Blue Jays bullpen crumbles late in Kansas City

Salvador Perez has gone from cold to hot in three games.

Perez homered and drove in four runs and the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 10-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Perez's two-run double off Sergio Santos in the Royals' six-run eighth put the Royals ahead. Perez's four runs batted in matched his career high. The Royals had scored only four runs in the eighth inning in their first 24 games.

Perez, who has three consecutive multi-hit games, homered in the seventh with Alex Gordon aboard to trim Toronto's lead to 5-4. He was mired in a 1-for-29 skid before breaking out with seven hits in the past three games.

"I see a couple of sliders and a couple of split-finger then they made a mistake on a fastball a little inside and up and I hit it pretty good," Perez said.

The Royals sent 10 men to the plate in the eighth, which also included Omar Infante driving in two runs after collecting six RBIs on Sunday. Nori Aoki and Jarrod Dyson added RBI singles.

"That's the motto in here, never give up and always play like we're in it," Dyson said. "You just need to scratch one, scratch two and we gained momentum and just took off from there.

"It was all momentum. Salvador put us back in there.

"That was the game-changer right there. We kind of knew we were coming back after that."

Aaron Crow (1-1), the third of four Royals pitchers, picked up the victory with a scoreless eighth inning and has not allowed an earned run while allowing only five hits in nine innings this season.

Brett Cecil (0-2) took the loss, retiring only two of the five batters he faced.

The Blue Jays' bullpen gave up seven runs in two innings after starter Dustin McGowan left the game.

"We just got hit tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We had an off day yesterday, so they were fresh. 

"We didn't help things out. We let guys take the extra base by missing the cutoff man.

"You're not going to win that way. We've proved that we can play good defence."

Jose Bautista homered for the Blue Jays off Royals left-hander Jason Vargas and has reached base in all 26 games.

Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double and triple, and drove in two Toronto runs. He tops the majors with 41 hits.

Cabrera's triple in the fifth scored Jose Reyes, who had doubled. Cabrera scored on Vargas' wild pitch, putting the Blue Jays up 3-2.

McGowan, who has missed three seasons with injuries, pitched into the seventh inning, holding the Royals to three hits and three runs, two earned.

"I'm really encouraged," McGowan said. "I went deep into the game.

"That's all I've been wanting to do. Sometimes, the results are overshadowed by the innings you've pitched, but good things happen when you get deep in games."

The Royals took advantage of two walks and a wild pitch, plus a throwing error on catcher Dioner Navarro to score two runs in the second inning.

The Royals won a challenge review in the second, taking away a RBI infield single from Chris Getz.

The Royals have scored 19 runs in winning the past two games.

"It's going to click; we know that," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said of the offence.

"We're confident in our group. We've been getting some timely hits.

"It's a great thing about this offence. It could be a different guy every day that steps up and has a big night.

"Salvy, obviously, had that night tonight."

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Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee meet for settlement talks

Former baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and his onetime strength coach came face-to-face on Tuesday in a bid to settle their long-running legal dispute, but they emerged from a closed-door meeting without a deal.

A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamee's lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasn't likely.

"I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. "I certainly expect there's going to be a trial in this case."

It was the first time Clemens and McNamee had been in a private setting opposite each other at a conference table since at least 2007, Emery said. His client, he added, has struggled in recent years with health and financial problems.

Clemens and his attorneys left the courthouse on Tuesday without speaking to reporters.

U.S. Magistrate Cheryl Pollak ruled previously that Clemens has to turn over thousands of emails and other documents to McNamee. She agreed on Tuesday to examine the material to determine whether or not it was protected by lawyer-client privilege, as Clemens' lawyers contend. Another hearing was set for June 10.

McNamee's 2009 federal lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges Clemens launched an "intense and coordinated public relations offensive" against McNamee after the trainer told federal investigators and Congress that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 through 2001.

The suit quotes Clemens saying in a YouTube video in 2007 that McNamee "did not inject steroids into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees." It also cites an interview with ESPN in May in which Clemens, when asked about McNamee, responded that it was a case of "somebody out there that is really crawling up your back to make a buck."

In 2012, a Washington jury found Clemens not guilty of lying to Congress about steroids and human growth hormone. He had adamantly denied using either substance at a 2008 congressional hearing. The prosecution's case relied heavily on the testimony of McNamee, who told jurors he injected Clemens with steroids and HGH many times. Clemens is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner who also pitched for the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros.

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Blue Jays demote Ryan Goins to triple-A Buffalo

Light-hitting infielder hit .150 in 25 games with Toronto this season

The Canadian Press Posted: Apr 28, 2014 7:40 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 28, 2014 7:40 PM ET

Second baseman Ryan Goins was optioned to triple-A Buffalo on Monday by the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 26-year-old Goins hit .150 in 25 games for the Blue Jays this season with one home run and one run batted in.

Goins hit .252 in 34 games with the Blue Jays last season, his rookie year. He had two homers and eight RBIs in 2013.

A corresponding roster move will be completed Tuesday before Toronto's game in Kansas City.

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Blue Jays open 3-game series in Kansas City

Since earning his first win since 2008 against the Baltimore Orioles on April 11, Jays pitcher Dustin McGowan has allowed 13 runs in his other three starts spanning just 10 2-3 innings. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Kansas City Royals couldn't have asked for more from Jason Vargas, who has been terrific since joining the team this winter.

It remains to be seen if Dustin McGowan has what it takes to stay in the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation going forward.

Vargas takes the mound opposite McGowan as the Royals open a three-game home set against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Vargas (2-0, 1.54 ERA) is looking to open 3-0 as a starter for the first time after allowing two earned runs or fewer in each of his first five outings. The left-hander, holding opponents to a .214 average, has walked just eight in 35 innings.

"He doesn't challenge hitters, he makes pitches," manager Ned Yost told MLB's official website. "It gives him the confidence that, 'If I make a little bit of a mistake, somebody's still going to be there to catch it.'"

Vargas yielded three runs - two earned - in six innings in Wednesday's 5-3 loss at Cleveland.

"It's better than doing bad. The idea is to do well. It's pretty self-explanatory," he said. "It really doesn't matter until you pitch the next game you're supposed to pitch. None of it all matters if you don't pitch well the next time out."

McGowan (1-1, 6.88) earned his first win since 2008 with a strong showing in a 2-0 victory at Baltimore on April 11, but he's allowed 13 runs in his other three starts spanning just 10 2-3 innings. The right-hander, who has battled through his fair share of injuries over the years, is averaging just over 79 pitches per outing.

"The body just feels like it runs out of steam a little bit," McGowan said. "I shouldn't be feeling that, I should be at the point where I can go 90-100 (pitches), especially the way my arm feels. It feels great."

McGowan said he started to tire after surrendering six runs in four-plus innings in Wednesday's 10-8 loss to the Orioles. He could be moved to the bullpen if he can't get on track.

"We've always told him that if something is wrong or doesn't feel right, to let us know," manager John Gibbons said. "And he's guaranteed us he would."

The Blue Jays (12-13) dropped four in a row before beating Boston 7-1 on Sunday. Brett Lawrie hit his sixth homer and Melky Cabrera, one of a record six players from the Dominican Republic in the lineup, stayed hot with two hits and an RBI.

"It was a much-needed win, I will definitely say," Gibbons said.

With 39 hits, Cabrera is one away from breaking the team record for March and April. The former Royals outfielder, batting .409 with five extra-base hits during a 10-game hitting streak, is the first Blue Jay to hit safely in 24 of the first 25 games.

Kansas City (12-12) returns home after taking two of three against Baltimore. Omar Infante went deep and matched a career high with six RBIs in Sunday's 9-3 victory.

The Royals are 12-0 when scoring at least four runs compared to 0-12 when they don't.

"I take it we need to score four runs," Yost said. "We're trying to do it more."

Vargas is 1-3 with a 5.67 ERA in six career starts against the Blue Jays but hasn't faced them since 2012. Edwin Encarnacion is 5 for 15 with two homers and two doubles in their matchups.

Toronto took 10 of 14 from the Royals over the previous two seasons, including six of seven in Kansas City.

Royals designated hitter Billy Butler, hitting .209, is 2 for his last 46 against the Blue Jays.

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Blue Jays set MLB record for Dominican starters

Toronto fields 6 from the Caribbean island for Sunday's game

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 27, 2014 3:06 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 27, 2014 3:06 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays have set a major league record by fielding a starting lineup with six players from the Dominican Republic.

The Blue Jays did it Sunday at home against the Boston Red Sox.

The first four hitters in Toronto's lineup are all from the Dominican Republic: shortstop Jose Reyes, outfielders Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion.

Juan Francisco served as the designated hitter Sunday against Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, batting sixth, and outfielder Moises Sierra batted seventh.

Right-hander Esmil Rogers is the seventh Dominican player on Toronto's 25-man roster.

Last season, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers had starting lineups with five players from the Dominican Republic, which won the World Baseball Classic in March 2013.

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R.A. Dickey in fine form as Blue Jays avoid Red Sox sweep

A big win over the Boston Red Sox brought out a sense of national pride in the Toronto Blue Jays.

Not north of the border in Canada, but down south in the Dominican Republic.

Melky Cabrera, one of a record six players from the Dominican in Toronto's starting lineup, hit a go-ahead double and the Blue Jays ended a season-worst four-game losing streak, beating the Red Sox 7-1 Sunday.

