Blue Jays Update: August 20th 2009

August 19th Game Complete

Boston Red Sox 6 (W 68-51)
Toronto Blue Jays 1 (L 55-63)

Clay Buchholz (W, 2-3)
Roy Halladay (L, 13-6)

Game Notes:

Clay Buchholz dominated the Blue Jays offense for the second time this season as he outdueled Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Halladay was chased from the game by Boston after only five innings of work.

Halladay had his shortest outing of the season, aside from the three inning game he pitched against Florida where he strained his groin.

Toronto supplied only one run of support in a dominate Boston win.

Toronto only registered six hits, zero for extra bases.

A few positives for Toronto were that of Vernon Wells and Josh Roenicke.

Wells had a two for four game at the plate, batting in Toronto's only run.

Roenicke, who has struggled since coming over in the Scott Rolen deal from Cincinnati, pitched three scoreless inning, allowing zero hits and allowing only one walk.

Vernon Wells, 2-4, 1RBI

Victor Martinez, 2-4, 1HR, 1RBI, 1 run scored, 1BB
Jason Bay, 1-5, 1HR, 2RBI, 1 run scored
David Ortiz, 2-5, 1HR, 1RBI, 1 run scored
Alex Gonzalez, 2-4, 1RBI, 1 run scored

Final starting pitching lines for the game:

Roy Halladay - 5IP, 8H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 7K
Clay Buchholz - 6IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K


Blue Jays News:

The nominees for the Hank Aaron Award have been named and it is time for the fans to vote.

All pertinent details are available here: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090818&content_id=6486438&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Each team in the Major Leagues get three nominees for the award.

Toronto will be represented on the ballot by Aaron Hill, Adam Lind and Marco Scutaro.

Cast your vote now by going here:
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/sponsors/sharp/awards/haa.jsp

Other Baseball News:

As I reported yesterday, John Smoltz has indeed signed with the St.Louis Cardinals.

Smoltz agreed to a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Smoltz was 2-5, with an ERA of 8.33 in eight starts for Boston before his release earlier this week.

Boston is responsible for paying Smoltz the remainder of his 5.5 million/one year contract.

St. Louis is on the hook only for a prorated share of the major league minimum, about $100,000 through the rest of the season.

I also reported yesterday that the Los Angeles Dodgers were interested in signing pitcher Vicente Padilla.

The Dodgers made true on that statement as the club signed Padilla, two days after the right-hander was released by Texas.

The Dodgers signed Padilla to a minor league contract.

Dodger manager Joe Torre said that Padilla will pitch Saturday at Triple-A Albuquerque, before joining the Dodgers.

Padilla will make his first scheduled start on August 27th 2009, against the Colorado Rockies.

The Milwaukee Brewers have traded once promising third baseman Bill Hall to the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners, desperate for a third baseman after Adrian Beltre suffred a contused testicle, acquired Hall in exchange for right-hander Ruben Flores.

Milwaukee will also send cash to Seattle as part of the deal.

Finally, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jon Garland has cleared waivers, making him available to contending teams in need of starting pitching with playoff experience.

Garland is 6-11 with a 4.42 ERA in 25 starts with Arizona this year.

Garland is earning $6.25 million this year, with a $10 million mutual option for 2010.

He will receive a $2.5 million buyout if the team's share of the option is declined.

Any team willing to nab the right hander will have to pay a minimum of $4 million to cover the rest of Garland's current contract.