Torontos' Morrow Loses No-Hitter In 9th

By: Stephen Patterson

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow came one out short of pitching a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays in the final game of their three game series. It was Morrow's first complete game, as well as his first shut out. He also struck out 17 batters, which is his career high. While he lost his chance to be the sixth pitcher this season to toss a no- hitter, Morrow still seemed happy with the performance. Toronto swept the series with Tampa after today's 1-0 win. Their season series is now tied at 6-6.

Tampa Bay star Evan Longoria broke up Morrow's no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. The Rays are used to being no-hit this season, having been the victims of Dallas Braden's perfect game and a no-hitter by Edwin Jackson while he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The loss was Tampa Bay's fifth consecutive, which is their longest losing streak of the season. Longoria's sole hit at least saved the team of the embarrassment of being no-hit for a third time this season.

Longoria's hit came on a 1-1 pitch, and bounced out of the glove of Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill and trickled away, and official scorer Dave Perkins immediately ruled the ball a hit. After the game, Hill said he wished he "could have gotten an error or something for it. Unfortunately that's just the way it is." Perkins said he wouldn't lose any sleep over the call, feeling confident there wasn't an error on the play.

Vernon Wells drove in the only run for the Blue Jays with his first inning single, allowing Yunel Escobar to score from third. Wells left the game later in the game after suffering a dislocated toe making a leaping catch to save Morrow's no-hit bid in the sixth inning. X-rays revealed no further fractures in the area, and Wells will be reexamined on Monday to see how much time he will miss.

Morrow would've become only the second pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter, joining Dave Stieb, who threw one almost twenty years ago. He also fell one strikeout short of breaking Toronto's franchise record of 18 set by Roger Clemens in August 1998. Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine was activated from the DL to start in place of the injured Jeff Niemann, and took loss after allowing three hits in 5 1/3 innings, including the RBI single by Wells.

Magglio Ordonez Breaks Ankle; Tigers Lose Vs. Toronto

By: Tyler Ward

Detroit's Magglio Ordonez broke his right ankle on Saturday, while the Tigers ended up losing the game 3-2. He broke it while sliding into home plate and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

Blue Jays manager said, "That was just terrible to see. What a player, and he's so important to that team. He's a player that I have always admired on and off the field, so you really hate to see that."

The Tigers have been injury-plagued this season, with third baseman Brandon Inge breaking his hand less than a week ago. Carlos Guillen also suffered a calf injury in the game, but it is unknown if the injury is serious or not. Ordonez is expected to be placed on the 30-day disabled list. 

Struggling Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello matched up against over-achieving Shawn Marcum in the Detroit-Toronto game on Saturday. Porcello was optioned to Triple-A affiliate Toledo on June 20th, but was recalled just a few weeks ago on July 17th. He has struggled heavily this season, including losing tonight to put him at 4-8 on the year. Porcello had a great debut season last year for Detroit, going 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA - he finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, placing behind Oakland's Andrew Bailey and Texas' Elvis Andrus.

In the first inning, Vernon Wells grounded out to first, but scored Dewayne Wise on the play. This was Wells' 53rd RBI of the year, and the Blue Jays were off to a fast start.

Jose Bautista put the Blue Jays up 2-0 in the third, singling to center and driving in Edwin Encarnacion. With the bases loaded, Toronto came up with nothing more as Porcello got Aaron Hill to pop out, ending the inning. 

The Tigers answered in the bottom of the inning when AL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera doubled to center, scoring Austin Jackson. Ordonez tried to score, but was thrown out at home plate and landed on the disabled list in the process. Toronto was still up 2-1 after the inning, with Ordonez's attempt being the third out.

Toronto's Baustista got his second RBI of the night in the fifth when he grounded into a fielder's choice and scored Dewayne Wise yet again. That was all pitcher Shawn Marcum needed. He gave up a run in the sixth inning when Scott Sizemore added an RBI single. 

The game was then 3-2 in Toronto's advantage and it ended that way when closer Kelly Gregg pitched a perfect ninth to get his 22nd save of the year. Marcum (9-4) pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits and two earned runs. His ERA is at 3.36 for the season, the best of his five year career. Detroit's Rick Porcello (4-8) pitched 6 innings, giving up five hits, four walks, and three earned runs. With the win, Toronto went over the .500 mark, having a 49-48 in the tough AL East. They remain fourth in the division, 12.5 games behind the leading New York Yankees. Detroit dropped to 50-45, 2.5 games out of the division lead.

