Vladimir Guerrero became the last aging DH saved from the 2012 scrap heap, signing a minor-league deal with Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon. He’ll report to the team’s extended spring training camp in Dunedin, Fla., to work back into … Continue reading → View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

Baltimore: RHP Jason Berken and RH reliever Stu Pomeranz were recalled from Class AAA Norfolk (Va.), giving the bullpen two fresh arms following Sunday’s 17-inning game in Boston. Berken, 28, had no decisions and a 1.23 ERA in five starts for Norfolk, while Pomeranz, 27, had made three scoreless relief appearances covering 5 2/3 innings since his promotion from Class AA Bowie (Md.). … RHP Tommy Hunter and C Ronny Paulino were optioned to Norfolk. Hunter allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings Sunday, and he was 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA on the season. Paulino was 9-for-30 (. … View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
This kid: In the span of five major league games, Bryce Harper has gone from curiosity to essential for the Washington Nationals. Manager Davey Johnson batted the 19-year-old rookie third in the order Thursday night and Harper came through with a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning of Washington’s 2-1 victory against Arizona. Harper had batted seventh in his first four games. He’s 6 for 16 with four doubles so far.
”He’s a baseball player,” teammate Jayson Werth said. ”When you’re a baseball player, you can be 15 or you can be 50. If you know how to play the game you can play.”
Can’t top this ( du, du-du-du ): Anything that Jered Weaver can do, Brandon Morrow can do … almost as well. A day after Weaver no-hit the Minnesota Twins, Morrow tossed a three-hit shutout at the Los Angeles Angels. Also backed by J.P. Arencibia’s three-run homer, the Toronto Blue Jays won 5-0. It was Morrow’s second career shutout, his other coming in 2010 when he struck out 17 against the Rays. That day, in Dave Stieb-like fashion , Morrow had a no-no broken up by Evan Longoria with two outs in the ninth.
“I missed more bats that night, but I think I pitched better tonight,” Morrow said. ”My fastball command was really what did it for me. That’s probably the best I’ve ever been with that. I mean, I felt like I could have hit that down-and-away strike with my eyes closed. I probably could have thrown all fastballs the way I was locating.”
Damn: In case you missed it, Mariano Rivera tore the ACL in his right knee shagging a fly ball during batting practice. He’s probably out for the season. Perhaps for good. Rivera’s loss also overshadowed a 4-3 loss by the New York Yankees at Kansas City. Mike Moustakas homered and drove in three runs, and Royals left-hander Danny Duffy was a tad better than Yanks rookie David Phelps.
Miami: A sound machine after all?:
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
Larry Wayne’s magical mystery trip: Chipper Jones may not appear in every game on this year’s retirement tour, but it appears he’s going to do something special on the occasions that he does. The 40-year-old third baseman hit a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 11th inning on Wednesday night to end a wild 15-13 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies .
”When I am in there, I want to make a splash,” Jones said. ”I did it tonight.”
The walkoff was the eighth of Chipper’s career and the scaled-back celebration at home plate signaled that he’d been there before. Actually, check that, because we know the Braves took age and injury history into consideration while lightly slapping him on the back. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

And this, dear Stewies, is a picture that shows that Brett Lawrie has possibly never heard of Kendrys Morales, let alone heeded his cautionary tale when it comes to home plate parties.
Then again, you can’t really blame the Toronto Blue Jays third baseman for the way he stuck the landing for the winning run on Tuesday night. First the great Canadian hope hit a walkoff home run off a Mike Adams cutter, then he got some serious air as he reported to home plate. The whole entertaining sequence lifted the Jays to a comeback 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre and kept Lawrie buzzing right through a pretty entertaining interview on MLB Network . For as much energy as rookies like Bryce Harper and Yoenis Cespedes are bringing to their lineups, the second-year man up in Toronto is creating a similar buzz.
“[Lawrie's] energy is awesome,” teammate Kelly Johnson later told reporters . “It rubs off on everybody.”
The walkoff homer, which just cleared the fence in left field, was the second of Lawrie’s career and brought him to three overall homers on the season. But it may not have even been the best thing that happened to the 22-year-old that day as he also did a promotional spot with a Victoria’s Secret model before the game.
You can watch both highlights below:
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
Ryan Braun makes history : Neither pitcher nor perimeter could keep Ryan Braun inside the spacious confines of Petco Park on Monday night. The Milwaukee Brewers MVP became the first player in the park’s eight-year history to hit three home runs in one game during an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres . Braun also hit a two-run triple in the ninth, allowing the 2011 NL MVP to head back to the hotel with six RBI under his belt.
Braun’s monster night comes just as talks about bringing in Petco’s fences and making it less of a pitcher’s park have regained momentum. While shorter barriers might have allowed Braun’s triple to become his fourth home run of the night, they were otherwise not a problem. One of his homers hit the fourth-level balcony on the warehouse in left field.
Braun said he’d still be in favor of bringing in the fences, though: View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

Baltimore: RH closer Jim Johnson said he was available to pitch. Johnson, who spent four days in a Baltimore hospital because of food poisoning last week, had thrown two bullpen sessions since returning to the Orioles on Friday. He hadn’t appeared in a game since April 22. … LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (elbow) was examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles, and the Orioles were awaiting the diagnosis. Wada, who hasn’t pitched in a game this year, could be facing ligament-reconstruction surgery. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

Major League Baseball is three weeks into its 2012 campaign and some weird feats have already been accomplished. Over the century and a quarter of professional baseball in America, there are plenty of crazy statistics for baseball nerds to pour through during a season. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

It’s been fascinating to watch the many ways that people in Kansas City are dealing with the Royals losing their first 10 games at home, a domestic debut that our pal Sam Mellinger says hasn’t been seen in baseball since 1913. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

Cody Ross — serial bat flipper: Ross went deep twice — with a two-run shot to tie the score in the seventh against Jason Marquis, and a go-ahead solo blast with two outs in the ninth against Matt Capps — to carry the Boston Red Sox past the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Monday night. Before Alfredo Aceves got the save, Boston even coaxed Daniel Bard, who temporarily (?) was demoted to the bullpen, into getting two key outs in the eighth to suppress a Twins rally. It’s like all of Boston’s problems never existed!
Jeter playing young: Nice formula for the Yankees here: CC Sabathia allows four runs in innings, Alex Rodriguez hits a three-run homer and Derek Jeter collects four hits. After extending his hitting streak to 13 games in New York’s 7-4 victory at Texas, Jeter is batting .346 over his past 85 games going back to July 2011.
”I keep kidding him that it’s like 1999 again — three hits every day. He’s amazing,” Rodriguez said of the 37-year-old Jeter.
So … what happened in the Cubs game? The Cardinals were one strike away from beating the Cubs — no big deal, happens all of the time — when something odd happened. They lost. With closer Jason Motte on the hill, former Cardinals reserve Joe Mather lined a two-run single to give Chicago a 3-2 win at Wrigley Field . Through eight innings, Jaime Garcia had outpitched (barely) Matt Garza.
Watch the fun happen (for some, not all) in the ninth: View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News