May 5, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) follows through on his home run swing against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees

- Despite the team’s continued ability to win despite the injuries, all is not good in Yankeeville. According to ESPN New York, there was a small spat between future Hall-of-Famer Mariano Rivera and fellow reliever Joba Chamberlain on Saturday. Chamberlain apparently took offense when Rivera asked Chamberlain and his family to keep their voices down when Rivera was being intereviewed. I’m sorry Joba but when the Sandman tells you to shush, you shush.

- The Yankee injury train may finally be returning to the station, as the first of the injured stars are set to return according to PinStriped Bible. Outfielder Curtis Granderson, who has been out since getting plunked on the arm in the team’s first spring training game (by J.A. Happ no less), is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday. So much for taking advantage of the Yankees while they were down and out huh?

Baltimore Orioles

- Young third baseman Manny Machado has been one of the better stories in baseball this season, so much so that some people are trying to point out out that Machado belongs in a more elite class of players. Cole Stevenson at Opposing Views makes a good point that Machado, 20, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as other elite youngsters Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. A .323 batting average, 28 runs, 24 RBI, and a .876 OPS from a 20-year-old that never played an inning at Triple-A should be enough evidence to get that discussion started.

- With top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy on the shelf and the Orioles pitching staff struggling, it may be another rookie that makes the jump. MASN points out that righty Kevin Gausman (MLB.com 36th ranked prospect) is making his case at Double-A Bowie. Despite a 1-4 record, Gausman is posting a strong 3.35 ERA and a 8.9 K/9 ratio. What is even more impressive is that Gausman has walked just 4 batters in 40.1 innings this season.

Tampa Bay Rays

- The Tampa Bay Rays are pushing themselves back into the division picture after a solid week, and as usual, they are doing it with surprisingly solid performances from bargain-basement pitching. As MLB Trade Rumors points out, that may bode well for Roberto Hernandez, the man formerly known as Fausto Carmona. After signing a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Rays to boost his value, Hernandez has enjoyed some mixed results thus far, posting a 1-4 record with a 4.66 ERA. However, his 9.1 K/9 ratio and his 2.7 BB/9 ratio show that his peripherals are strong., and an xFIP of 3.25 shows that better things may be coming.

- And you can’t talk about the Rays without discussing their available trade bait, as this piece from Bleacher Report does. With a seemingly unending train of pitching prospects to pull from, this piece points to the availability of both David Price and Jeremy Hellickson, and how they could be used to facilitate the team’s need for high-upside hitting prospects.

Boston Red Sox

- At one point, the Boston Red Sox had the problem of having too many closers, with both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey on the roster. With Bailey already on the DL with a biceps strain, the Red Sox announced on Saturday that Hanrahan will now miss the remainder of the season after electing to undergo surgery to repair his damage flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. That leaves Junichi Tazawa handling the closer duties until Bailey returns.

- Speaking of returns, the return to high production levels has at least one Boston area reporter questioning whether David Ortiz is on the juice. On Tuesday, the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnssey published a column where he justified accusing Ortiz of steroid usage because the player is a) Dominican, B) Coming back from injuries consistent with steroid usage, and C) getting better with age. That lead to an outpouring of racial stereotyping claims against Shaughnessy, by Ortiz (via CBSSports) and Shaughnessy’s cohorts in the media.

Weekly AL East Standings (Overall Standings)
New York 4-2 (22-13)
Baltimore 4-2 (22-15)
Boston 2-5 (22-15)
Tampa Bay 5-2 (18-18)
Toronto 4-3 (14-24)

May 6, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia (9) is congratulated by teammates after he scored during the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays have gone and done it again. They’ve sucked me back in, shown me that glimmer of hope, by the end of this Game Thread we could have an honest to goodness win streak! I’m a sucker you say? Well obviously…I’m a Toronto sports fan. We’re all suckers. That being said it’s not easy to stop yourself from getting caught up in the hope and excitement of a 7-run comeback victory. J.P. Arencibia‘s 2-run home run to put the Blue Jays on top for good is the kind of hit that narratives are built on.

Mark my words, if this truly is a turning point for the Blue Jays season (please please please let this be a turning point) these aren’t going to be the last words put into a word processing program to describe JPA’s bomb

News & Notes

Jose Reyes had his walking boot off, for a period of time at least, so there’s that.

