett Cecil. The lefthander went five shutout innings, allowing two hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Non-roster second baseman Brad Emaus had three hits in four at-bats.

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The first inning was one to forget for Marcum. In amongst the single, double and homer to Evan Longoria was perhaps his worst moment.

Marcum fielded a bunt by Carl Crawford dashing towards the foul line. First baseman Lyle Overbay shifted across to take the throw in foul territory as he was taught, but Marcum stopped suddenly and threw across Crawford's body back into fair territory. As Overbay caught the ball for the out, he made contact with Crawford and limped to the clubhouse.

Overbay was diagnosed with a contusion to his left knee that was confirmed by Dr. Steve Mirabello. He will be listed as day-to-day.

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The Jays' injury substitution at first base for Lyle Overbay, utility man Kyle Phillips responded with hits in his first three at-bats with a three-run homer and an RBI double. Phillips will be a third catcher at AAA-Las Vegas as well as playing first and third base and some DH.

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Righthander Brandon Morrow, looking to reinsert himself in the opening rotation mix, threw his scheduled bullpen side session prior to his scheduled Monday start, with no apparent repercussions.

The righthander has been cut back to three innings for Monday vs. the Tigers after pulling himself from a start a week ago against the Astros with soreness in his shoulder as he was warming up in the bullpen.

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Injured lefthanded reliever Jesse Carlson pitched a perfect inning at the minor league complex in a game on Friday. He has been sidelined with discomfort in the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of his left knee. Carlson has made just one Grapefruit League appearance this spring.

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Rays' third baseman Evan Longoria made the outstanding catch of the spring in the third inning. Outfielder Chris Lubanski lofted a pop foul. Longoria tracked it to the five-foot wire fence, leaped and extended into the crowd, flipping over and dangling by his ankles. He held onto the ball as the crowd lifted him back up over the fence to an ovation.

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Against the Rays, lefthander David Purcey retired all four batters he faced, continuing his experiment of scaling his repertoire back to just his two best pitches – fastball and slider.

“He's doing so well, we're just kind of going to leave him alone,” Gaston said. “He's got so much confidence now throwing strikes. I've never seen him pitch like that. He's getting the ball and just throwing it. We're happy with him. We're happy for him.”

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Prior to Friday's game, manager Cito Gaston confirmed that righthander Dustin McGowan will be held back from throwing for at least another two weeks. McGowan finally appeared in a game against a live opponent at the minor-league complex last Friday. He suffered what was described as “dead arm” and was shut down for a week. McGowan seemed relieved that he will get additional time off. He can stay on the disabled list indefinitely. His last regular season appearance was July 8, 2008.