This is his second visit to the DL this season.
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“Obviously today it was tough battling in there against him”, Miller said. Bautista, batting.222 with 15 home runs, suffered a left knee strain in a 9-2 loss on Tuesday, his left cleat sticking in the turf on an attempted throw from right.
Bautista then stumbled before regrouping to make an awkward underhanded toss that landed in the area code of second baseman Devon Travis, who was loitering nearby. The showers soon passed and the roof remained open throughout the game.
“I had to run a long way but that ball has got to be caught”, Souza said.
“Any time you’ve got a starter that’s reliable, you know he’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to keep you in the game whether you win it or not, that’s huge”, Gibbons said. But I didn’t expect it to be this bad when I woke up.
“Throughout the year it has been a roller coaster ride and I have been up and down multiple times, but it never gets old”, Tepera said.
That news was a Grade 1 knee sprain, the least serious and one that Bautista hopes he can shake off within the 15-day time-off allotment and return to the team without missing a beat.
Bautista called his latest injury “extremely frustrating”, especially after getting four hits in his past 11 at-bats. Over the course of 65 pre-All-Star Game appearances, Bautista batted just.230 with a.360 on-base percentage, 12 home runs and 41 RBI.
Toronto took over first place in the AL East when the Orioles lost 1-0 to Oakland later Wednesday.
Happ became the first 16-game victor in Major League Baseball this season by tossing six shutout innings Wednesday night as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0 in a game that also saw Troy Tulowitzki post a season-high five runs-batted in.
The Blue Jays are now tied with the Orioles for first place in the AL East. It scored Edwin Encarnacion, who had walked with two out and took second when Russell Martin was hit by a pitch.Ryan Garton replaced Farquhar and allowed Smoak’s 13th homer of the season in the seventh.Joe Biagini allowed a hit and struck out two for Toronto in seventh and Jason Grilli pitched a flawless eighth.Kevin Jepsen retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth for the Rays.Ryan Tepera pitched a ideal ninth for Toronto.Each team had singles from its first two batters of the game.The Rays came away with nothing, but the Blue Jays capitalized with three unearned runs on the 19th homer of the season by Tulowitzki.
The Jays chased him from the game with two outs in the second. Evan Longoria is way out front on 123 hits with 57 runs, 25 homers and 64 RBI.
Toronto recalled outfielder Junior Lake from Triple-A Buffalo.
But in the opinion of the GM, Bautista’s loss can not be underestimated. Dylan Floro came in and got Melvin Upton to pop up to end the second inning.
In reality, though, while a single player may fill a void in the lineup card, a team needs multiple contributions to cover any absence.
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“We stranded a lot of base runners early”, Cash said.