Sometimes in life we lose track and forget how important the little things really are. We forget that… instagram.com/p/ZBCqXvTVXf/

— Jose Reyes (@lamelaza_7) May 7, 2013

The Blue Jays haven’t claimed anyone on waivers in what seems like hours…has anyone checked on Alex Anthopolous lately? Line Ups

Tonight’s @bluejays lineup:Lawrie-3BCabrera-LFBautista-RFEncarnacion-1BArencibia-CLind-DHRasmus-CFIzturis-2BKawasaki-SSHapp-P — Blue Jays-Official(@BlueJays) May 7, 2013

#Rays Line up vs #Toronto twitter.com/TomBerte/statu…

— Tom Berte (@TomBerte) May 7, 2013

Question of The Day

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Game Updates
BREAKING: It’s really nice out in Toronto, this Game Thread is therefore brought to you live from my balcony.

Well this is pretty cool:

Lots of optimism around here as Santos, Drabek, Hutchison and McGowan pay a visit to The Trop. Everybody feels great. #Bluejays #Jays

— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) May 7, 2013

Top 1:

Jose Bautista hits a double but that’s all the Jays manage in the 1st

Bottom 1:

A double, a walk but nothing else for the Rays. Zeros after 1.

Top 2:

Lind hits his first home run of the season! Maicer Izturis hits a double but is stranded. 1-0 for the good guys.

Bottom 2:

Scary moment here in the bottom half of the second as Happ gets hit with a line drive off the bat of Desmond Jennings. Let’s all hope that he’s okay.

Brad Lincoln into pitch, going to be tough for the Blue Jays to stay focused on the task at hand.

Happ raises his hand to wave to the fans as he was taken off the field. #Bluejays #Jays #rays

— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) May 8, 2013

Top 3:

Blue Jays can’t get anything going in the 3rd, getting set down in order.

Bottom 3:

Brad Lincoln responds in kind setting down the Rays in order.

4th inning:

Nothing comes across for either team in the 4th

Top 5:

Nothing doing for the Blue Jays aside from a Kawasaki single.

 Bottom 5:

 Loup keeps the Rays off the board with a clean 5th inning.

Top 6:

A Melky single, an Edwin walk but nothing else as the Blue Jays fail to score again. They’re still trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 6th.

Bottom 6:

The Rays can’t muster much against Loup, off to the 7th to see if the Jays can get to this bullpen again.

Top 7:

Lind doubles, and Rasmus kills the rally with a home run, but the Blue Jays are now within 1 heading to the home half of the 7th.

Bottom 7:

A very long Evan Longoria double is the only hit that Steve Delabar gives up, keeping it a 1 run game heading to the 8th.

Top 8:

Blue Jays tie it up in the 8th after double from Melky and Joey Bats; but squander a grand opportunity by not getting anymore across.

Bottom 8:

Delabar shuts down the Rays, thanks in part to a nice 3-6-3 double play started (and finished) by Edwin Encarnacion

Top 9:

Maicer Izturis Power, Brett Lawrie Red Bull, EE getting tossed. All ya need to know. Jays lead 6-4. Janssen in to work his magic,

Bottom 9:

Janssen closes out the win for the Blue Jays. We have ourselves a streak people.

Jared Macdonald: Matt Moore came into the season with such high expectations, ranked as the second-best prospect in the game, but he has struggled out of the gate so far in 2012. The home runs and walk rate are what stand out to me, but what’s been the main reason for his performance so far this season?

Robbie Knopf: One word: command. This isn’t a Phil Hughes or Brett Cecil situation here. Moore has just been unable to find his release point and his command has suffered. But has stuck has remained electric. His fastball stays in the mid-90′s except for when he purposely takes something off of it (and even then it’s usually 93 MPH) and his change and curve have mostly moved as dynamically as normal, but he just has not been able to command his pitches. Luckily for the Rays, Moore looked to figure something out in the 4th inning of his last start, tossing 3 perfect innings to end his outing. If he has truly found his release point, the Blue Jays are going to be miserable on Tuesday night. His stuff is just that electric. The big thing holding him back has been his command and control, but if he has found his release point he should be fine. Right now Rays fans are nervously optimistic about Moore, but all the ability is certainly still there and maybe he has turned a corner.