Blue Jays Trade Alex Gonzalez To Braves

By: Tyler Ward

Toronto and Atlanta exchanged shortstops today, with promising player Yunel Escobar heading to the Blue Jays and Alex Gonzalez going to the Braves. Toronto also sent pitcher Tim Collins and shortstop Tyler Pastornicky to Atlanta, while receiving pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes.

The centerpiece of the deal revolves around Gonzalez, who has hit 17 home runs with 50 RBI for the Blue Jays this year. Currently, he is tied for fifth place in the American League with 43 extra base hits. He provides instant offense to the NL East-leading Braves, whose top home run hitter is Troy Glaus with 14 longballs. He is also known to be an excellent fielder, tallying a 97.1% fielding percentage in a little over 12 seasons.

Atlanta's GM, Frank Wren, said of Gonzalez, "He's an outstanding defensive shortstop and he's having a very good offensive season. We think he can improve our run production. He immediately leads our team in home runs."

Gonzalez, 33, is on track to set career highs in almost every statistical category. Through the All-Star break, he is only seven home runs away from breaking his single season home run mark (23; 2004) and thirty RBI away from breaking that mark (79; 2004).  This will be his fifth team since coming to the major leagues in 1998. He has had stints with Florida, Boston, Cincinnati, Toronto, and now Atlanta. 

The Braves also received two prospects in the deal, Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky. For Toronto's Double-A affiliate, New Hampshire, Collins has a 1-0 record with a 2.51 ERA and nine saves in 35 games. For Class A Dundelin, Pastornicky was batting .258 with 35 RBI, 16 doubles, and 24 stolen bases in 77 games for them. Toronto's GM Frank Wren reported that both players will be sent down to Double-A Mississippi.

For Toronto's side of the trade, they receive shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes. Escobar was taken 75th overall by Atlanta in 2005 and slowly became one of their best farm system players. The Braves' decision to get rid of Escobar was surprising, as many scouts and analysts praised him last season and considered him a top 10 shortstop talent in the entire sport.

The 27-year old is in the prime of his career, even though he is in a bit of a slump. He has hit .238 this season with zero home runs and 19 RBI. Last year, he had a career year, hitting 14 home runs with 76 RBI.

The Blue Jays' GM, Alex Anthopoulos, thinks that Escobar will have some type of resurgence following the All-Star break. "We feel that Yunel Escobar will absolutely turn it around," Anthopoulos said. "There's certainly an element of risk there, but we feel he has a very good opportunity to turn it around. I think if Yunel Escobar was doing what he did in the past, he's not available to us and this trade does not present itself."

The addition of Jo-Jo Reyes was practically a throw-in, as he has not proved much in his MLB career. Since being called up by Atlanta in 2007, Reyes has compiled a 5-15 record, with zero wins coming the last two seasons. He also has a career ERA of 6.40. The Braves' Kris Medlen has made a solid push to be in the starting rotation, with Kenshin Kawakami (1-9) being placed in the bullpen. This further led to the demise of Reyes' time in Atlanta. The Blue Jays announced that they have optioned Reyes to Double-A New Hampshire.

The Braves are on top of their division right now, leading the New York Mets by 4 games (last year's NL champion, Philadelphia Phillies are 4.5 games behind Atlanta). 

The Blue Jays are currently one game under .500, but are also 12 games behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

Yankees Win In 10th With Walkoff Single

By: Stephen Patterson

The New York Yankees gave owner George Steinbrenner an excellant 80th birthday present, picking up another victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. This time, the Yankees needed an extra inning after a blown safe, but they still overcame an early deficit to win with a walk-off single by Marcus Thames.

The Yankees worked hard to pick up their 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays. Brett Gardner came up huge again for New York, following yesterday's grand slam with an inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning to tie the game up.

After Mariano Rivera blew the safe by giving up a single in the ninth, Robinson Cano came across the plate from second base in the bottom of the tenth on Thame's single to win the game for the Yankees. rivera had converted his last 25 saves against Toronto.