Shortstop Jose Reyes said he was proud to be part of the milestone moment for the baseball-mad country.

"No doubt," Reyes said. "It's good to share the same field with the people you know from back home. It's a good feeling."

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey unloads to the Boston Red Sox during Sunday's game. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

The first four hitters in Toronto's lineup were all from the Dominican Republic: Reyes, outfielders Cabrera and Jose Bautista and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion.

Juan Francisco served as the designated hitter, batting sixth, and outfielder Moises Sierra batted seventh.

Esmil Rogers, the seventh Dominican player on Toronto's 25-man roster, struck out the side in the ninth.

In Toronto's clubhouse following the game, Bautista and Rogers were using their phones to snap photos of the lineup card, which the Dominican players had autographed. Bautista said he intended to have it framed and sent to a museum in his homeland.

Manager John Gibbons, who penned the historic lineup, joked that it might get him some extra recognition.

"It might get me a job in winter ball," he laughed.

What meant more to Gibbons was snapping Toronto's recent slump.

"It was a much-needed win, I will definitely say."

R.A. Dickey (2-3) won for the first time in four starts.

Jon Lester (2-4) allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings. He walked none, struck out seven and threw a season-high 122 pitches.

"I thought I threw the ball well," Lester said. "I made a couple mistakes and they made me pay for it later in the game."

Brett Lawrie homered, doubled and drove in two runs as the Blue Jays avoided their first sweep against Boston since June 2011.

Cabrera went 2 for 4 and leads the majors with 39 hits. His double in the third put Toronto ahead to stay at 2-1.

Encarnacion doubled twice and drove in two runs. Bautista had a hit and RBI, and has reached base safely in all 25 games this season.

On the day the Blue Jays handed out bobblehead dolls in his likeness, Dickey allowed one run and five hits in 6 1-3 innings. He walked none, struck out five and won for the first time since April 5 against the New York Yankees.

"Obviously I planned it that way," Dickey deadpanned. "I wish we could have bobblehead day every day I pitch now."

Dickey retired the first five batters before the Red Sox scratched out a run with three straight singles with two outs in the second. Jonny Gomes scored when Jackie Bradley Jr.'s looper dropped in front of Cabrera in left.

Lawrie tied it in the bottom half with his home run.

Dickey retired 10 straight before hitting Will Middlebrooks to begin the seventh. Xander Bogaerts chased Dickey with a one-out double, but reliever Steve Delabar got Bradley to foul out and David Ross to fly out, preserving a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Jays added two insurance runs off Lester in the bottom half. Encarnacion hit a leadoff double and scored when Lawrie doubled off the glove of Middlebrooks at third. Lawrie moved to third on a fly ball and scored on Sierra's grounder.

Toronto padded its lead with three runs off Andrew Miller in the eighth. Bautista hit an RBI single and Encarnacion followed with a two-run double.

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MLB will study pine tar issue after this season

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says the sport will wait until after the season to study whether the rule preventing pitchers from using pine tar should be changed.

New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games Thursday, a day after umpires found pine tar on his neck during a game against Boston. Pineda said he was trying to get a better grip on balls on a cool night, and pitchers say they suspect pine tar use may be routine — although usually discreet.

Baseball rules prohibit pitchers from using foreign substances.

"When the year is over, we ought to look at all this," Selig told the Associated Press Sports Editors on Friday.

While Pineda appeared to have pine tar on the palm of his pitching hand during a start against the Red Sox on April 10, Boston never brought it to the attention of umpires that night. The Red Sox did point it out the umps Wednesday.

"I think the way that the rule has been enforced, as with lots of rules in baseball, is that when there's a complaint, we do something about it," MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred said. "And that's what happened here. I don't think that this particular incident is all that different from other incidents that we've had in the past. We will like we do every off-season look at this issue, but remember, pine tar is one of a number of foreign substances, and you have to have a rule that fits for all of them. I don't think there's anything all that different about the Pineda."

In other pine tar penalties, Tampa Bay's Joel Peralta was penalized eight games in 2012, the Angels' Brendan Donnelly 10 days in 2005 and St. Louis' Julian Tavarez 10 days in 2004. The suspensions of Donnelly and Tavarez were cut to eight days after they asked the players' association to appeal, and Peralta dropped his challenge with no reduction.

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Pirates catcher Russell Martin on DL with strained hamstring

Canadian backstop sent back to Pittsburgh for MRI

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 26, 2014 3:38 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 26, 2014 3:38 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed catcher Russell Martin on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.

The Montreal native was injured in the sixth inning of Friday's 1-0 loss to the Cardinals.

He complained about hip pain and was sent back to Pittsburgh for an MRI exam Saturday to see if the two ailments are connected.

Martin, 31, has a .242 batting average and .342 on-base percentage in 16 games this season with two home runs and 11 runs batted in.

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MLB will study pine tar issue after this season

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says the sport will wait until after the season to study whether the rule preventing pitchers from using pine tar should be changed.

New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games Thursday, a day after umpires found pine tar on his neck during a game against Boston. Pineda said he was trying to get a better grip on balls on a cool night, and pitchers say they suspect pine tar use may be routine — although usually discreet.

Baseball rules prohibit pitchers from using foreign substances.

"When the year is over, we ought to look at all this," Selig told the Associated Press Sports Editors on Friday.

While Pineda appeared to have pine tar on the palm of his pitching hand during a start against the Red Sox on April 10, Boston never brought it to the attention of umpires that night. The Red Sox did point it out the umps Wednesday.

"I think the way that the rule has been enforced, as with lots of rules in baseball, is that when there's a complaint, we do something about it," MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred said. "And that's what happened here. I don't think that this particular incident is all that different from other incidents that we've had in the past. We will like we do every off-season look at this issue, but remember, pine tar is one of a number of foreign substances, and you have to have a rule that fits for all of them. I don't think there's anything all that different about the Pineda."

In other pine tar penalties, Tampa Bay's Joel Peralta was penalized eight games in 2012, the Angels' Brendan Donnelly 10 days in 2005 and St. Louis' Julian Tavarez 10 days in 2004. The suspensions of Donnelly and Tavarez were cut to eight days after they asked the players' association to appeal, and Peralta dropped his challenge with no reduction.

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Red Sox roll over Blue Jays in Toronto

The Boston Red Sox followed up one of their worst games of the season with one of their best.

David Ortiz homered, Jake Peavy pitched seven strong innings and the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Friday night.

"Good team win. We needed it after last night," Peavy said.

Will Middlebrooks returned from the disabled list with two hits and two RBIs as Boston bounced back from an error-filled loss to the Yankees on Thursday. The Red Sox held a pregame meeting after making five errors in their 14-5 home defeat against New York.

"No one is proud of the way things unfolded (Thursday) night," manager John Farrell said before facing Toronto. "That was an ugly game."

Farrell was feeling better after the Red Sox set season highs with 16 hits and eight extra-base hits. They roughed up left-hander Mark Buehrle (4-1), who was trying to become the first Blue Jays pitcher to start a season with five straight wins.

"Just a well-played game all the way around," Farrell said.

Buehrle came in with a major league-best 0.64 ERA, but allowed 12 hits and seven runs, six earned, in 5 1-3 innings.

"We had a pretty clear understanding of how he was going to try and pitch us," Farrell said. "The most important thing is we waited out those borderline pitches that were good pitcher's pitches that were off the plate to get into some good hitter's counts."

Buehrle gave up more earned runs in Boston's four-run second than he had in his four previous starts combined (two). He walked three and struck out none.

"I wasn't hitting my spots as good as I was in the past," Buehrle said. "And when I did, they got some base hits. But overall, too many strikes in the middle of the zone."

Juan Francisco homered for the Blue Jays, who have lost three straight for the first time this season.

Peavy (1-0) allowed one run and five hits to win for the first time in five starts. He walked two and struck out seven.

"We executed on all sides of the ball tonight," Peavy said. "We need to put those efforts together consistently now."

Chris Capuano struck out the side in the eighth and Andrew Miller finished for Boston.

Red Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski opened the scoring in the second with a sacrifice fly off Buehrle, his former Chicago White Sox batterymate. Middlebrooks followed with an RBI single, the first hit against Buehrle in 24 at-bats this season with a runner in scoring position. Dustin Pedroia capped the rally with a two-run single.

Ortiz made it 5-0 with a leadoff homer in the fifth, the 50th of his career against Toronto. Ortiz has 33 career homers at Rogers Centre, the second-highest total by an opposing player. Alex Rodriguez leads with 36.

Pierzynski singled to begin the sixth and scored on a double by Middlebrooks, who was thrown out at third. Buehrle left after walking Jackie Bradley Jr. and was replaced by Neil Wagner, who later issued a bases-loaded walk to Mike Napoli.

Peavy, meanwhile, breezed through the first five innings, allowing just two hits.

"That's what Jake can do when Jake is right," Pierzynski said. "He's been pitching pretty well all year, we just haven't scored any runs for him."

Jose Bautista hit a one-out double in the fourth and Edwin Encarnacion walked, but Bautista unwisely tried to steal third and was thrown out by Pierzynski.

Peavy called Bautista's decision to run "a shot in the arm for us."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons made it clear he hadn't called for a steal.

"It wasn't smart, winning baseball and he won't do it again," Gibbons said.

Jose Reyes hit a one-out double in the sixth and went to third on Melky Cabrera's single, but Peavy struck out Bautista looking, then fanned Encarnacion to escape the inning.