JM: After an impressive first month back with the Rays, Carlos Pena has struggled over the last few weeks. How was the fan reaction to him returning to Tampa Bay, and what’s been so different in May for him than in April?

RK: One of the coolest moments in the short history of the Rays was Pena’s grand slam of CC Sabathia in this first plate appearance in his return to the Rays on Opening Day. Throughout April, we thought that maybe Pena was exhilarated in his return to Tampa Bay and had become if not a vintage 2007-2008 Pena, something of the sort. However, we’re realizing that Pena is what he is. He strikes out, he struggles against lefties. He hits for power, but not nearly as much as he used to. Pena is in a slump right now but the big thing is that he looks lost versus lefties.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they start moving Sean Rodriguez and others to first base occasionally to give Pena some days off against tough lefties. One thing he should maybe do a little more is showcase his bunting ability when the shift is played against him and hopefully a few bunt hits will get him going. Overall, Pena needs some time to escape this slump. But at the end of the day he’s probably a .220-.230 hitter with a .350 OBP and 30 homers. The Rays will take that. Expectations following April, though, were much overblown.

JM: Wade Davis‘ numbers look good out of the pen this year, has he found his niche as a reliever?

RK: Davis has not exactly looked as dominant as his ERA (and FIP) and has allowed a whole bunch of inherited runners to score that make his performance seem more shiny than it truly is. That being said, maybe Davis could be an effective reliever moving forward. We have seen an uptick in velocity on his fastball from 92-93 to 94 MPH and his offspeed pitches (curve, slider, changeup) have been more effective. You see moments where Davis looks like the closer that Baseball America once projected him to be. I don’t think Davis is comfortable relieving yet, and I think that that’s one reason that he hasn’t always been sharp. But he has excellent stuff for a reliever and does have a late-inning arsenal if the Rays keep him in the bullpen. Whether that actually materializes if the Rays keep him in the ‘pen is anybody’s guess, but he does have the ability to be an effective reliever moving forward. We’ll never know how he would be pitching if he was starting right now. But his stuff has looked unhittable at times in a relief role and he may just have found his long-term role.

JM: What did you think of the Jose Molina signing at first, and what are your thoughts on him so far this season?

RK: The Jose Molina signing was an interesting move for the Rays from the start because he has never been a starting catcher except on an injury-riddled Yankee team and although he hit well in a small sample as a member of the Jays in 2011, his hitting ability isn’t exactly top-notch. But we know about his ability to work with pitchers and his great arm and he was a good fit to work with the Rays’ young staff. We also have heard volumes about his ability to frame pitches, although there was also reason for concern as Molina’s defense has deteriorated with age. The Molina signing was vintage Rays deal: it was a move that would have baffled any other fanbase (signing Molina as a starting catcher) but we get it because of the Rays’ emphasis on pitching and defense. I didn’t love it, but especially considering the Rays’ current organizational hole at catcher, he was a good fit as stopgap for this team. Molina has been right in line with expectations. It’s frustrating to watch him swing weakly about as often as any non-pitcher in the major leagues, especially with our lineup riddled with injuries. It’s frustrating to see him allow more wild pitches and passed balls because he just can’t move as well as he used to behind the plate. But I have to appreciate his ability to work with the staff and his ability to frame pitches. Is Molina the deal catcher for the Rays? Absolutely no chance. But he does the little things that the Rays and their fanbase appreciate, and I’ll take him for now. I will say that the Rays better come up with a real starting catcher for next season.

JM: How did Rays fans generally react to the Fernando Rodney/Brett Lawrie/Bill MIller incident in Toronto?

RK: Our first collective thought was “what the heck just happened?” Our second thought was Jose Molina’s framing ability. Was that pitch and the pitch before both balls? Most people, even Rays fans, would agree that the answer to that is yes. But Molina framed them perfectly as strikes and got the calls. Jose Molina always seems to be the catcher in cases like this and his framing ability is the reason why. (We saw that also happen with Mike Aviles- although he didn’t throw his helmet- when the Red Sox came to the Trop.) We all laughed at what transpired with Lawrie (maybe the Jays should make the surface behind home plate a little softer) and got to appreciate just how incredible Jose Molina is at his art of framing.

