Instead, the left-hander had an inconsistent game against the Oakland A's.

Purcey's sins were numerous as he failed to provide a shutdown inning after his club raced into a 5-1 lead, blew the lead altogether and in the process also knocked out his catcher, Michael Barrett, who was injured on a freak play back of the plate fielding one of Purcey's wild pitches.

"It's something that he certainly has to get over," manager Cito Gaston said of Purcey's night. "You can't walk that many guys (four) up here and expect to win. It's just hard to give teams that many outs."

Barrett was injured when, after fielding the ball, he made an off-balance throw to the plate and crashed to the turf on his right shoulder. Barrett left the game in distress and was replaced by Rod Barajas.

Although Gaston didn't have any additional information on Barrett, it's likely he'll be out for some time which will require the Jays to call up another catcher, probably veteran Raul Chavez from Class AAA Las Vegas.

Purcey believes the problem is in his mechanics, his failure in finding a consistent release point. "I didn't go out there and throw strikes," he said. "I wasn't locating with my slider and fastball. For the most part I wasn't hitting on my pitches."

A'S 8, BLUE JAYS 5: The Jays blew a 5-1 lead Friday when Oakland rallied for four runs in the fourth against LHP David Purcey. RHP Brandon League took the loss allowing an RBI double to Matt Holliday in the seventh and two additional runs in the eighth. 2B Aaron Hill was 2-for-4, including a two-run homer in a four-run third. Hill has recorded a hit in nine of his last 14 at-bats. Purcey lasted just 3 2/3 innings, the shortest non-injury start for the team this season.