The win came at a cost for New York also, as Jorge Posada sprained his left ring finger and will not catch against Oakland tomorrow according to manager Joe Girardi.

While Toronto ran their season total for home runs to 120, which leads the majors, they couldn't find enough offense in the tenth to put away the Yankees. The Yankees win gave them their 50th win of the season, the first team in the majors to reach the mark.

Yankees Crush Blue Jays 11-3

By: Stephen Patterson

While hanging out with Tyler this morning, he decided to point out the fact that the Yankees were losing 2-0 to Toronto early in their game. Within minutes, he checked on the score again. 11-2 New York. One inning had passed. Virtually no time had passed, and New York had exploded in a single inning to put the game away. The moral of the story: Never talk trash about the Yankees. You will almost always regret it.

Trailing since giving up two runs in the first, the Yankees came alive in the third inning, raining in 11 runs against the Toronto Blue Jays. The eleven runs were the most the Yankees have scored in a single inning in five years. New York sent fifteen batters to the plate during the onslaught. Toronto would only pick up one more run after this inning.

The heart of New York's line-up trashed Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero before he was pulled after only 2 2/3 innings. Before he was pulled, Romero gave up eight of the Yankee's eleven runs in the inning. Brett Gardner's grand slam was the final nail in the coffin for Romero's poor outing.

With the Red Sox struggling to stay healthy, and with a new injury occurring almost daily to a member of their team, the Yankees could be poised for a run to put away a spot the postseason. With New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay having the best records in the majors, it's a certainty the AL Wild Card will come from their division. The Yankees usually save their best runs of the season for the second half, so don't be surprised if they pull away with a fairly safe lead in the divisional race over the coming months.

Alex Rodriguez contributed four runs during the rout while Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte picked up his tenth win of the season. If the Yankees can continue providing solid run support, they have the potential to go on a massive run with their rotation pitching very well for the most part. This game was another example of exactly what New York is capable of with players such as Robinson Cano, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, and Mark Teixeira leading the way offensively.

*Note for NYY Fans* If you are a Yankees fan, be share to check out Tyler's post @ Red Sox Are Injury Crazy // I promise you will be happy to know exactly why the Yankees are about to pull away from our rival team over in Beantown for the division.

American League East Predictions

By: Stephen Patterson & Tyler Ward

SP: The AL East has been the hottest division in the Major Leagues for yet another season. Hot off of bringing home their 27th championship, the Yankees are off to the right start to repeating this season. With the rise of Phil Hughes, New York still has one of the strongest rotations in baseball. Despite struggling so far this season, A.J. Burnett should be able to pull things together in time for the postseason. The Rays started the season off hot, but since being on the wrong end of Dallas Braden's perfect game, they have taken a downward spiral, including being no-hit for the second time this season by Arizona's Edwin Jackson. The Red Sox, much to my own personal delight, are struggling with age and injury and will be a tight battle for second in the division and to win the Wild Card. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles won't be much of a factor and would be content to finish above .500. Here is my breakdown of the division and predicted outcome:

New York Yankees: 97-65 (Division Winner)

Boston Red Sox: 90-72 (Wild Card Winner)

Tampa Bay Rays: 86-76

Toronto Blue Jays: 79-83

Baltimore Orioles: 65-97


TW: This is definitely the best division in all of baseball. An AL East team has represented the AL in the World Series the past 3 seasons (Red Sox, Rays, Yankees). Earlier in the season, the Rays were considered by many as the best team in the baseball. They started off the season 32-12, and have gone 12-19 since that fantastic beginning. The Red Sox are hobbled by injuries, but I think they overcome that and challenge for the AL East crown. New York is getting older and older, but with their payroll, they are always able to compete and not to mention, they have 27 World Series rings. The Blue Jays always seem to challenge before the All-Star break, but after it's done, they fall out of contention. I think they'll do that again this year. Baltimore has not been good for a while and they'll be lucky to win 70 games this year.

Here's my breakdown of the division:


New York Yankees: 93-69 (Division Winner)

Boston Red Sox: 91-71 (Wild Card Winner)

Tampa Bay Rays: 89-73

Toronto Blue Jays: 81-81

Baltimore Orioles: 60-102