-JM

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While Lawrie certainly lost his cool and failed to control his emotions, it’s hard to fault him for getting frustrated. By drawing a one-out walk, he would have represented the tying run and been in a position to steal his way into scoring position in a close game against a division rival. Add in that the Rays scored four unanswered runs to erase a rare 3-0 Jays lead on David Price, and it’s easy to see why Lawrie was so amped up in what was a winnable game.

Miller’s calls, however, certainly didn’t help matters, and after repeatedly watching Lawrie’s at-bat, it appeared to be the fourth pitch that actually started everything.

Catching Rays closer Fernando Rodney was former Jays catcher Jose Molina, one of the best pitch framers in the league. In the first pitch of the at-bat, Molina set up outside and tried to briefly frame Rodney’s 82 mph changeup, but it was called a ball by Miller. Then, after a wild throw outside and a foul ball made the count 2-1, the next pitch was critical.

Rodney fired a 95 mph fastball that caught the outside corner of the plate, but it was low. Molina managed to stick his glove, though, and bring the pitch, pictured below, up to Lawrie’s knees, and the offering could very well have been called a strike.

Instead, Miller called it ball three, and while this is pure speculation on my part, he could have recognized that he missed the call on that pitch and decided to make up for it on the next one, providing it was anywhere near the strike zone.

As you can see in these two pictures, though, the pitch was well outside the zone and even made its way over the left batter’s box, so it’s no surprise that Lawrie proceeded to walk down to first base and assume that he had just drawn a walk — something that umpires can’t stand. Stopping dead in his tracks after hearing the strike call, Lawrie walked back to the plate, and although neither Lawrie or Miller said anything to each other, Lawrie stared him down before resuming the at-bat, which Miller probably wasn’t impressed with.

But as Sportsnet’s Mike Wilner pointed out after the game, Miller let his emotions get in the way of making the right call on the final pitch of the at-bat.

“It’s an umpire’s job to call balls and strikes, safe and out and to maintain control of the game.  It’s not an umpire’s job to insinuate himself into said game by enacting personal vendettas when he feels slighted, and that’s what Miller did,” Wilner wrote.

The image below — where the ball is above the logo on Lawrie’s jersey and almost eye level with Molina — says it all:

In addition to blowing such an obvious call, I was somewhat surprised at how fast Miller threw Lawrie out of the game. It took just a couple of words after turning around for Lawrie to get tossed, which only set him off even further, leading him to throw his helmet on the ground and unintentionally hit Miller with it. In what was a necessary move, Farrell ran out to restrain his third baseman and give Miller a piece of his own mind before getting tossed himself, a display that I thought was important on Farrell’s part and, at the very least, should bring him closer to his players in the clubhouse.

While it’s easy to understand why Lawrie reacted to Miller’s calls, how he reacted after the fact was unacceptable and is almost guaranteed to result in a suspension. My first thought was that he’d receive five games, but considering Roberto Alomar received five games for his incident in 1996 and Yadier Molina received five games for physically brushing home plate umpire Rob Drake last season, Brett Lawrie could receive less, but seven to ten games could also be a possibility.

- JM

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Joining me for the series preview is Ben Ice, Lead Writer on FanSided’s Rays site Rays Colored Glasses, and he’ll be adding everything on the Rays after the jump. Here’s everything you need to know:

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Joining me for the series preview is Ben Ice, Lead Writer on FanSided’s Rays site Rays Colored Glasses, and he’ll be adding everything on the Rays after the jump. Here’s everything you need to know:

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There have been rumblings that Drabek is a lock to be the Jays’ fourth starter, and that the Jays have to simply decide whether Litsch or Reyes will be their fifth starter.

Obviously Drabek’s numbers last year at Double-A were impressive — helping him capture Eastern League Pitcher of the Year honors — and he’s been a treat to watch this spring. The question is, though, is he developmentally prepared to start 20-plus games at the Major League level next season?

The Jays don’t exactly have to look too far to find the reasons why they’re better off starting Drabek in the minor leagues, and having Litsch and Reyes as the final members of their Opening Day rotation.

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Once we’ve worked with the writers from BoSox Injection (Red Sox), Yanks Go Yard (Yankees), Birds Watcher (Orioles), and Rays Colored Glasses (Rays) to select the best team we can muster, the AL East roster will face off against the AL Central and AL West All-Division teams in a fan vote hosted by our MLB site Call to the Pen. The AL winner will then advance to face off against the NL division selected by the same method and another fan vote will be held.

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