Francisco ended Peavy's shutout bid in the seventh with a towering homer into the fourth deck, his first.

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Orioles clobber Blue Jays' bullpen

The Toronto Blue Jays' bullpen has struggled mightily over the last week.

There was a massive meltdown in Minnesota on April 17 and another blown opportunity a few days later in Cleveland. The Toronto relievers took it on the chin again Thursday as the Baltimore Orioles turned a close game into an 11-4 rout at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays wasted a quality six-inning effort by Drew Hutchison and fell back to the .500 mark by losing the rubber game of three-game series. Baltimore scored five runs in the seventh inning and added four more in the eighth for the blowout win.

"There's going to be some blips every now and then," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "I still think our bullpen stacks up as good as anybody out there."

Several relievers had blips on this night.

Neil Wagner lasted just one out before being pulled. Brett Cecil (0-1) didn't even manage an out, allowing four earned runs, two walks and two hits. Esmil Rogers worked the rest of the seventh inning and pitched the eighth, giving up three earned runs and five hits.

"It's only April, you're not going to be perfect every time," Cecil said. "I didn't feel like I had a good feel for anything. I was pulling my cutters, my curveballs were up and not as sharp."

Jonathan Schoop homered and David Lough had three of the Orioles' 14 hits. Bud Norris (1-2) allowed five hits, three earned runs and a walk over six innings for Baltimore (11-10).

Nelson Cruz scored twice and drove in two runs while Chris Davis and Adam Jones had three RBIs apiece.

"We know these guys are going to score runs whether it's early or late," Norris said.

Toronto (11-11) did most of its damage in the second inning. Dioner Navarro put the Blue Jays on the board with a solo shot for his first homer of the season. Juan Francisco followed with a single and scored when Colby Rasmus belted a two-run blast.

Baltimore had some chances early on but Hutchison was locating his fastball on both sides of the plate to keep the Orioles at bay. The 23-year-old right-hander had nine strikeouts for the second straight game.

"I don't go out there trying to strike people out, I go out there trying to command the ball and attack the strike zone," Hutchison said. "And when you get ahead of guys, you put them away. That's all that is."

The Orioles finally got to Hutchison in the fifth when Schoop opened the frame with a solo homer. Lough reached on a walk, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a Davis single.

Hutchison struck out Jones to get out of the frame with the lead intact.

"Hutch gave us that big start we were looking for, we just couldn't take advantage of it," Gibbons said. "Then the game got away late there."

The Toronto bullpen also struggled in a 10-8 loss to the Orioles a night earlier. It was the first time Baltimore has scored 10 runs or more in back-to-back games since August 2008.

"We can string some hits together and get the home run any time," Jones said. "Our lineup is scary and it's fun to see it click the last couple of nights."

Norris settled down after his rough second inning. He faced the minimum 11 batters until hitting Encarnacion with a pitch in the sixth inning.

After the game, Gibbons said he wasn't worried about his bullpen, which had a strong season last year before fading late in the campaign.

This season's low point came in a 9-5 loss to the Twins a week earlier. In that game, Minnesota scored three straight runs on wild pitches by Toronto's Sergio Santos and the bullpen issued a team-record eight walks in one inning.

The struggles continued against the Orioles and things don't get easier with the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox in town for a weekend series.

"It's still a good bullpen," Gibbons said. "(The Orioles) found a couple holes, but they kept the pressure on us all night."

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Yankees' Pineda suspended for using pine tar to improve grip

New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games Thursday after being caught using pine tar. He said he won't appeal the penalty that will cost him two starts.

"I accept it," Pineda said before Thursday night's game at Fenway Park. "I know I made a mistake."

The commissioner's office announced the ban, which started immediately.

Pineda was ejected in the second inning of Wednesday night's 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox after umpires found the pine tar on the right side of the right-hander's neck.

After the game, Pineda admitted he used the pine tar to help him grip the ball on a cool, windy night.

"I feel so bad," he said Thursday.

Pineda said he had never used pine tar before this season. He spent his first season in the majors with the Seattle Mariners in 2011, then missed the last two with the Yankees following right shoulder surgery.

The ejection set off a debate in the baseball world about pitchers who try pine tar, and whether it should be allowed in certain circumstances. Many former aces said they had done it, albeit in a more discreet manner.

Rule 8.02(b) prohibits pitchers from altering the ball to gain an unfair advantage, and forbids them from having a foreign substance on them or in their possession on the mound.

Pineda wasn't seen with the pine tar in the first inning, when the Red Sox roughed him up. Boston manager John Farrell asked plate umpire Gerry Davis to check Pineda after two fast outs the next inning.

Davis went to the mound, touched Pineda's neck and ejected him.

Earlier this month, Pineda pitched well in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Television cameras showed a substance on his hand during that outing — Pineda said it was dirt, not pine tar.

Pineda said he didn't use pine tar in a start against the Chicago Cubs, in between his Red Sox outings.

Among other suspensions of pitchers for pine tar in the past decade, Tampa Bay's Joel Peralta was penalized eight games in 2012, the Angels' Brendan Donnelly 10 days in 2005 and St. Louis' Julian Tavarez 10 days in 2004. The suspensions of Donnelly and Tavarez were cut to eight days after they asked the players' association to appeal, and Peralta dropped his challenge with no reduction.

Pineda said Thursday he didn't feel the ball well in the first inning when he allowed two runs on four hits. And he said he wanted to be careful not to hit any batters.

"I know it's pine tar, but the pine tar did not help me" throw harder, he said. "It helped me for feel, [get] a better grip."

He also said no one told him to use it. He said he did it "by myself," he said.

Manager Joe Girardi indicated David Phelps would take Pineda's turn in the rotation. Phelps came into the game with two outs in the second after Pineda was ejected.

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Yankees' Michael Pineda ejected for pine tar on neck

The pine tar on Michael Pineda's neck was a stain for the New York Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman was "embarrassed."

Manager Joe Girardi called it "poor judgment."

And Pineda was "sad" and vowed not to do it again.

The Yankees' right-hander was ejected for using pine tar less than two weeks after appearing to get away with using a foreign substance in another game against Boston, and the Red Sox beat New York 5-1 on Wednesday night.

The previous time, Pineda said he used "dirt" on his right palm to get a better grip in cold weather in a 4-1 win over Boston on April 10 in New York.

This time, he said he decided to put pine tar on the right side of his neck after allowing two runs in the first inning on another chilly night so he could use it to grip the ball.

"I'll learn from this mistake," a downcast Pineda said. "It won't happen again."

He was thrown out in the second inning when plate umpire Gerry Davis found the substance on the right side of Pineda's neck after Red Sox manager John Farrell asked him to check. Pineda walked from the mound without protest.

"When it's that obvious, something has got to be said," Farrell said. "Our awareness was heightened, given what we had seen in the past."

Davis said he found pine tar and Pineda gave no explanation as he left the mound.

Cashman said that in a similar situation, "I would want my manager to do what John Farrell did."

He said the issue was discussed with Pineda after the game on April 10 and again after he was ejected. Now he expects Pineda to be suspended.

"He did what he did, but we're also responsible that somehow he got out of our dugout and was on the field in that manner," Cashman said. "That never should have happened."

Pineda (2-2) had nothing on the right side of his neck in a photo of him on the mound in his tough first inning, when four of the first six batters reached on hits.

Another photo taken in the second showed a shiny horizontal substance on his upper neck below his right ear. After Pineda struck out the first two batters and had a 1-2 count on Grady Sizemore, Farrell talked to Davis. The umpire went to the mound, looked at the ball then touched the substance on Pineda's neck with his right index finger. Then he gestured with that same finger, indicating Pineda's ejection.

"He had a hard time gripping the baseball. Unknown to us, he put it on and went out there," Girardi said. "It's a young kid. I don't think he's trying to do anything, cheat. I think he's just trying to go out there and compete."

Rule 8.02(b) says a pitcher shall not "have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically."

"We will talk to the umpires tomorrow and review their report before taking any action," Major League Baseball spokesman Michael Teevan said.

In recent suspensions of pitchers for pine tar, Tampa Bay's Joel Peralta was penalized eight games in 2012, the Los Angeles Angels' Brendan Donnelly 10 days in 2005 and St. Louis' Julian Tavarez 10 days in 2004. The suspensions of Donnelly and Tavarez were cut to eight days after they asked the players' association to appeal, and Peralta dropped his challenge with no reduction.

In Pineda's previous start against the Red Sox, Farrell didn't see a photograph of Pineda's hand until the fourth inning; when Pineda came out to warm up for the fifth, his hand was clean.

On Wednesday, with the game time temperature at 50 degrees, Sizemore started the first with a triple and scored on Dustin Pedroia's single. With one out, Mike Napoli singled Pedroia to third. After Mike Carp flied to left, A.J. Pierzynski singled up the middle, scoring Pedroia.

After Pineda's ejection, David Phelps came in and completed the strikeout of Sizemore.

John Lackey (3-2) allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks. Koji Uehara struck out three in the ninth in a non-save situation.

"There is such a thing as too many strikes if you're hitting the white part of the plate," Lackey said. "I was fortunate enough tonight to be hitting the corners more times than not."

Napoli had three hits and Boston scored two runs in the first and two more in the third. The Yankees scored on Alfonso Soriano's sacrifice fly in the sixth.

