Tight hamstring puts Blue Jays' Michael Saunders on the bench
Article content
Things are getting rather thin on the Blue Jays bench these days.
Already down a man with Devon Travis sitting out a third consecutive day with that sore right hand after having a cortisone shot, the Jays are down one more with Michael Saunders dealing with a tight hamstring.
According to manager John Gibbons, Saunders' hamstring "locked up on him" on Wednesday during the Blue Jays' loss to the Angels. Saunders was out of the starting lineup 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 left just backup catcher Josh Thole and infielder Justin Smoak.
Neither the Travis absence nor the Saunders one is expected to be a long one, but then Travis was expected to miss only a day initially and he's now into his third.
September callups arrive in a week if need be, but that's not much help to the Blue Jays right now.
BAUTISTA BACK
On the plus side, there was the return of Jose Bautista, but to make room for him on the roster the Jays had to option infielder Ryan Goins back to triple-A Buffalo.
Bautista was in the lineup at DH where he will 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, though, said he is fully ready to resume his right field duties whenever Gibbons feels ready to put him there.
BULLPEN STREAKING
Joe Biagini isn't the only Blue Jays reliever who is putting up zeroes in the earned runs column. Entering play Thursday, Biagini's streak was at 19 2/3 scoreless innings dating to July 5, but he has company. Right-hander Jason Grilli had not allowed an earned run in his past 10 innings, a number which newcomer Joaquin Benoit has matched.
Over his last 10 games Grilli had held opponents to a .097 average (3-for-31).
In 11 games since joining the Jays from Seattle, Benoit had held opponents to a .189 batting average and just one extra-base hit.
Biagini needs just 4 1/3 more scoreless innings to match Ricky Romero's team record for rookies for the longest scoreless inning stretch. Romero got to 24 scoreless innings in 2009.
HOT AT THE PLATE
Entering play Thursday, Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin was hitting .370 with three doubles and six homers over his last 12 starts.
Not to be left out, first baseman Edwin Encarnacion had hit safely in 24 of his previous 26 games, putting together a .304 batting average with 14 extra-base hits, including eight homers over that span.
QUICK HITS
In the upcoming three-game series with the Twins, the Jays will not see a starting pitcher with a winning record. Left-hander Pat Dean (1-3, 5.48), right-hander Ervin Santana (6-10, 3.39) and righty Kyle Gibson (5-8, 5.09) are scheduled to face the Jays ... Gibbons liked what he saw in limited action from Brett Cecil on Wednesday. Cecil gave up a hit, issued a walk and struck out one in one scoreless inning Wednesday.
