The Jays had no answer to Atlanta rookie right-hander Jair Jurrjens on Friday.
He retired the first 13 batters in order before Matt Stairs ended any shot at a no-hitter with a single to center. Alex Rios added a two-out, infield single in the seventh, and Scott Rolen singled in the eighth. That was it against Jurrjens, who went eight innings, and Mike Gonzalez, who pitched the ninth. "(Jurrjens) was aggressive with his fastball, threw strikes, got ahead of the hitters and kept the ball out of the middle of the plate -- that's the formula (for success)," Rolen said.
It's tough enough to do much damage against a top pitcher that you haven't faced before, almost impossible when he happens to have his good stuff. And Jurrjens had his "A" material this night.
"You see him the first time through, the second at-bat you see his release and movement better," Rolen said. "The second and third time you're hoping to have a better shot, but the second and third we didn't have anything going there either.
"He was tough tonight."
With the loss, the Jays reached their halfway point of the season with a 38-43 record. They are 3-4 under new manager Cito Gaston.
BRAVES 4, BLUE JAYS 0: Atlanta RHP Jair Jurrjens blanked the Jays on three hits over eight innings Friday in pitching the Braves to victory. RHP Dustin McGowan, who came into the game with a 3-1 record and 1.73 ERA in six prior home starts, took the loss to drop to 6-6. McGowan gave up a two-run home run to Mark Teixeira in the first inning and an RBI double to him in the third. It was the sixth time the Jays have been shut out this season.
