May 31st-June 3rd- Chicago White Sox (24-24) @ Toronto Blue Jays (24-28)

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VS.

Official Sites

The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Homepage
The Official Site of The Chicago White Sox: Homepage

PROJECTED STARTERS
GAME 1: Roy Halladay (4-2, 4.37 ERA) Career: (99-50, 3.65 ERA)
Mark Buehrle (2-1, 3.86 ERA) Career: (99-67, 3.83 ERA)

GAME 2: AJ Burnett (5-4, 4.06 ERA) Career: (64-62, 3.79 ERA)
Javier Vazquez (2-3, 4.50 ERA) Career: (102-108, 4.35 ERA)

GAME 3: Dustin McGowan (1-2, 5.90 ERA) Career: (3-7, 6.46 ERA)
Jose Contreras (4-5, 4.45 ERA) Career: (52-32, 4.29 ERA)

GAME 4: Shaun Marcum (2-2, 3.70 ERA) Career: (5-6, 4.30 ERA)
John Danks (3-5, 4.59 ERA) CAREER: (3-5, 4.59 ERA)


Jays Stats
Hitting: The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Stats: Sortable Player Stats
Pitching: The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Stats: Sortable Player Stats
Team: The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Stats: Sortable Team Stats

-The Toronto Blue Jays have a all time record of 148-134 against the Chicago White Sox
-Roy Halladay is coming back from an acute appendectomy today after just 20 days. He was expected to be out upwards of 6 weeks.
-Both starting pitchers today are 1 win shy of 100.

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GAME 1 PREVIEW

The Blue Jays will welcome back the ace of their pitching staff when they open a four-game series against the White Sox on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.

Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay underwent an emergency appendectomy May 11 and was told by team doctors he should expect to be out four to six weeks. Following the surgery, Halladay said his goal was to be pitching again within three weeks. Turns out, Doc was right, and the doctors were wrong.

Three weeks to the exact date of his last start against the Devil Rays, Halladay will make his return to the Jays starting rotation against Chicago.

A lot of things have changed since the last time Halladay took the field in a Jays uniform. When he left the team, Toronto had lost nine in a row and was suffering through their lowest point of the season.

Since Halladay's injury, though, the Jays have gone 11-7, thanks in large part to an improved starting staff.

"We've been playing some real good baseball," said Jays manager John Gibbons. "The pitching has been outstanding. We've won a lot of tight ballgames. That's a credit to a lot of the guys in the room. It's not easy, but you're always anxious to get Doc back and he's going to help us win a lot more games."

With the exception of Wednesday's lackluster performance by right-hander Jesse Litsch, the Jays' rotation went 6-4 with a 3.56 ERA during Halladay's absence. Gibbons says the credit goes to the pitching staff which managed to hold down the fort until its No. 1 starter was healthy enough to return.

"I tip my hat to these guys," Gibbons said. "In Roy's case, when he broke his leg a couple years ago, the guys held down the fort. That was the year [Josh] Towers and [Gustavo] Chacin won 13 games. They've done it before. It says something about those guys out there."

The White Sox will counter with left-hander Mark Buehrle. Buehrle has one loss and four no-decisions over his last five starts and, like Halladay, is searching for his 100th career victory. In his last outing, Buehrle allowed four runs on eights over seven innings against the Royals.

Thursday's game could be a quick one. Over the last five seasons, Buehrle and Halladay have the fastest average time for a nine-inning game. The last time the two pitchers faced each other was May 1, 2004, and even though the game went into extra innings, it still only took 2 hours, 45 minutes to play.

Pitching matchup
TOR: RHP Roy Halladay (4-2, 4.37 ERA)
Halladay is 1-2 with a 3.91 ERA in nine career appearances against the White Sox.

CWS: LHP Mark Buehrle (2-1, 3.86 ERA)
Buehrle is 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in eight career appearances against Toronto.