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Albert Pujols hits 500th career home run

Albert Pujols reached 500 homers in a hurry.

The Los Angeles Angels' first baseman hit a pair of shots off Washington Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan on Tuesday night — a three-run homer in the first inning and two-run drive in the fifth — to become the 26th player in major league history to reach the milestone.

Pujols is the first player to collect his 499th and 500th homers in the same game, according to STATS. About three months past his 34th birthday, he's also the third-youngest to get to 500; Alex Rodriguez and Jimmie Foxx were both 32.

Making a quick recent surge, Pujols has eight homers this season, all in the past 13 games.

The 500th went to left-centre field at Nationals Park, on an 89 mph pitch with the count at 1-2. Pujols clapped his hands together a few strides before trotting home, then pointed both index fingers to the sky. As soon as he touched the plate, Pujols was greeted by his Angels teammates, who streamed over from the visiting dugout.

Fans gave the three-time NL MVP a partial standing ovation, and he acknowledged the spectators by tipping his red batting helmet as he approached the dugout. After heading down the steps, he came back out for a curtain call.

In other at-bats Tuesday, Pujols struck out swinging in the second inning and grounded to shortstop in the seventh.

After a couple of down-for-him years with the Angels following 11 transcendent seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, a healthier Pujols appears ready to reclaim his spot among the game's elite hitters. He homered Friday and Saturday in games at the Detroit Tigers to lift his career total to 498, and now he's reached the round number of 500 — a total that remains hallowed despite losing its lustre in recent years because so many players have surpassed it.

Of the 26 members of the 500-homer club, 11 have reached the mark in the last 15 years, according to STATS. Gary Sheffield was the most recent player to do it, hitting No. 500 on April 17, 2009.

"It's huge. That's a lot of balls over the fence. That's a lot of them. Albert's one of the great hitters of this generation," Nationals manager Matt Williams said before his team's series against the Angels. "The ability to not only hit home runs, but the ability to hit .330 and drive in 100-plus every single year — that's saying something. That's the ultimate guy you want on your team, because he provides it all."

The Cardinals selected Pujols in the 13th round of the 1999 draft, with the 402nd overall selection — a steal if ever there was one. Pujols stormed onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie in 2001, hitting .329 with 37 homers and 130 RBIs.

He won a batting title in 2003, National League MVP awards in 2005, 2008 and 2009, and World Series titles with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011. Pujols was the first player to hit 30 homers in each of his first 12 seasons and the second — after Al Simmons in 1924-34 — to reach 100 RBIs in each of his first 10.

A nine-time All-Star, Pujols hit 455 homers with the Cardinals.

So many power hitters of this era, have come under suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. Earlier this year, radio host and former Cardinals player Jack Clark apologized for and retracted comments he made in 2013 implying that Pujols used steroids. Pujols sued Clark for defamation in October.

After his decade-plus of excellence in St. Louis, Pujols signed a 10-year deal worth $240 million with the Angels following the 2011 season. Almost immediately, the 6-foot-3 slugger appeared to be slowing down. He hit .285 with 30 homers in 2012 — impressive numbers for most players, but career lows at that point for Pujols.

Things got even worse in 2013. Injuries limited Pujols to 99 games, and he was sidelined from July 26 on. He ended up hitting .258 with 17 homers and 64 RBIs.

But not surprisingly, Pujols' bat did not stay quiet for long.

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Blue Jays go deep in win over Orioles

The series opener between the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings.

It turned into a power game after that and Toronto's boppers were up to the task.

Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Melky Cabrera belted three-run homers as the Blue Jays dumped the Orioles 9-3 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. Encarnacion got things started in the sixth inning, Lawrie would later give the Jays the lead and Cabrera added some insurance as Toronto improved to 11-9 on the season.

"Home runs come in handy," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Home runs do win. We had the three big ones."

Nelson Cruz hit a three-run shot for Baltimore (9-10) in the top half of the sixth inning before Encarnacion ended his 25-game home run drought to pull Toronto even.

Lawrie, from Langley, B.C., cracked the tie in the eighth inning with a blast off Evan Meek (0-1) to help make a winner of reliever Steve Delabar (2-0). Cabrera, who has hit safely in 19 of 20 games this season, went deep off Josh Stinson later in the frame.

Juan Francisco and Josh Thole chipped in with two hits apiece for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Orioles 9-8.

Toronto starter R.A. Dickey and Baltimore's Miguel Gonzalez were both in form early on. Dickey was the first to hiccup in the sixth inning after Baltimore got a rally started by taking advantage of some sloppy defence.

Steve Lombardozzi hit a flare to shallow left field that dropped in between Cabrera and Jose Reyes. Both Blue Jays seemed to think the other had a read on the ball but neither did.

Lombardozzi reached second on the play and Nick Markakis followed with a walk. Cruz then stepped into a 1-1 fastball for his fourth homer of the season.

Dickey recorded the next two outs but then loaded the bases by walking Steve Clevenger, hitting Delmon Young with a pitch and walking Ryan Flaherty. A Jonathan Schoop strikeout kept the damage to just three runs.

A Baltimore error helped the Blue Jays' rally in the bottom half.

Cabrera reached when Lombardozzi flubbed a grounder and Jose Bautista singled to set the stage for Encarnacion, who launched a blast into the first row of standing-room only seats above the first deck in centre field.

"He's a home run hitter," Gibbons said. "To get that first one, I'm sure he's breathing a little bit easier."

It was the fourth-longest home run drought of Encarnacion's career.

Gonzalez, who struck out a season-high seven batters, lasted 5 2/3 innings as Baltimore fell to 5-6 on the road this season.

"With Encarnacion you can't double up, you've got to keep the ball down and make better pitches," Gonzalez said.

The Baltimore starter allowed four hits and two earned runs while walking a pair.

"Miguel was very close there," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "If we do a couple of things differently he probably pitches six or seven innings. He had good stuff obviously. He gave us a good chance to win. I can't fault his effort."

Dickey struggled again when he came back out for the seventh inning but got a big assist from the Toronto bullpen. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Neil Wagner came on in relief and got Cruz to ground out.

Southpaw Brett Cecil relieved Wagner and walked Chris Davis to load the bases. Cecil got cleanup hitter Adam Jones to wave at three straight pitches before striking out Clevenger to snuff the threat.

"That's the ballgame right there," Gibbons said. "But our bullpen is good. We've had a couple hiccups in the past week but our bullpen is as good as anybody's."

Delabar came on for the eighth inning and put a runner on with a one-out walk. Jonathan Diaz and Reyes then combined for a nice 4-6-3 double play to retire the side.

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Yankees starter Ivan Nova has partial elbow ligament tear

New York recalls pitcher Preston Claiborne from Triple-A

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 20, 2014 12:37 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 20, 2014 12:37 PM ET

New York Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday.

Nova left Saturday night's game against Tampa Bay in the fifth inning. An MRI exam after the game revealed the injury.

"It's hard," Nova said. "I really don't know what to say. I'm sad right now."

Nova will be further examined Monday in New York by Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad. He had no discomfort in the elbow until his 82nd and final pitch Saturday when he felt a pop.

The Yankees also, as expected, reinstated first baseman Mark Teixeira from the 15-day disabled list and he was in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.

Teixeira hurt an adductor muscle that runs alongside the hamstring trying to make a play on a foul grounder during an April 4 game against Toronto.

New York recalled right-hander Preston Claiborne from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and right-hander Bryan Mitchell from Double-A Trenton. Infielder Scott Sizemore was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while reliever Matt Daley was designated for assignment.

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Blue Jays fall short of sweeping Indians

A successful road trip ended on a down note for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Reliever Aaron Loup's wildness in the sixth inning turned a two-run lead into a one-run deficit and the Blue Jays couldn't finish off a sweep of the Cleveland Indians, losing 6-4 Sunday.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was pleased with the 5-4 trip, but knows it could have been better.

"I really don't even look at it," he said. "You try to win each day. You're disappointed when you don't win, especially when you have a chance."

Giving up walks can change everything, something the Blue Jays learned the hard way. Loup (1-1) gave up a three-run double to David Murphy after walking the bases loaded and the Indians salvaged a game in the series.

The left-hander came in to relieve after Brandon Morrow gave up Nick Swisher's leadoff single. After getting the first two outs of the inning, Loup then walked Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases. Murphy drove in all three to give Cleveland the lead.

"I don't know if you can call it a lack of focus or just the wheels fell off, I guess," Loup said.

Gibbons gave credit to the Indians hitters for staying patient.

"Walks hurt you," he said. "Two of the right-handers (Santana and Cabrera) he ended up walking, that's kind of the way he pitches to those guys is to get them to swing and miss. But these guys laid off it pretty good."

Morrow pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits. He struck out six and walked two.

"We had great weather today, I wanted to get back to being aggressive," he said. "I felt good and had good stuff today. My split was really good, especially early."

Josh Outman (3-0) recorded the final out of the sixth and Cleveland's bullpen pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief after Carlos Carrasco lasted 5 2-3, giving up four runs on six hits, with five strikeouts and three walks.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona told reporters before the game that he called a team meeting after Saturday's defeat. The Indians, who had dropped seven of nine, responded by breaking the three-game skid.

Michael Brantley hit a solo homer in the second and added an RBI double in the fourth.

Toronto scored three times on four hits in the fourth. Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco had RBI singles while Brett Lawrie added a run-scoring groundout.

