Rookie Brett Cecil was called up to the majors to serve as an emergency stopgap in the Toronto Blue Jays rotation, but he and the other fill-ins on the starting staff won't be pushed out of jobs as long as they continue to pitch well.
The 22-year-old rookie did just that last night by allowing three runs over six solid innings, getting plenty of offensive support in a 8-3 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox. With Casey Janssen pushing toward a call-up at double-A New Hampshire after rehabbing his right shoulder injury, and lefty Ricky Romero nearing a return from a strained right oblique at triple-A Las Vegas, there was an expectation that they'd automatically return to the rotation once they were back to 100 per cent.
General manager J.P. Ricciardi said otherwise before the game, pointing out that it would be unfair to bump Cecil, fellow rookies Robert Ray and Scott Richmond, or converted reliever Brian Tallet without good reason.
"Right now, we don't have a spot for them,'' said Ricciardi, who includes Jesse Litsch, who isn't due back from a right forearm strain before mid-June, as a pitcher on the outside looking in.
"That could change real quick.''
Ray is the starter closest to the bubble right now and his outing today versus the White Sox will go a long way in determining whether he makes his scheduled start in Boston next week.
Janssen is expected to be the next starter called up.
Cecil (2-0), meanwhile, did little to hurt his cause in picking up his second big-league win.
He put up four zeros while the game was close and then pounded the zone with plenty of insurance after a six-run fourth turned this one into a laugher.
Aaron Hill hammered a two-run shot in the third that opened the scoring and the Blue Jays (24-14) proceeded to bang out seven straight hits in the fourth while busting it open before a crowd of 17,241.
An end to their two-game losing skid well in hand at that point, the only drama left afterwards was whether the White Sox (15-19) could avoid a seventh shutout this season.
Paul Konerko's solo blast in the fifth took care of that, and Jermaine Dye, playing thanks to an appeal of the two-game suspension he received yesterday, added a two-run blast in the sixth that made it 8-3 for the only other damage against Cecil.
It was all academic by then anyhow, after John Danks (2-3) got rocked in a brutal fourth.
The inning went Adam Lind double, Scott Rolen single, Kevin Millar RBI single, Rod Barajas RBI double with Millar scoring on an error by left-fielder Carlos Quentin and Jose Bautista RBI double before Danks got yanked, sarcastically tipping his cap to the crowd before he left.
D.J. Carrasco came on and gave up an RBI double to Marco Scutaro and a single to Aaron Hill before he nailed Alex Rios on the right forearm to load the bases. Scutaro scored when Vernon Wells hit into a double play to make it 8-0.
Deposed closer B.J. Ryan rejoined the team yesterday after being activated from the 15-day disabled list and pitched the ninth in a non-save situation. After allowing a leadoff walk to Jim Thome, Ryan struck out the next two batters before getting Alexei Ramirez on a fly ball to end it.