Player to watch
Jays center fielder Vernon Wells is hitting .550 (11-for-20) with one home run and seven RBIs in his career against Buehrle.

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• RSN

On radio
• FAN 590 AM

I am expecting to take 3 of 4 here! Likely taking games 1, 2 and 4 unless McGowan can repeat his last performance!

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Game 1 Batting Lineups

Chicago White Sox:
1. Erstad
2. Iguchi
3. Thome
4. Dye
5. Konerko
6. Pierzynski
7. Crede
8. Mackowiak
9. Uribe

Toronto Blue Jays:
1. Rios
2. Overbay
3. Wells
4. Glaus
5. Thomas
6. Hill
7. Lind
8. Fasano
9. McDonald

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So far so good for Halladay after six innings!
Hill has the games only run so far with a monster solo homer, already his 8th! Fasano has been amazing defensively, first with the block at home and throwing out 2 baserunners! 1-0 Jays going into the bottom of the sixth!

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What a game!!!! The offense continues to suck and the pitching once again steps it up with a shutout! Roy Halladay was unbelievable today, Hill and Fasano to. Fasano seems to be a good defensive player and teammate and I kind of don't want him to go when Zaun comes back! If everyone is healthy next year we will have a sick bullpen:

Closer: BJ Ryan (34 saves last year)
Setup: Jeremy Accardo (6/7 Save opportunities so far this year, ERA under 1.50)
6/7 inning guys: Brandon League (High 90's fastball, great setup man last year), Casey Janssen (ERA under 1)
Lefty Specialist: Scott Downs (ERA under 3)
Early/Long relief: Brian Tallet (Solid lefty)

Other Possibilities: Josh Towers, Jeremy Vermilyea(SP?), Brian Wolf, Dustin McGowan, Jason Frasor

Next year all we will need to do is sign one good starter and I think we are set:
Roy Halladay
AJ Burnett
Free Agent
Shaun Marcum
Gustavo Chacin

That is some good pitching!

[85Jays]

If everyone is healthy next year we will have a sick bullpen

Interesting view. Does it work the other way? That is, if everyone is sick, will we have a healthy bullpen?


(J/K)

[AndrewB]

R H E
Chi 0 6 0
Tor 2 2 0

One of the strangest box scores I've ever seen.

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GAME 1 REVIEW

TORONTO -- Roy Halladay had plenty of time over the past three weeks to sort through a few issues. Besides simply recovering from the emergency appendectomy he underwent on May 11, Toronto's ace wanted to find a way to improve his already impressive pitch arsenal.

Halladay spent hours in the video room, poring over and dissecting footage of his previous trips to the mound. The former American League Cy Young Award winner also sought advice for strengthening his cut fastball -- a pitch that had helped lead to much of his career success, but hadn't been as effective earlier this season.

During down time before games, Halladay began discussing the issue with Toronto's veteran backup catcher, Sal Fasano, who offered a few subtle suggestions for altering the pitch. Fasano's tips worked, evidenced by Halladay's dominating performance on Thursday, when he came off the disabled list and outdueled Mark Buehrle in a 2-0 victory over the White Sox at Rogers Centre.

"We had been talking about different things in the outfield, just kind of tossing things back and forth," Halladay said about the discussions with Fasano. "It's something he brought up and I tried it. I think, regardless of where you are, or who you're talking to, you're always open to ideas. It's just a matter of filtering what's going to help you and what's not."

The change in Halladay's cutter wasn't drastic, by any means. Fasano said that he offered a few tips about varying finger pressure with the grip that creates different types of movement with the pitch. Halladay instantly saw an improvement in the pitch when he toyed with the placement of his index finger on the baseball.

"It just goes to show you the willingness to try stuff by Doc," said Fasano, referring to Halladay. "Finger pressure put in a different position can make a ball dance a different way. I've caught [Yankees closer Mariano Rivera] and I've had guys with great cutters before. It's just an easy transition to make when you know how he throws it and you can say, 'Try this.'"