Down 6-4, Toronto made it interesting in the ninth against Indians closer John Axford.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs, after pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro and Melky Cabrera singled and Bautista walked. Axford got Edwin Encarnacion to ground out to end the game.

"We made a run at it late, it just didn't happen," Gibbons said.

Carrasco retired the first nine hitters, but got into immediate trouble in the fourth. Jose Reyes led off with a double into the right field corner. Cabrera's single sent Reyes to third before Bautista's single to right tied it.

Encarnacion struck out, but Francisco's single up the middle scored Cabrera and sent Bautista to third. Lawrie's groundout made it 3-1.

Reyes added an RBI single in the fifth.

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Yankees starter Ivan Nova has partial elbow ligament tear

New York recalls pitcher Preston Claiborne from Triple-A

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 20, 2014 12:37 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 20, 2014 12:37 PM ET

New York Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday.

Nova left Saturday night's game against Tampa Bay in the fifth inning. An MRI exam after the game revealed the injury.

"It's hard," Nova said. "I really don't know what to say. I'm sad right now."

Nova will be further examined Monday in New York by Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad. He had no discomfort in the elbow until his 82nd and final pitch Saturday when he felt a pop.

The Yankees also, as expected, reinstated first baseman Mark Teixeira from the 15-day disabled list and he was in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.

Teixeira hurt an adductor muscle that runs alongside the hamstring trying to make a play on a foul grounder during an April 4 game against Toronto.

New York recalled right-hander Preston Claiborne from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and right-hander Bryan Mitchell from Double-A Trenton. Infielder Scott Sizemore was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while reliever Matt Daley was designated for assignment.

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Blue Jays fall short of sweeping Indians

A successful road trip ended on a down note for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Reliever Aaron Loup's wildness in the sixth inning turned a two-run lead into a one-run deficit and the Blue Jays couldn't finish off a sweep of the Cleveland Indians, losing 6-4 Sunday.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was pleased with the 5-4 trip, but knows it could have been better.

"I really don't even look at it," he said. "You try to win each day. You're disappointed when you don't win, especially when you have a chance."

Giving up walks can change everything, something the Blue Jays learned the hard way. Loup (1-1) gave up a three-run double to David Murphy after walking the bases loaded and the Indians salvaged a game in the series.

The left-hander came in to relieve after Brandon Morrow gave up Nick Swisher's leadoff single. After getting the first two outs of the inning, Loup then walked Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases. Murphy drove in all three to give Cleveland the lead.

"I don't know if you can call it a lack of focus or just the wheels fell off, I guess," Loup said.

Gibbons gave credit to the Indians hitters for staying patient.

"Walks hurt you," he said. "Two of the right-handers (Santana and Cabrera) he ended up walking, that's kind of the way he pitches to those guys is to get them to swing and miss. But these guys laid off it pretty good."

Morrow pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits. He struck out six and walked two.

"We had great weather today, I wanted to get back to being aggressive," he said. "I felt good and had good stuff today. My split was really good, especially early."

Josh Outman (3-0) recorded the final out of the sixth and Cleveland's bullpen pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief after Carlos Carrasco lasted 5 2-3, giving up four runs on six hits, with five strikeouts and three walks.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona told reporters before the game that he called a team meeting after Saturday's defeat. The Indians, who had dropped seven of nine, responded by breaking the three-game skid.

Michael Brantley hit a solo homer in the second and added an RBI double in the fourth.

Toronto scored three times on four hits in the fourth. Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco had RBI singles while Brett Lawrie added a run-scoring groundout.

Down 6-4, Toronto made it interesting in the ninth against Indians closer John Axford.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs, after pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro and Melky Cabrera singled and Bautista walked. Axford got Edwin Encarnacion to ground out to end the game.

"We made a run at it late, it just didn't happen," Gibbons said.

Carrasco retired the first nine hitters, but got into immediate trouble in the fourth. Jose Reyes led off with a double into the right field corner. Cabrera's single sent Reyes to third before Bautista's single to right tied it.

Encarnacion struck out, but Francisco's single up the middle scored Cabrera and sent Bautista to third. Lawrie's groundout made it 3-1.

Reyes added an RBI single in the fifth.

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Jose Reyes set to return for Blue Jays

Shortstop will play in Saturday's game against Cleveland

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 18, 2014 6:24 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 18, 2014 6:24 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays plan to activate shortstop Jose Reyes from the disabled list on Saturday.

Reyes hasn't played since straining his left hamstring during his first at-bat of the season on March 31 against Tampa Bay. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Reyes will come off the DL before Saturday's game against the Indians and will play every day once he returns.

The switch-hitting Reyes initially injured his hamstring during spring training. He played in two exhibitions before the opener, but after hitting a sinking liner to centre in the first inning, he pulled up while running to first.

Reyes has been rehabbing his leg in Florida. He batted .296 last season for Toronto, but missed 66 games with a sprained left ankle.

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Mark Buehrle brilliant as Blue Jays blank Indians

Mark Buehrle has a simple explanation for his unbeaten record.

"The slower you throw the better off you are," he said after pitching the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.

Buehrle (4-0) pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning and lowered his ERA to 0.64 in four starts. The 34-year-old left-hander, who once pitched a perfect game, was pulled after giving up a single and walk to start the eighth. He allowed four hits overall, struck out three and walked three.

"I haven't changed anything in 10 or 11 years," he said. "I'm not going to keep asking questions. I'm going to go out there and run with it and see what happens."

Jose Reyes hit an RBI single in his first game since opening day, when he strained his left hamstring in his first at-bat of the season and went on the disabled list.

Corey Kluber (1-2) allowed five runs in 6 2-3 innings.

Dioner Navarro drove in three runs. Run-scoring singles by Jose Bautista and Navarro in the first put Toronto ahead, which was more than enough for Buehrle against the struggling Indians, who have lost seven of nine.

Navarro added a two-run single in the seventh that chased Kluber.

Buehrle gave Toronto's overworked bullpen a much-needed breather. The Blue Jays played a doubleheader Thursday in Minnesota and needed four relievers in Friday's 3-2 win over the Indians.

"He's good, that's all there is to it," said Toronto manager John Gibbons.

Indians manager Terry Francona agreed.

"It's not just today, it's been his first four starts and probably for the majority of his career," Francona said. "He gets a lead and he kind of puts you in a rocking chair. Little fastball, cuts it in to keep you honest, expands the plate, takes something off of it, throws a lot of changeups. We'll get a guy on, he'll get you to roll over, he's really good at that."

Cleveland didn't get a runner past second base and was shut out for the first time this season.

Melky Cabrera, who had four hits Friday for Toronto, tripled with one out in the first as right fielder David Murphy crashed into the wall after a long run. Cabrera scored when Bautista's popup fell in shallow right field. First baseman Nick Swisher tried to make the catch with his back to home plate, but got twisted around and the wind-blown ball fell in for single.

Following a passed ball by catcher Yan Gomes and a groundout that moved Bautista to third, Navarro's groundball took a bad hop and glanced off Swisher's chest for a hit.

Reyes' two-out single up the middle scored Brett Lawrie and gave Toronto a 3-0 lead in the second.

"I'm really happy just to be back, be with my teammates, see my guys again," Reyes said. "I'm happy that I'm going to be on the field and play and do what I love to do, just play baseball."

The Indians had two baserunners in the first and second, but Buehrle worked around trouble both times. Murphy's single and a walk to Mike Aviles finally ended his day, but Esmil Rogers struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and Swisher before Jason Kipnis flied out.

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Jose Reyes set to return for Blue Jays

Shortstop will play in Saturday's game against Cleveland

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 18, 2014 6:24 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 18, 2014 6:24 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays plan to activate shortstop Jose Reyes from the disabled list on Saturday.

Reyes hasn't played since straining his left hamstring during his first at-bat of the season on March 31 against Tampa Bay. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Reyes will come off the DL before Saturday's game against the Indians and will play every day once he returns.

The switch-hitting Reyes initially injured his hamstring during spring training. He played in two exhibitions before the opener, but after hitting a sinking liner to centre in the first inning, he pulled up while running to first.

Reyes has been rehabbing his leg in Florida. He batted .296 last season for Toronto, but missed 66 games with a sprained left ankle.

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Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buerle aims for 4th straight win

Mark Buehrle hasn't required much offensive support this season, but the Toronto Blue Jays' bats have given him plenty and the tools for more are on the way.

The veteran left-hander will go for his fourth win in as many starts Saturday against the Indians with shortstop Jose Reyes set to join the club in Cleveland for the second of a three-game series.

However, Toronto (9-8) placed designated hitter Adam Lind on the 15-day disabled list after originally hoping he'd return over the weekend. Lind has missed the last three games with a lower-back injury, while Reyes hasn't played since opening day due to a strained hamstring.

"It's big, he's a big part of our team," manager John Gibbons told the team's official website of Reyes. "The other guys have held their own and done a nice job for us. But he's a key part of our offence."

Reyes, though, went 4 for 23 against Cleveland last season.

Buehrle (3-0, 0.86 ERA) last won four straight starts with Miami from June 24-July 14, 2012. His third of this season was never in much doubt as he allowed a run on five hits in seven innings of Sunday's 11-3 victory in Baltimore. He's allowed two runs in 21 innings while walking two and striking out 16.

