Jays running out of healthy options as Saunders sits out
TORONTO Things are getting rather thin on the Blue Jays bench these days. Already down a man as Devon Travis sits out a third consecutive day with a sore right hand after having a cortisone shot, the Jays are down one more with outfielder Michael Saunders deals with a tight hamstring. According to manager John Gibbons, Saunders hamstring “locked up on him” in Wednesday’s loss to the Angels and he was out of the lineup on Thursday, with Ezequiel Carrera in right field and Melvin Upton Jr. in left.
As far as healthy options on the bench available to the Jays, that leaves just backup catcher Josh Thole and infielder Justin Smoak.
Neither of Travis or Saunders is expected to be sidelined long.
September call-ups arrive in a week.
BAUTISTA BACK
On the plus side, there was the return of Jose Bautista, but to make room on the roster, the Jays had to option infielder Ryan Goins back to Triple-A Buffalo. Bautista was in the lineup as designated hitter, where he’ll remain for at least a few days. Gibbons sounded like he preferred that as a precautionary measure for at least the next little while to allow Bautista to ease back into the lineup without putting too much wear and tear on the knee injury that necessitated a disabled list stint in the first place Bautista said he’s fully ready to resume his right-field duties.
BULLPEN STREAKING
It’s not just Joe Biagini who is putting up zeros in the earned runs column these days from the Blue Jays pen. Biagini’s streak remains at 19 2/3 scoreless innings dating back to July 5, but right-hander Jason Grilli also hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 10 innings, a number which newcomer Joaquin Benoit has matched.
Biagini, meanwhile, needs just 4 1/3 more scoreless innings to match Ricky Romero’s team record for rookies for longest scoreless inning streak. Romero got to 24 consecutive scoreless innings in 2009.
QUICK HITS
In the upcoming three-game series with the Minnesota Twins that begins Friday, the Jays won’t see a starter with a winning record.
Lefty Pat Dean (1-3, 5.48), righthander Ervin Santana (6-10, 3.39) and righty Kyle Gibson (5-8, 5.09) will oppose the Jays, who send out Francisco Liriano (0-1, 3.57), Marcus Stroman (9-5, 4.47) and R.A. Dickey (9-13, 4.43).