After trying the revamped pitch in bullpen sessions and a simulated game, Halladay (5-2) used it again in his first start since May 10 for the Jays (25-28). The right-hander cruised against the White Sox, striking out seven and walking none over seven innings en route to his 100th career win.

"To come back with seven shutout innings right out of the gate after three weeks off," Toronto manager John Gibbons said, "when they were talking four to six weeks to begin with, with limited work during those three weeks, I don't know if there's anybody else out there who can do that."

Chicago's hitters were equally impressed.

"He's Roy Halladay -- let's be honest, he's as good as it gets," Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He's won a Cy Young for a reason. It doesn't matter, DL, no DL, or whatever, the stuff he was firing out there tonight, the way his ball moves, he just didn't make any mistakes."

"He's kind of found a new weapon," he continued. "He used to throw a cutter, but it used to not be as hard. Now, he's throwing it 92 [miles per hour]. It's tough as a lefty, and as a righty, because he doesn't throw anything straight."

Buehrle (2-2) was nearly as effective against Toronto, allowing just two hits over eight innings for the Sox (24-25). Those proved to be the most damaging in the fast-paced affair, which was the quickest game of the year for either team at 1 hour, 50 minutes. In the second inning, Jays second baseman Aaron Hill sent a 1-1 pitch to deep center field for a solo homer to put Toronto ahead, 1-0.

Then, after Buehrle retired the next 16 hitters in a row, Toronto's Frank Thomas sent a pitch to the second deck in left field. That blast marked Thomas' 495th career homer, and his 243rd as a designated hitter, which put him into a tie with Edgar Martinez for first on the all-time list for home runs as a DH.

"We were just kind of hoping that the one home run would hold up," Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay said. "That's what yo'ure going to get with both [Halladay and Buehrle]. They're not going to give a lot of hits and they're not going to give a lot of runs. It kind of worked out for us."

The closest the White Sox came to scoring against Halladay came in the third inning, when Rob Mackowiak and Juan Uribe opened the frame with consecutive hits. With runners on second and third with no outs, Chicago's Darin Erstad chopped a pitch to Overbay.

The first baseman quickly threw Fasano at home to retire Mackowiak, who was attempting to score. Fasano then caught Erstad stealing -- one of two runners the catcher threw out in the game -- before Halladay induced a ground ball off the bat of Chicago's Tadahito Iguchi to end the threat.

"That saved me pitches, plus runs," Halladay said about Fasano's performance behind the plate. "[Throwing out Erstad] in the third inning, that's a game changer. [Fasano] is absolutely my MVP for today."

That forced a smile from Fasano.

"He's mine, believe me," Fasano replied. "He's a special player. You get around a guy like him once in a while, so you just have to take advantage of the time you get to spend with him."

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...mlb_1&c_id=mlb

Toronto 2, Chi White Sox 0 TOR
Toronto (25-28)
Won 1
May 31, 2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Toronto
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 2 2 0
Standings thru 5/31/07 | Wrap | Gameday

Chi White Sox AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Erstad, CF 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .264
a-Terrero, PH-CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .261
Iguchi, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .221
Thome, DH 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .300
Dye, RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .239
Konerko, 1B 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 .229
Pierzynski, C 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .255
Crede, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 .227
Mackowiak, LF 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .239
Uribe, SS 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .210
Totals 30 0 6 0 1 8 10

a-Struck out for Erstad in the 6th.

BATTING
2B: Uribe (4, Halladay).
TB: Iguchi; Dye; Konerko; Pierzynski; Mackowiak; Uribe 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dye; Iguchi; Pierzynski.
GIDP: Pierzynski.
Team LOB: 4.

BASERUNNING
CS: Pierzynski (1, 2nd base by Halladay/Fasano), Erstad (2, 2nd base by Halladay/Fasano).