Despite the dominance, a little extra support against the Indians couldn't hurt. Buehrle is 15-17 against Cleveland with a career 4.87 ERA, which is his third worst against AL opponents behind the New York Yankees (6.02) and Los Angeles Angels (4.95).

Buehrle's former Chicago White Sox teammate, Nick Swisher, is 11 for 27 with eight walks against him. Swisher could use a favourable matchup as he comes in batting .185.

"For whatever reason, some players get off to a cold start," manager Terry Francona told the team's official website. "It always happens, and you don't have a remedy or a pill to take."

The Indians (7-9) counter with Corey Kluber, who has improved in each of his three starts, but opponents are batting .347 against him. Kluber (1-1, 5.40 ERA) allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings of Sunday's 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox and settled for a no-decision.

"He used all his pitches, worked ahead," Francona said. "He just basically really pitched a really good ballgame."

Kluber has never faced Toronto or anyone on its roster, but the right-hander has won three straight starts at Progressive Field with a 6-0 record and 2.51 ERA in 11 starts there since May 31.

Toronto snapped a two-game skid with a 3-2 victory in Friday's opener. Third baseman Carlos Santana hit his first homer, a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Indians a 2-1 lead, but the Blue Jays took it right back in the top of the seventh on RBI singles from Munenori Kawasaki and Edwin Encarnacion.

Blue Jays left fielder Melky Cabrera continued his hot start with a 4-for-5 night to bump his average to .333. With Reyes returning, Cabrera will likely move out of the leadoff spot.

Fellow outfielder Jose Bautista went 0 for 3 but drew two walks and has reached base in all 17 games. He leads the majors with 20 free passes.

Santana is 3 for 33 in his last nine games. He's a career .326 hitter against Toronto.

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Blue Jays fall twice to Twins in frigid Minnesota

Minnesota scored three straight runs on wild pitches by the Toronto Blue Jays' Sergio Santos in the eighth inning, when the Twins walked eight times off three relievers in rallying for a 9-5 victory and a sweep of Thursday's day-night doubleheader.

Kyle Gibson threw eight scoreless innings as Minnesota won the opener 7-0. The Twins trailed 5-1 in the fifth of the night game after another lacklustre start by Mike Pelfrey.

Steve Delabar walked two batters starting the six-run eighth, setting up Santos (0-1) for trouble as manager John Gibbons called for his closer early. Santos walked all three batters he faces, loading the bases with one out when he put on pinch-hitter Trevor Plouffe. The Twins cut the lead to 5-4 when Josmil Pinto came home on a wild pitch.

Janssen Rehab Halted

The rehabilitation assignment for Toronto Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen has been halted because of lingering tightness in his lower back. 

Janssen has been on the disabled list since the start of the season. He pitched for Class A Dunedin on Tuesday, but according to manager John Gibbons he didn't feel better afterward and was told to take a few days off from throwing. 

Gibbons said before Thursday's doubleheader at Minnesota he didn't believe the right-hander had a setback. But the manager said Janssen has continued to experience discomfort. 

Sergio Santos has handled the ninth-inning role in Janssen's absence. 

Shortstop Jose Reyes is expected to rejoin the Blue Jays on Saturday at Cleveland. He strained his left hamstring in his first at-bat this season. 

The collapse by the Blue Jays bullpen worsened from there.

Ball four by Santos to pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki was wild, too, allowing Chris Herrmann to score and tie the game. Santos threw another wild pitch to Brian Dozier, and pinch-runner Pedro Florimon raced home for the lead.

J.A. Happ relieved Santos, who took his first blown save in five chances this year, and walked two more. Then Jason Kubel broke open the game with a two-run single, the only hit of the inning.

Santos, who has been handling the ninth-inning role while Casey Janssen is on the disabled list with a strained back, threw only four of 16 pitches for strikes.

The previous time a team walked eight times in one inning was April 19, 1996, when Texas did so against Baltimore. The record of 11 was set by pitchers on the original Washington Senators against the New York Yankees on Sept. 11, 1949.

Casey Fien (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory.

Jose Bautista took over the AL lead with his sixth homer, a solo shot in the fifth inning that accelerated Pelfrey's exit. Bautista, who also walked and scored in the first, has gone deep 11 times in 14 games at the ballpark the Twins opened in 2010. That's the same number of homers Joe Mauer has here in 256 games.

Edwin Encarnacion had an RBI single and reached base four times for the Blue Jays. Toronto starter Dustin McGowan, like Pelfrey, failed to finish the fifth. But all that was forgotten with the wildness that came in the eighth.

The first game was played in 2 hours, 38 minutes, thanks to Gibson's command, and the Twins joked afterward they were ready to come back out for the next one in a half-hour. Instead, they waited nearly 3 1/2 hours for another lumbering start by Pelfrey.

After wintry weather forced postponement of Wednesday's game, workers scrambled all morning to melt snow and ice from the seating areas, and the grounds crew dried the warning track. The Twins even sent out a company-wide memo asking for help. Slush still sat along the edges of the plaza behind right field, and the highest seating level was closed off because it wasn't cleared in time, giving those customers an unexpected upgrade.

The announced paid attendance was just over 20,000 for both games, but the actual number of people present was half of that at most, much lower at night despite the downright balmy 42 sunny degrees at first pitch.

Pinto highlighted a five-run fifth inning in the first game against Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-3) with a two-run double, missing a grand slam by a few inches. Plouffe also had two RBIs. But the story of the game was Gibson.

Gibson (3-0) took the mound for the coldest start for an outdoor game in Twins history, 31 degrees, and breezed through a Blue Jays lineup that totalled 20 runs in the previous two games. He walked one, struck out four and scattered four singles. All he was missing was the ninth.

He lobbied for 10 more pitches, but 105 were plenty for the Twins. Gibson had a rough rookie year in 2013, but the 2009 first-round amateur draft pick has been the early stalwart of the rotation that stumbled through the first two turns. He lowered his ERA to 0.93.

"This early in the season we're not going to mess with that kid's arm. But that was a great performance," manager Ron Gardenhire said.

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A's claim pitcher Marcus Walden off waivers from Jays

Right-hander posted 3.71 ERA at double-A in 2013

The Canadian Press Posted: Apr 16, 2014 5:24 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 16, 2014 5:24 PM ET

The Oakland Athletics claimed right-hander Marcus Walden on Wednesday after he was put on waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Walden was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays a day earlier. He made five appearances for Toronto in spring training but did not play in a regular-season game.

The 25-year-old native of Fresno, Calif., was 6-14 with a 3.71 earned-run average last season at double-A New Hampshire. Walden made three appearances at triple-A Buffalo this year, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA.

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Ailing Blue Jays seek doubleheader sweep

The Minnesota Twins haven't won a home series with the Toronto Blue Jays in nearly seven years, and their one chance to end that streak this season is off to an unfavourable start.

The visitors will look to continue their rule in Minneapolis on Thursday by sweeping a day-night doubleheader, though the cold weather could work against the Blue Jays.

The nightcap (7:10 p.m. ET) will conclude this three-game series after Wednesday night's matchup was postponed due to unseasonable cold causing a spring snowstorm. The forecast Thursday includes a high temperature of 6 C but clear and dry conditions.

"We've got a roof up there in Toronto, so we don't get exposed to it that much. You've just got to be mentally tough," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

The cold could work against Toronto's R.A. Dickey, who will start the matinée (1:10 p.m.). His knuckleball generally thrives in humid, hot conditions.

Toronto (8-6) has dominated the series lately in both teams' parks, winning 21 of 26 overall and 18 of 22 in Minnesota after Tuesday's 9-3 victory. The Twins last won a home series with the Blue Jays when they took two of three May 25-27, 2007.

'Once we got a few hits, it just started snowballing.'- Blue Jays' Brett Lawrie after Tuesday's rout of Twins

The Blue Jays seek their third straight win after scoring 20 runs on 31 hits in their last two games with Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion combining for a 14-for-23 mark in the middle of the order.

Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 14 games, a franchise record to begin a season, and Brett Lawrie hit a grand slam in the ninth.

"Once we got a few hits, it just started snowballing," Lawrie said.

But the Blue Jays, like they did much of last season, have been bit by the injury bug of late. Centre-fielder Colby Rasmus missed Tuesday's game with a hamstring injury but will play Thursday while Lind exited the same contest with lower-back tightness and is day to day. Closer Casey Janssen has been shut down temporarily due to a sore lower back.

The Twins (6-7) saw a three-game winning streak halted but continued to get on base at an impressive clip. Their .340 on-base percentage is among the best in baseball.

R.A. Dickey will be out to limit that in his fourth outing. Dickey (1-2, 5.30 earned-run average) has been roughed up in two of his three starts, including Thursday's 6-4 loss to Houston in which he allowed five runs on six hits in seven innings.

He allowed two home runs to the Astros, something that hurt him last season when he surrendered 35, the second most in the majors. Still, he thought his knuckleball was working and his velocity was where he needed it.

"It was a real surprise when I have a knuckleball like that and have the outcome that we had," Dickey told the team's official website. "I had really good command of it early on ... I was throwing it hard, it felt great coming out of my hand, and then we had just a couple of hiccups and it happened really quickly. It's not like things were spiraling out of control."

His luck in Minnesota hasn't been any better with a 1-1 record and 7.30 ERA in four games, two starts.

