SWEET SWING

Spieth named golf’s best

ST. P ETERSBURG, F LA. A loud knock on the office door interrupted the manager’s pre-game media session.

“Enter,” John Gibbons said. David Price stepped in. “I need Thole behind the dish,” he said. “He got me locked in today.”

This, it turns out, was a lobby effort to put a thirdstring catcher on the Blue Jays’ playoff roster, Price said. Josh Thole had caught Price in the bullpen that afternoon, and again when Price came to pitch to Troy Tulowitzki in a simulated game.

Thole also served as the plate umpire in the simulated game, and in Tulowitzki’s last at-bat, Thole caught a pitch, stood and theatrically rang up Tulowitzki on a third strike. Price liked that. It probably had something to do with his appeal on Thole’s behalf.

Gibbons went along with the gag, then said, “I’m not quite sure if he’ll be active for the playoff roster.”

“There’s loopholes,” Price deadpanned, and left.

Such is life when the Blue Jays are newly minted division champions, when David Price is at his jesting best and when Tulowitzki is back in the lineup at shortstop after three weeks away recovering from a cracked shoulder blade.

Tulowitzki had four hits, including a homer, in seven at-bats during the afternoon simulated game at Tropicana Field. A couple of minor-leaguers pitched to him first, and then he faced Price twice. Tulowitzki was delighted with his session.

“Bad call on the 0-2,” he joked, referring to Thole’s strike zone. “We had fun with it. David is a good friend of mine obviously. He’s a great competitor. Even when we’re out there playing a sim-game, to be honest, you want to perform well. That’s what we’re going to be talking about in the clubhouse the whole time, so we’ll have fun with it.”

As the Jays prepped for their final series of the regular season, the focal points were the return of Tulowitzki and the decision to rest Price until the first game of the division series next Thursday in Toronto.