Toronto AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Rios, RF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .300
Overbay, 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .254
Wells, CF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .258
Glaus, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .270
Thomas, DH 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .223
Hill, 2B 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .284
Lind, LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216
Fasano, C 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .121
McDonald, SS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
Totals 26 2 2 2 0 6 0

BATTING
HR: Hill (8, 2nd inning off Buehrle, 0 on, 2 out), Thomas (8, 8th inning off Buehrle, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Thomas 4; Hill 4.
RBI: Hill (29), Thomas (22).
2-out RBI: Hill.

FIELDING
DP: (Overbay-McDonald-Overbay).


Chi White Sox IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Buehrle (L, 2-2) 8.0 2 2 2 0 6 2 3.66

Toronto IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Halladay (W, 5-2) 7.0 6 0 0 0 7 0 3.90
Janssen (H, 8) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.01
Accardo (S, 6) 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.11

Pitches-strikes: Buehrle 91-59, Halladay 96-62, Janssen 8-7, Accardo 13-6.
Ground outs-fly outs: Buehrle 11-7, Halladay 9-3, Janssen 2-0, Accardo 1-2.
Batters faced: Buehrle 26, Halladay 24, Janssen 3, Accardo 4.
Umpires: HP: Tim Timmons. 1B: Rick Reed. 2B: Chuck Meriwether. 3B: Alfonso Marquez.
Weather: 77 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, In from RF.
T: 1:50.
Att: 22,436.

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner

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[center]GAME 2 PREVIEW

(5-4, 4.06ERA)

VS.

(2-3, 4.50 ERA)

http://"http://toronto.bluejays.mlb....jsp&c_id=tor"]

A.J. Burnett filled in nicely as Toronto's temporary ace while Roy Halladay sat on the disabled list. After Halladay was forced to undergo an emergency appendectomy on May 11, Burnett took it upon himself to lead the Blue Jays' depleted rotation.

While Halladay watched from the dugout, Burnett went 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA in four starts for Toronto, which posted an 11-7 record with the ace on the 15-day DL. The team's performance during that span helped ease the rehabilitation process for Halladay, who came off the DL and turned in seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win over the White Sox on Thursday.

"It's always tough when you're out and the team seems to be struggling," Halladay said. "But we played pretty well over that period. That made it a lot easier for me to kind of relax and get myself ready."

Now that Halladay has returned to the top of the Jays' starting staff, Burnett can assume his role as the No. 2 arm in the rotation. The right-hander will be doing so in the comforts of Rogers Centre, where he's gone 3-0 with a 2.28 ERA in four outings this year.

In his last trip to the mound, Burnett was saddled with a loss on the road in Minnesota, where he gave up four runs (three earned) on three hits in eight innings. He hasn't faced the White Sox since last season, when he posted a 5.25 ERA against the Pale Hose.

Chicago will counter with right-hander Javier Vazquez, who is winless in his past seven starts, and hasn't picked up a victory since his second outing of the season. He gave up two home runs to the Rays on Sunday and took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits and one walk over 6 2/3 innings. He's given up at least four runs in four of his past five starts.

Pitching matchup
CWS: RHP Javier Vazquez (2-3, 4.50 ERA)
Vazquez is 3-4 with a 5.35 ERA in 10 career outings against the Blue Jays.

TOR: RHP A.J. Burnett (5-4, 4.06 ERA)
Burnett is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three career starts against the White Sox.

Player to watch
Blue Jays right fielder Alex Rios has hit .353 (6-for-17) in his career against Vazquez.

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• RSN

On radio
• FAN 590 AM

Up next
• Saturday: White Sox (RHP Jose Contreras, 4-5, 4.45) at Blue Jays (RHP Dustin McGowan, 1-2, 5.90), 1:07 p.m. ET
• Sunday: White Sox (LHP John Danks, 3-5, 4.59) at Blue Jays (RHP Shaun Marcum, 2-2, 3.70), 1:07 p.m. ET
• Monday: Off-day