Dickey was originally scheduled to square off with Mike Pelfrey, but he's been bumped to the late game while Kyle Gibson (2-0, 1.59) starts in the afternoon. The second-year right-hander has overcome four walks in each of his first two outings to win both, giving up one run in each and allowing eight hits in 11 1-3 innings. He's never faced Toronto.

Pelfrey (0-2, 7.84) hasn't been nearly as good in his second season with Minnesota. He allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings of a 6-1 loss to Oakland on Thursday, dropping him to 0-5 with a 7.58 ERA in his last six starts. The first of those was a loss to Toronto on Sept. 6. He went 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA against the Blue Jays last season.

"It was tough," Pelfrey told the team's official website after his last start. "My fastball command wasn't very good. I threw a lot of balls. I walked too many guys. I left balls up and over the plate. If you do that, you're going to hit. It was just a bad day of executing pitches."

Pelfrey will be opposed by Dustin McGowan (1-1, 4.00), who has had two very different outings thus far. He was tagged for four runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 7-3 loss to the Yankees on April 4, but the right-hander went 6 1/3 innings in a 2-0 win in Baltimore on Friday.

McGowan has been outstanding in six games, two starts, against Minnesota, going 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA while holding the Twins to a .161 average.

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A's claim pitcher Marcus Walden off waivers from Jays

Right-hander posted 3.71 ERA at double-A in 2013

The Canadian Press Posted: Apr 16, 2014 5:24 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 16, 2014 5:24 PM ET

The Oakland Athletics claimed right-hander Marcus Walden on Wednesday after he was put on waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Walden was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays a day earlier. He made five appearances for Toronto in spring training but did not play in a regular-season game.

The 25-year-old native of Fresno, Calif., was 6-14 with a 3.71 earned-run average last season at double-A New Hampshire. Walden made three appearances at triple-A Buffalo this year, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA.

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Brett Lawrie powers Blue Jays over Twins

The Toronto Blue Jays were getting mowed down by Phil Hughes through the first five innings on a chilly night at Target Field, but the big swingers never panicked.

The Jays have a long history of beating up on the former Yankees right-hander, so they knew it was only a matter of time before they got him in his new home in Minnesota.

Jose Bautista had three hits and an RBI, and Brett Lawrie hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to help the Blue Jays beat the Twins 9-3 on Tuesday night.

Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and an RBI, and Aaron Loup (1-0) won in relief of starter Brandon Morrow, who lasted 3 2-3 innings in 35-degree weather. The Blue Jays led 5-2 going into the ninth before Lawrie's towering drive off Jared Burton put it away.

"I think it just took a little bit of getting used to," said Lawrie, who drove in five runs. "We didn't hit (batting practice) today. We just rolled into town, so we kind of just hit in the cages and rolled right out into the game. So it just took a little bit to adjust once we got in the box. Once we got a few hits, it just started snowballing."

Chris Colabello had three hits and an RBI, and Trevor Plouffe hit a solo home run for the Twins. But Hughes (0-1) watched an impressive start go to waste in Toronto's five-run sixth inning.

"He was cruising before that," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I thought the ball was coming out of his hand really good. All of a sudden I think it was three or four hits in a row and I don't know what happened. He just couldn't get a ball where he wanted to and they put some really nice swings on the ball."

Hughes gave up four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts in five-plus innings, snapping Minnesota's three-game winning streak.

Munenori Kawasaki had two hits, including a double, after being called up from Triple-A Buffalo to help replace Maicer Izturis, who is out for the season with torn ligaments in his left knee. Designated hitter Adam Lind, who had a walk, a single and scored a run, left in the seventh inning with tightness in his lower back.

The Blue Jays have historically hit the ball very well at pitcher-friendly Target Field and they were going against one of their favourite pitchers in Hughes, who faced them many times over the years with the New York Yankees. Toronto hit 15 home runs off Hughes in 116 2-3 innings while he was in pinstripes.

Hughes kept the ball in the ballpark and kept the Blue Jays off balance through five. He recorded all seven of his strikeouts and needed just 74 pitches to get to the sixth.

Then it all came apart. Hughes gave up four quick hits to start the inning, including RBI singles by Bautista and Encarnacion to get chased with two on and nobody out. Michael Tonkin gave up a single to load the bases, and a throwing error from catcher Kurt Suzuki later in the inning allowed Dioner Navarro to score for a 5-2 lead.

The big inning helped Toronto overcome a rough start from Morrow, who threw 98 pitches and couldn't get out of the fourth. Morrow gave up two runs and four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

"We've got a good hitting team," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "I figured that was not going to last very long. Hughes was tough on us early but we had that one big inning where we broke it open."

Bautista played centre field because Colby Rasmus needed an extra day to rest his ailing hamstring. It was the slugger's first start there since 2009 and he badly misplayed a sinking liner from Pedro Florimon, letting the ball get behind him for a triple.

Florimon scored on a single by Joe Mauer, who struck out three times, for a 2-0 lead.

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Ailing Blue Jays seek 3rd straight victory

The Minnesota Twins haven't won a home series with the Toronto Blue Jays in nearly seven years, and their one chance to end that streak this season is off to an unfavourable start.

The visitors will look to continue their rule in Minneapolis Wednesday (8:10 p.m. ET) by securing another successful trip in the second of a three-game series.

Toronto (8-6) has dominated the series lately in both teams' parks, winning 21 of 26 overall and 18 of 22 in Minnesota after Tuesday's 9-3 victory. The Twins last won a home series with the Blue Jays when they took two of three May 25-27, 2007.

'Once we got a few hits, it just started snowballing.'- Blue Jays' Brett Lawrie after Tuesday's rout of Twins

The Blue Jays seek their third straight win after scoring 20 runs on 31 hits in their last two games with Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion combining for a 14-for-23 mark in the middle of the order.

Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 14 games, a franchise record to begin a season, and Brett Lawrie hit a grand slam in the ninth.

"Once we got a few hits, it just started snowballing," Lawrie said.

But the Blue Jays, like they did much of last season, have been bit by the injury bug of late. Centre-fielder Colby Rasmus missed Tuesday's game with a hamstring injury while Lind exited the same contest with lower-back tightness and is day to day.

The Twins (6-7) saw a three-game winning streak halted but continued to get on base at an impressive clip. Their .340 on-base percentage is among the best in baseball.

R.A. Dickey will be out to limit that in his fourth outing. Dickey (1-2, 5.30 earned-run average) has been roughed up in two of his three starts, including Thursday's 6-4 loss to Houston in which he allowed five runs on six hits in seven innings.

He allowed two home runs to the Astros, something that hurt him last season when he surrendered 35, the second most in the majors. Still, he thought his knuckleball was working and his velocity was where he needed it.

"It was a real surprise when I have a knuckleball like that and have the outcome that we had," Dickey told the team's official website. "I had really good command of it early on ... I was throwing it hard, it felt great coming out of my hand, and then we had just a couple of hiccups and it happened really quickly. It's not like things were spiraling out of control."

His luck in Minnesota hasn't been any better with a 1-1 record and 7.30 ERA in four games, two starts.

The Twins counter with Mike Pelfrey, whose second season in Minnesota has gotten off to a rough start. Pelfrey (0-2, 7.84) allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings of a 6-1 loss to Oakland on Thursday, dropping him to 0-5 with a 7.58 ERA in his last six starts.

The first of those was a loss to Toronto on Sept. 6. He went 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA against the Blue Jays last season.

This season, he's allowed four homers in two games.

"It was tough," Pelfrey told the team's official website after his last start. "My fastball command wasn't very good. I threw a lot of balls. I walked too many guys. I left balls up and over the plate. If you do that, you're going to hit. It was just a bad day of executing pitches."

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Blue Jays' Maicer Izturis has torn knee ligament

Typical recovery time from injury is 4-6 months

CBC Sports Posted: Apr 14, 2014 5:56 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 14, 2014 6:16 PM ET

An MRI revealed some bad news for Toronto Blue Jays infielder Maicer Izturis on Monday.

The 33-year-old tripped over some steps in the dugout in Baltimore on Sunday, and told reporters afterward that he heard a loud 'pop.' That sound turned out to be a complete tear of his knee's lateral collateral ligament.

The typical recovery time from that injury is four-to-six months, but the Blue Jays said in a release that Izturis will seek a second opinion before surgery.

The Blue Jays plan to recall infielder Munenori Kawasaki on Tuesday from their triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.

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Blue Jays look to continue recent dominance of Twins

The Minnesota Twins will seek to continue their turnaround when they finish their first homestand, but they haven't fared well in recent matchups with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Twins look for just their sixth win in 26 meetings with the Blue Jays on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Minnesota dropped six of its first nine and was swept in three by Oakland in the opening series of a nine-game homestand. The Twins, though, followed with three straight wins over Kansas City, including 4-3 on Sunday.

"One of our goals this season is to win at home and get our fans back to watching good baseball at home," manager Ron Gardenhire told the team's official website. "We want to play well here. We owe it to our fans."

Gardenhire's club, though, has lost 20 of 25 to Toronto (7-6) and 17 of 21 home matchups since the beginning of the 2008 season. The Twins (6-6) were swept in three games during the only visit from the Blue Jays last season Sept. 6-8 and dropped five of six overall meetings.

The Blue Jays head into this series after nearly sweeping Baltimore to open a nine-game road trip. Toronto fell 2-1 in 12 innings Saturday before responding with season highs in runs and hits in Sunday's 11-3 rout.

