Cecil tosses injury-hit Blue Jays a lifeline
With three starters on the disabled list, the Toronto Blue Jays got just what they needed from Brett Cecil on Sunday.
The left-hander gave up two runs on five hits, while striking out five batters as the Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 to complete a three-game sweep of the interleague series.
Cecil, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier the week, admitted to feeling jitters in his first start with Toronto in 2012.
“I couldn’t really calm myself down,” Cecil said of the first inning. “I guess I should have pitched that way the whole game. It was my cleanest inning.”
Colby Rasmus went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs as Toronto completed its first home sweep in interleague play since a series with Colorado in 2007.
Jim Thome and John Mayberry hit solo home runs off Cecil (1-0) for Philadelphia (31-37).
“The first-inning jitters, first-game jitters are out of the way and now I’m just looking to build off of this one,” said Cecil.
The 25-year-old was a dismal 4-11 with the Jays in 2011, but showed up to spring training in better shape and a renewed commitment. Although it wasn’t enough to make the big club, Jays manager John Farrell was happy with what he saw Sunday.
“He pitched with a lot more crispness than we last saw in spring training,” said Farrell, who lost starters Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison to injury in the space of five days this week. “He kept the game under control, he threw a lot of strikes and it was an encouraging outing for him.”
The Blue Jays (34-32) scored six runs (five earned) on eight hits against Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick (2-7) over 6 1-3 innings.
Attendance at Rogers Centre was a sell out of 45,060 on Father’s Day, with many of the Blue Jays’ dads watching from the stands. Ricky Romero’s father threw out the first pitch.
Rasmus was among the players whose father was at the game.
“It was important to me,” Rasmus said.
“It’s always good having your dad in town and to have him here on Father’s Day is a great thing.”