Melky Cabrera extended his season-opening hitting streak to a franchise-record 13 games by getting two of the Blue Jays' 17 hits. Jose Bautista, who has reached base in all 13 games, and Colby Rasmus each homered and drove in three runs.

Rasmus, though, left after the sixth inning because of a tight left hamstring, and second baseman Maicer Izturis needs surgery for a tear in his left knee and could be out for the rest of the season.

Cabrera has hit .328 with four home runs during his hit streak, but the Blue Jays were batting .209 before Sunday. They're now hitting .228.

"We figured it was a matter of time and we knew it was going to happen," manager John Gibbons said. "We know we have a good lineup."

The Blue Jays are scheduled to face Phil Hughes, who is seeking his first win with Minnesota. Hughes (0-0, 7.20 ERA) has given up four runs over five innings in each of his two starts and allowed all of those runs Wednesday in the first inning of a 7-4 loss to Oakland in 11.

While with the New York Yankees, Hughes went 5-6 with a 5.02 ERA in 20 starts against Toronto. He was 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA in four outings last season while receiving just four runs of support.

Former teammate Cabrera is 1-for-3 against Hughes while Moises Sierra is 7-for-12. Edwin Encarnacion, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs on Sunday, is 12 for 34 (.353).

The Blue Jays will send out Brandon Morrow (1-1, 5.73), who earned his first win Wednesday against Houston. The right-hander gave up three runs over six innings and struck out nine in a 7-3 victory.

Morrow is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts against Minnesota, with the most recent Oct. 3, 2012.

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White Sox lose Avisail Garcia for rest of season

Outfielder to have surgery to repair torn labrum in left shoulder

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 13, 2014 12:58 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 13, 2014 12:58 PM ET

Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura says outfielder Avisail Garcia will have season-ending shoulder surgery on Tuesday.

Ventura confirmed the day of the operation before Sunday's game against the Cleveland Indians.

Garcia needs the season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

He was injured trying to make a diving catch Wednesday at Colorado, a big blow for a team trying to rebound from a 99-loss season.

Garcia has batted .298 since being acquired from Detroit last summer in the three-team trade that sent Jake Peavy to Boston.

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Blue Jays bats boom for unbeaten Mark Buehrle

When the Toronto Blue Jays broke out their two-week slump at the plate, nothing could stop them from circling the bases — except a gaffe by an overeager ball girl.

Jose Bautista launched a three-run homer and Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie added solo shots as the Blue Jays set season highs for runs and hits Sunday to beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-3 Sunday.

"We figured it was a matter of time and we knew it was going to happen," manager John Gibbons said. "We know we have a good lineup."

"It was a good all-around effort," he said.

A ball girl at Camden Yards turned in an excellent effort, too. But too bad for her, it came on a ball that was still in play.

It was 1-all in the fourth when Adam Lind walked on four pitches and Edwin Encarnacion hit a hard grounder down the third base line. The ball girl near the left-field seats quickly ran to field it, making a neat pickup.

She took delight in her play until she realized sheepishly that she interfered with a live ball, which forced Lind to stop at third on the ground-rule double.

Dioner Navarro followed with a run-scoring groundout and Jonathan Diaz executed a perfect suicide squeeze on a pitch that came in at eye level.

Encarnacion, Lind and Rasmus each got three of the Blue Jays' 17 hits, and six different players had RBIs. Toronto had scored four runs or fewer in 10 of its first 12 games.

Mark Buehrle (3-0) gave up one run on five hits, walked none and struck out two over seven innings. The left-hander has allowed only two runs in 21 innings, an 0.86 ERA.

"It means I'm getting really lucky and I'm fooling a lot of people," Buehrle said. "I don't know what's going on."

Chris Davis hit his first homer of the season for Baltimore, an eighth-inning drive off Esmil Rogers. Davis had a major league-leading 53 home runs last year.

Matt Wieters also connected for the Orioles, who scored only five runs in losing two of three to Toronto.

Ubaldo Jimenez (0-3) allowed five runs and 10 hits over 5 1-3 innings in his third straight ineffective start. Signed to a four-year contract as a free agent in February, the right-hander has yielded 23 hits in 16 innings and owns a 7.31 ERA.

"You want to win, you want to be there for your team," Jimenez said. "But I know it's part of the game. I can't give up, I can't put my head down and feel sorry for myself. I have to keep working hard and find a way to be there."

Toronto pulled away with a five-run seventh, its biggest inning of the year. Lawrie hit a solo shot before Rasmus and Encarnacion hit two-run doubles off Josh Stinson.

Bautista connected in the eighth against Stinson to make it 11-1. Five of his nine hits this year are home runs.

In addition to hitting the ball hard, the Blue Jays played sound defence. Rasmus deftly chased down two flyballs in centre and Lawrie made a sensational stop and throw at third base to rob Jonathan Schoop of a hit in the fifth inning.

"[Buehrle] had some defence behind him," Gibbons said. "He pitches to contact. They hit some balls deep but he kept them in the ballpark."

Rasmus put Toronto up 1-0 in the first inning with his second home run in two games, a towering drive that became the 78th in the 23-year history of Camden Yards to land on Eutaw Street beyond the right field wall.

Baltimore pulled even in the bottom half when Nick Markakis singled and scored on a groundout by Adam Jones. But the Orioles wasted a leadoff double by Steve Pearce in the second, leaving them 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

"As an offence, we definitely want to score some more runs early in the game," Davis said. "When you go up there and put up a run early, you've got to continue to score runs. Tip your hat to Buehrle. He's been around. He knows how to pitch. He used our aggressiveness against us today."

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Dustin McGowan, bullpen mow down Orioles

Dustin McGowan has endured injuries and operations, long stints on the disabled list and countless rehab assignments to keep his baseball career afloat.

It all paid off Friday night, when the Toronto right-hander earned his first victory since 2008 with an effective and emotional effort at Baltimore.

McGowan allowed five hits over 6 1/3 innings, and the Blue Jays used two unearned runs to beat Chris Tillman and the Orioles 2-0.

Game notes

Baltimore SS J.J. Hardy missed a fifth consecutive game with back spasms but expects to return Saturday. He received a cortisone shot Thursday and practiced Friday. ... Right-hander Bud Norris returns from a six-day layoff to start for Baltimore on Saturday against Toronto RHP Drew Hutchison. ... Toronto SS Jose Reyes (hamstring) participated in running drills prior to the game. He's expected to run the bases Saturday and then could "head out in the next few days" for a rehab assignment, according to manager John Gibbons. ... Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista has reached base in all 11 games (13 walks, seven hits). ... Orioles 3B Manny Machado (knee) will get two at-bats in a simulated game Saturday but will not run the bases. ... Toronto leadoff hitter Melky Cabrera singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Orioles LHP Brian Matusz was absent with an illness and did not show up at the ballpark.

— The Associated Press

Making his second start since September 2011, McGowan (1-1) walked one, hit two batters and struck out two. He had faced the Orioles 13 times previously, going 0-3 with a 6.99 earned-run average and allowing 50 hits in 37 1/3 innings.

McGowan spent time on the disabled list in each of the last six seasons. He had shoulder surgery in 2008 and 2010 and missed the entire 2012 season. In his debut this year, he didn't make it out of the third inning in a loss to the New York Yankees.

Against Baltimore, however, McGowan allowed only one runner past second base.

'I think the most important thing is just feeling good. I got the opportunity to pitch again and that's all I could ask for.'- Blue Jays SP Dustin McGowan after earning 1st win since 2008

"It's kind of a sentimental night, you know, one of those deals," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's come a long way and he answered the bell. He had a rough one, his first one, and he bounced back tonight against a good-hitting ball club. Yeah, it's very rewarding for not only him but for everybody that knows him."

Elated

The 32-year-old McGowan couldn't have been much happier.

"I think the most important thing is just feeling good," he said. "I got the opportunity to pitch again and that's all I could ask for. Just trying to make the best of it."

After McGowan left, Brett Cecil got five straight outs and Sergio Santos worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

It all added up to McGowan's first win since June 22, 2008.

"He's always been one of the top guys here since he got drafted by the Blue Jays," Gibbons said. "The organization has expected big things out of him. He's had some tough luck along the way. Who knows how the season will finish out? But he's off to a good start, that's for sure."

Tillman (1-1) allowed three hits over eight innings, lowering his ERA to 0.84. But the right-hander received no offensive support from his teammates, who were coming off a three-game series against the Yankees in which they collected 40 hits.

Two throwing errors by third baseman Jonathan Schoop provided Toronto with a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Jose Bautista reached on Schoop's first errant toss and came around to score on the rookie's second misfire. Dioner Navarro followed with a potential double-play grounder, but the relay to first base from shortstop Ryan Flaherty skipped past Tillman, allowing another run to score.

"It's baseball. It could have happened early on in the game when I was missing [pitches] and we wouldn't even be talking about it," Tillman said.

No excuses

Schoop made no excuses.

"I just like threw it away," he said. "I wish I played better defence for Tillman. He pitched a great game. I'll learn from it, be better tomorrow."

In the fifth, Baltimore hit three straight two-out singles to load the bases for cleanup hitter Adam Jones, who flied out to center.

"A lot of guys hit balls right at guys. It's just how it is with this game," Jones said. "There will be days when we bloop them and they all find a home, but tonight, nothing. Crickets out there."

McGowan had a lot to do with it.

"You tip your cap," Jones said. "They pitched a good game."

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